Rethinking sustainability course labeling practices across EUTOPIA universities workshop

Between November 17 and 21 2025, the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering at the University of Ljubljana (UL NTF) hosted the physical part of the Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) Urban Education. The event brought together students from six universities along with teachers and mentors from the EUTOPIA alliance to explore children’s movement in urban environments.

Participants addressed key topics:

• The journey to and from school
• Spaces and learning infrastructure
• Adult involvement in children’s movement
• Child safety in the urban environment
• Use of technology and child movement

This was the third Urban Education BIP within the EUTOPIA learning community. Following previous research in Brussels and Paris schools, the Ljubljana programme provided insights into how children from two Slovenian schools engage in formal and informal learning related to movement, space, safety, technology, and adult support. Alongside mentoring students, teachers also examined the impact of international project collaboration on students’ language, interdisciplinary, and socio-cultural competences.
The programme was designed as an interdisciplinary experience, emphasizing group work, mutual learning, and connecting diverse fields such as user experience design, pedagogy, teacher education, and physiotherapy.

The core activities included field visits to Trnovo Primary School and Waldorf School Ljubljana, formulation of research questions, data collection and analysis, development of methodologies, and preparation of final presentations. A strong focus was placed on inter-university collaboration, with participants from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Cergy Paris University, Babeș-Bolyai University (Cluj-Napoca), Technical University Dresden, University of Warwick and the University of Ljubljana.

The event also featured expert lectures on topics such as photography in research (Assoc. Prof. Dr. Jure Ahtik, UL NTF), storytelling and the city (Prof. Dr. Milena Mileva Blažić, UL Faculty of Education), and challenges of urban education in Slovenia (Assoc. Prof. Dr. Slavko Gaber, UL Faculty of Education). In the final stage, student groups presented project solutions to challenges identified during fieldwork and earlier programme activities.

The programme was organised within the activities of the Urban Education Learning Community of the EUTOPIA Alliance, led at the University of Ljubljana by Prof. Dr. Helena Gabrijelčič Tomc (UL NTF). This community offers insights into debates, benefits, and challenges of education in metropolitan contexts, encouraging students to reflect on educational philosophy and their professional identity. Interdisciplinary student teams collaborate with urban schools to examine and/or develop solutions for issues such as school organization, school-community partnerships, infrastructure, and inclusive education. Using collaborative research, all steps of the research cycle are followed, promoting knowledge exchange and co-creation.