Institute

The Institute of Sustainable Education was founded in 2003 as a scientific research structural unit of the Faculty of Education and Management. The main research fields of ISE are pedagogy, pedagogical and developmental psychology, management, as well as integrative research in the field of education and management. The aim of ISE is to carry out scientific research promoting investigation and implementation and encourages the development of education oriented towards sustainable development. ISE consists of three departments: department of scientific research, department of international projects and department of scientific editions. The most important tasks of ISE are: developing scientific work in the faculty, developing of master and doctoral programs in education and management, and developing a vision and methodological basis for sustainable development in education. Institute has a collaboration network with all the faculties of Daugavpils University, with Teacher Training Institutions of Latvia, Scientific Council of Academy of Science of Latvia as well as with Ministry of Education and Science of Latvia.

Baltic & Black sea Circle Consortium (BBCC)

The Baltic and Black sea Circle Consortium was established in 2005 as an initiative in international cooperation between educational research and development institutions in the Baltic and Black sea region initially drawn from the countries around and near the Baltic sea and the Black sea. The Baltic and Black Sea Circle Consortium historically was created on a base of cooperation network of the Journal of Teacher Education and Training (JTET) which was established in 2002. JTET cooperation network (2002 - 2005) has been a platform for experience exchange for international researchers and experts from the fields of education and sustainable development including the following countries: Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Germany, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Russia, USA, Canada, South Africa, Sweden, Hungary, Brazil, Jamaica, Australia, United Kingdom, New Zeeland, Belarus, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Malta, Thailand, The Netherlands. Membership is open to individuals, educational institutions, and universities from all the countries from this region. The BBCC is a collective organization with the committee of two members from each institution that rotates annually. Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Turkey were represented at the first meeting.

The focus is on the issue of re-orienting education towards sustainable development in the Baltic and Black sea region. The task of the BBCC is to serve the decade of the priority of sustainable education starting from the year 2005 announced in UNESCO’s declaration of “Education for Sustainable Development”. Two levels of the activities are highlighted: (1) the general level where the philosophical background of sustainable education is acknowledged, and (2) the specific level where sustainable development as a cross-curricular issue is implemented in teacher education.

To meet the highlighted needs the International conference “Education. Culture. Sustainable Development” and the meeting of the BBCC members are held annually, at which the project development and achievements are presented, discussed, evaluated, and published in the Journal of Teacher Education and Training (since May 2007 - Journal of Teacher Education for Sustainability). The ongoing information is also published in the Web Page of the Institute of Sustainable Education & BBCC where the links with other partner institutions are provided. The BBCC particularly welcomes and supports the participation of graduate students and young researchers from the field of education.

Institute of Sustainable Education (ISE)
Parades 1-432, Daugavpils, Latvia LV-5401
Tel./Fax + 371 6 54 27411
E-mail: iii@du.lv or ilga.salite@du.lv
http://www.ise-lv.eu