ESD as a Positive Side Effect of International Activities: The Case-Study of the CROSSROADS 2.0 Project

Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) has been approached in different ways by University faculties, secondary school teachers, and researches. However, the contribution to the ESD system made by international university projects has not been sufficiently discussed in the literature so far. The paper presents a case study and theoretical analysis of the role played by international university cooperation projects aimed at putting into practice the integration of inclass and extra-curriculum activities in ESD. This approach to education for sustainable development has been adopted in the Kaliningrad region (Russian Federation), one of the cross-border Baltic regions. The case study covers all the three dimensions of sustainability, i.e. ecological, economic and social development, as well as the improvement of regional environment. Legislative documents and projects developed by federal and regional government are mentioned, as well as obstacles to and prospects for the development of the integrated ESD approach. The project called “Lagoons as crossroads for tourism and interactions of peoples of South-East Baltic: from the history to present” is conducted by three countries and continues the work started in the CROSSROADS project. Its outcomes are used to support the conclusions drawn from existing theoretical approaches.