Environmental awareness raising through universities – city authorities’ cooperation

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to the environmental awareness raising as a key issue of education for sustainable development. Youth Environmental Volunteers Movement in the area of coastal oil response operations in St. Petersburg is presented in this paper as a successful initiative in the field of environmental awareness through universities and city authorities’ cooperation. Design/methodology/approach The main approach is to explore ways of environmental awareness raising through the cooperation between universities and city authorities in practice. It is shown as a system of preparation by environmental volunteers for oil recovery operations in the coastal zone of the Baltic Sea. The use of a voluntary rescue movement as an organization for support state authorities is investigated. Findings The program for environmental volunteers' tuition was created due to mutual cooperation between universities and state authorities. The purpose is to give necessary knowledge to and skills required by experts and young people on how to run together rescue and oil spill response operations. Practical field trainings with simulated oil accidents were realized in situ on the coastal zone of the Gulf of Finland. Social implications Coastal oil recovery operations are the key responsibility of state authorities and professional organizations in all countries around the Baltic Sea. Active involvement of young people in public participation helps to solve environmental problems at local and regional levels. Originality/value The Environmental Committee, City of St. Petersburg together with universities, provided practical implementation of the Youth Environmental Volunteers Movement. It contributes to the improvement of the marine environment and gives a necessary experience for implementation of new initiatives in the field of sustainable education and environmental protection in the Baltic Sea region.