Sustainability builds bridges between Lahti and Kyoto

Kuva
Flowers of cherry on the tree
Blossom of cherry tree in Lahti, May 2023 (source: Alexandra Maksheeva)

As the cherries are in the full blossom at this time of the year and Finland is currently experiencing the chain of the Hanami celebrations of Sakura blossoms, here at Lahti we are recalling the visit of our partners from Ryukoku University (Kyoto, Japan) which took place in the end of March 2023, 20.03 – 24.03. Our partners have visited during the time when sakura was in blossom in Kyoto, so having the cherry tree flowers here reminded us about this special event.

Visit of the professors and group of 11 students from the Faculty of Policy Studies of Ryukoku University took place in Lahti campus of LAB due to specially organized intensive study week under the theme of “Sustainability”. The week was organized as a part of Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree in Urban Climate and Sustainability (MUrCS 1.5) and second cohort of this funding period participated in the study week as well, as they were in Lahti for their second semester of studies. Programme was built so that the students had morning lectures at LAB campus and afternoon programme at the field trips.

The intensive study week was focused on presenting knowledge of Sustainability topic with the focus on the examples from City of Lahti. On Monday the theme of the day was “Sustainable Urban Planning” with the visit to the office of the City of Lahti. Tuesday was dedicated to the Circular Economy and Lahti as a European Green Capital 2021 with the consequent visit to Salpakierto Waste Treatment Center and Lahden Aqua, which is a wastewater treatment center in the city.

Week continued with Wednesday programme under the theme of “Stormwater management, green planning and water protection” where lectures of campus were concluded with the visit to the Hennala stormwater management areas as well as Pikku-Vesijärvi park. Thursday was day of “Sustainable Food Production” with the visit to the Teerenpeli distillery site and dinner with local ingredients as Koiskalan Manor.

Last day of the week concluded with the theme of Planetary Health, where lectures about history of Geopark have concluded with the visit to the sites of Salpausselkä UNESCO Global Geopark such as Pulkkilanharju ridge, Vääksy channel and Asiakkala province.

Despite the weather being diverse from snow and rain to the sunshine, our guests were very happy about the organized programme and we are all hoping to host new group of Ryukoku students here at LAB University of Applied Sciences.

Group of people standing
Visiting professors and students from Ryukoku University and Cohort 2 of MUrCS 1.5 programme

 

Location