The gap between climate awareness and climate responsibility is particularly evident among those with higher education: although they possess stronger knowledge, they also have greater resources and are therefore less inclined to change their behaviour. Behavioural change is complex and does not depend solely on knowledge or on the presence of isolated options in the surrounding environment \u2013 a single meat-free dish on a caf\u00e9 menu or a few bicycle stands in a car park. Climate-responsible choices must be meaningful from the individual\u2019s perspective, socially accepted, visible in everyday settings, and sufficiently convenient and simple.<\/p>\n\n
Institutions play an important role in supporting behavioural change. Through their norms and opportunities, they form communities and systems within which people act daily. At the same time, higher education institutions are responsible not only for shaping the everyday environment of students and staff but also for cultivating scientific thinking and drawing attention to the most pressing issues in society.<\/p>\n\n
The complexity of strengthening climate responsibility is also evident in changes that require cooperation across fields and institutions. Transport choices, for example, depend not only on options provided by educational institutions but also on urban planning decisions, the proximity of daily services and the meanings attached to different modes of mobility in relation to well-being. Influencing such multi-level processes requires a significant contribution from universities, and considerably bolder steps than have so far been taken.<\/p>\n\n
Universities as initiators of societal reflection.<\/strong> To support society\u2019s movement towards climate responsibility, the messages and conduct of university leadership, researchers and lecturers must be clearly forward-looking. They should reflect commitment to climate responsibility, engagement with current research, openness to innovation and a systemic approach, including a redefinition of prestige and well-being.<\/p>\n\n Universities as laboratories for climate responsibility.<\/strong> Research conducted at universities on climate responsibility should lead to practical experiments and interventions within the institutions themselves to identify solutions that most effectively support behavioural change. Such interventions should be monitored, enabling a more evidence-based approach to managing change.<\/p>\n\n Cooperation among universities instead of comparison.<\/strong> Addressing a complex problem requires cooperation across scientific disciplines and educational institutions. Cooperation should not take the form of competition over the smallest environmental footprint but rather of joint reflection on fundamental questions. How do all our researchers contribute to advancing climate responsibility in society? How can collaboration across fields be supported and what flexibility can be offered?<\/p>\n\n In conclusion, we may ask how educational institutions can become flagships of climate responsibility rather than followers. How can change in education be accelerated? How can institutions lead in experimentation while remaining systematic and grounded in research?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":1567,"menu_order":0,"template":"","chapter":[7],"class_list":["post-1566","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry","chapter-kestlikkus-hariduspeeglis"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/2026.inimareng.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1566","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/2026.inimareng.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/2026.inimareng.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2026.inimareng.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/1567"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/2026.inimareng.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1566"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/2026.inimareng.ee\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/chapter?post=1566"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}