Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies will invite discussion at the “Lampa” Conversation Festival — is green always green and sustainable?

From 10 July to 11 July, the “Lampa” Conversation Festival will bring together thousands of people from all over Latvia for the eleventh time to discuss issues important to society over two days, seek solutions and promote critical thinking. The festival will take place in Cēsis, becoming a platform for conversations about democracy, education, the environment, the economy, technology and the future of humanity in a rapidly changing world.

The Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies will also participate in the festival with a broad and interactive programme of activities, offering the thematic tent “Sofa Expert: Is Green Always Green and Sustainable?”. Over the course of two days, LBTU researchers, students and experts, together with festival visitors, will discuss sustainable agriculture, food, forestry, the environment, the bioeconomy and the impact of our everyday choices on the future.

At the festival, the Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies will participate with the aim of promoting science-based civic engagement and critical thinking, explaining that sustainability is not just a “green” slogan, but a complex balance between the environment, the economy and society. The university’s experts will invite discussions on topics that are often avoided — food security, greenwashing, forest use, climate goals and public responsibility.

“Sofa Expert: Is Green Always, Always Green and Sustainable?”

One of the central elements of the activities will be a specially created “Sofa Expert Corner”, where visitors will be invited to sit down on a sofa, choose a conversation topic and discuss with LBTU researchers, students and industry experts commonly held perceptions and stereotypes about food, agriculture, forests, the environment and sustainability.

The activity “Sofa Expert: Is Green Always Green and Sustainable?” will be viewed through three interconnected dimensions:

• “Myths and Truth: What Do We Know About Sustainable Solutions for Agriculture and Food Supply?”,
• “From Forest to Building: Where Does Sustainability Begin and End?”,
• “17 Steps Towards a Sustainable Tomorrow”.

Each of the dimensions will offer interactive activities, discussions and practical tasks that will help visitors understand the multidimensional nature of sustainability and critically assess the choices they make in everyday life.

Myths and Truth: What Do We Know About Sustainable Solutions for Agriculture and Food Supply?

The activities of the LBTU Faculty of Agriculture and Food Technology (LPTF) will focus on sustainable solutions in agriculture and food supply. Visitors will be able to participate in interactive discussions by spinning a “wheel of fortune” with various questions about food chains, sustainable packaging, food waste and greenwashing.

Throughout the day, the “Sustainability Experiment” will also take place, during which visitors will taste and analyse various products and agricultural approaches — conventional, organic and regenerative. During the experiment, it will be explained how our perception of “greenness” is influenced by labelling, packaging and visual image, while also revealing what actually determines sustainability — soil health, biodiversity, emissions footprint, water use and the strengthening of the local economy.

From Forest to Building: Where Does Sustainability Begin and End?

The activities of the LBTU Faculty of Forest and Environmental Sciences (MVZF) will allow visitors to understand sustainability from the perspective of forest resources, the environment and construction. In conversations and practical tasks, the full resource circulation cycle will be examined — from forest management to the reuse of building materials.

In the discussion “Green Construction — Buzzword or Reality?”, visitors together with experts will consider sustainable building materials and seek answers to the question of whether a wooden building is always the most sustainable solution.

In turn, in the activity “The Secret of Materials”, interested participants will be able to examine samples of various building materials and wood-processing products, trying to determine their origin and sustainability aspects. Experts will explain that the “greenness” of a material lies not in its appearance, but in its entire life cycle.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to participate in the interactive game “The Forest as an Ally in Achieving Climate Goals: What Do We Not Understand?”, where representatives of different interest groups will jointly seek a balance between climate goals, biodiversity and economic development.