Three years of sustainable media innovation

The Erasmus+ Project SUMED (Sustainable Multidimensional Media Contents) has concluded after three years of collaboration aimed at making higher education in media more sustainable and socially aware.

The final session of the meetings was held at the University of Gdańsk on 17 October 2025, bringing the project full circle at the same university where it was launched in January 2023.

Running from November 2022 to October 2025 under the Erasmus+ Programme, the project was coordinated by project leader Dr Adam Jagiełło-Rusiłowski from INNOCAMP.PL. The consortium included Turku University of Applied Sciences, Finland, represented by Milla Järvipetäjä; the University of Gdańsk, Poland, represented by Dr Beata Czechowska-Derkacz and Dr Domink Chomik; the University of Malta, represented by Professor Ġorġ Mallia and Dr Monika Maslowska; and Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain, represented by Professor Nuria Lloret-Romero and Dr Julio González Liendo.

SUMED set out to help media educators integrate sustainability principles drawn from the EMAS framework and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with the goal of preparing future media professionals who are fully aware of their social and environmental responsibilities.

The partners worked to prepare future journalists, public relations officers, spokespeople, communication specialists, scriptwriters, filmmakers, museum sustainability managers, cultural communications specialists, and other media professionals to understand how their work affects people and the environment.

Each partner institution organised training sessions for educators, introduced new or revised courses to include sustainability principles, and redesigned existing curricula to promote sustainable thinking and responsible media practice, following the EMAS framework and the SDGs.

The project’s five MOOCs: Solution Journalism, Sustainable Media Relations, Three Films About Love, Magazine and Digital Publishing with a Sustainable Focus and Sustainability in Video Production, are free and open to everyone, offering broad access to SUMED’s teaching resources and sustainable media practices. They can be accessed online.

The project also explored what sustainability skills are most needed in the media sector and how teachers can prepare students to work responsibly in a rapidly changing technological world. The results have strengthened cooperation between universities and local organisations that offer placements and support new professionals entering the field.

The final report was submitted on 31 October 2025. All materials remain available through the SUMED knowledge repository, which will stay active until April 2028.