How Do Students Imagine Lithuania in 2050?

Free and accessible international-level higher education, energy independence, and equal rights for all - these were the student’s ambitions voiced at Vilnius University Student Representation (VU SR)’s integration festival Ad Astra during the discussion “Building the Future Today: What Kind of Country will We Live in 2050?”.

What is the State Progress Strategy that the Office of the Government is currently drafting in cooperation with the Seimas Committee for the Future, the Government Strategic Analysis Centre (STRATA), and Vilnius University?

STRATA Policy Analyst Ieva Petraitė named two reasons for planning for the future, which is also the reasons why the State Progress Strategy is needed. The first reason is the need to respond effectively to global processes that inevitably affect Lithuania’s development. The second reason, she says, is the need to reflect on who we are and where we are going.

“The process of developing the State Progress Strategy is, on the one hand, an opportunity to build capacity for a strategic response to longer-term external processes, some of which we are already anticipating, namely climate change, automation, and others. It is also an opportunity to address issues that may slip through the cracks of the everyday political agenda or discourse but are no less important for their impact; these include negative demographic trends with all their causes and consequences, growing political and societal fragmentation, or cultural and educational discrepancies. Thus, drafting the strategy provides a platform, on the one hand, to develop a response to global factors, and, on the other hand, to raise important, profound questions for oneself and discuss them among the different societal and social groups and decision-makers,” I. Petraitė says.

Quality education in the future - exclusively for the elite?

Nerija Putinaitė, Associate Professor at the Institute of International Relations and Political Science (IIRPS) at Vilnius University, named three trends in education that are out of our control but have both good and bad consequences. According to the Associate Professor, the first trend is digitization.

“Whether we like it or not, digitization is part of our reality. Digitization will likely become even stronger and more widespread as time passes. What does that mean? First of all, education will become even more individualized, which means that these tools let everyone study wherever they want. On the positive side, there are more opportunities, but there are also negative consequences, e.g., if a common national knowledge shapes a nation, how do we achieve it then? Will some education segment shaping us as a nation remain? What is the point of a physical university then?” ponders the Associate Professor at VU IIRPS.

On the other hand, according to N. Putinaitė, digitization also poses another challenge linked to another global trend - social exclusion. According to the Associate Professor at VU IIRPS, there is a growing disparity between the groups that find education services accessible or not accessible.

“While there are many opportunities, a group of people find these opportunities completely out of reach. They lack motivation, incentives, or the means to take advantage of it. This is one of the greatest challenges. And with an ageing population, learning opportunities are increasingly more relevant,” the VU researcher says.

N. Putinaitė also draws attention to the importance of quality education. One of the worst-case scenarios, she says, is that quality education becomes available to a tiny elite group.

“We may all have higher education diplomas, but only a very small percentage of people will have a quality education, a diploma valued in the market,” says the Associate Professor at VU IIRPS.

How do students imagine Lithuanian education in 30 years?

Julija Jarutytė, Head of the VU SR Office, believes that students want quality education to be accessible to more people, now and in the future. The student representative points to other aspects - openness and inclusion of different groups.

“Another important aspect is competencies and opportunities for self-expression. In my opinion, university culture is significant and should remain despite the various changes,” J. Jarutytė says.

Mobility is also one of the important elements without which students cannot imagine their future education. VU is already a member of the Alliance of European Universities (ARQUS) allowing one to get a double degree. Thus, according to J. Jarutytė, individual learning, which is already in place at Vilnius University, is expected to grow even more in the future.

Asked about one of the ambitions of the students - free and affordable international-level higher education - N. Putinaitė said free education simply does not exist.

“But the fact that there may be national treaties, a European area with separate funding outside the student’s pocket, and that social groups in need will be taken into account, I think this will become a reality because we are already moving towards it,” says the Associate Professor at VU IIRPS.

In March, VU and STRATA organized a workshop to develop future scenarios attended by experts in various fields, as well as representatives of science, business, culture, and the public. Four different hypothetical future scenarios emerged from these meetings, mainly relating to the tensions between autocratic and democratic states and education – its stagnation or irreversible breakthrough.

In May and June, a total of six discussions took place in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaipėda, where experts from various fields discussed possible scenarios for Lithuania’s future, focusing on topics that are important for the country’s development: security, society, education (science and technology), economics, climate change, and governance.

The State Progress Strategy Lithuania 2050 is being prepared using an innovative foresight method. The planned duration for the strategy implementation is more than twenty years (from 2024 until 2050). The legal draft is to be submitted to the Seimas by 10 March 2023. The Lithuania 2050 Strategy is being developed by the Office of the Government in collaboration with the Seimas Committee for the Future, STRATA, and Vilnius University.