RTU Students Take a Step Towards Personal and Professional Growth in “Step by Step” – with Active Involvement from LSIWC

On 7–8 November, Riga Technical University hosted the event “Step by Step: How to Be the Best of the Best”, aimed at strengthening students’ personal development and interdisciplinary skills. This year, the Latvian State Institute of Wood Chemistry (LSIWC) was one of the key partners, and the institute’s representative — PhD Daniela Godiņa, Chair of the LSIWC Student Council and researcher at the Biorefinery Laboratory — coordinated the event from our institute’s side.

LSIWC Contribution: the “Green University” Challenge

LSIWC designed a timely and creative challenge for students — “Green University”, inviting them to think about improving the university environment and developing sustainable approaches for everyday practices. Under Daniela’s leadership, the task encouraged students to generate ideas related to:

• energy efficiency,

• resource savings and waste reduction,

• a healthy and safe study environment,

• strengthening community engagement.

The ideas developed by the students reflected not only technical thinking, but also a strong ability to see the broader social and environmental context — skills that are increasingly important in today’s science, industry, and research. One of the teams focused specifically on social sustainability, highlighting issues such as stress, burnout, and social isolation among modern students. They proposed a concept for a friendly, supportive space for conversations and mental recovery, emphasizing that a sustainable university is not only an environmentally conscious infrastructure but also a strong and connected student community.

LSIWC’s involvement in this task reflects the institute’s broader interest in sustainable solutions and in fostering responsible, forward-thinking mindsets among the next generation.

“The students’ ideas showed how broadly and responsibly the young generation can think about the university environment — not only about technologies, but also about people and community. Our aim was to encourage them to view problems from different perspectives, and they succeeded wonderfully,” highlighted PhD Daniela Godiņa.

Tasks Prepared by Other Companies

In addition to the LSIWC challenge, students also worked on an assignment developed by DNB Latvia branch, which invited them to step into the role of business strategists and analyse the factors influencing the potential establishment of a new service centre in a given region. The task involved market analysis, evaluating the availability of specific skill sets, and formulating well-reasoned decisions based on data and key metrics.

DNB Latvia branch also offered a second strategic challenge — to think about the future of customer experience in the financial sector and explore innovative technologies that could enhance interaction between banks and their clients. Students were asked to analyse trends, understand user needs, and develop conceptual solutions for new forms of customer service. This strengthened their analytical and argumentation skills and broadened their understanding of business processes.

Another student team explored engineering-based solutions to improve the university’s energy efficiency. They presented a creative concept showing how everyday movements in lecture halls could be transformed into small amounts of electricity using kinetic-energy principles. This task encouraged students to think about prototype development and to explore unconventional approaches to sustainable energy use.

Strengthening Collaboration Between the University and Science

LSIWC’s participation in the “Step by Step” camp highlights the institute’s commitment to actively engaging in the education of future specialists — not only by offering practical challenges, but also by enriching the experience with a scientific perspective. This collaboration creates fertile ground for discussion, the development of new ideas, and mutually strengthens both the academic environment and industry partners.