Institute of Sustainable Education continues to expand its cooperation network towards the East – a land of rich potential and vast opportunities. The first week of June was the culmination of a year’s worth of tireless effort – the 11th JTEFS/BBCC conference “Sustainable Development. Culture. Education” received its veteran participants from the BBCC network as well as welcomed new members of the growing BBCC family. The second decade of the conference began in Russia in the generally acclaimed Europe’s northern Venice, the legendary Saint-Petersburg. The responsibility for the organisation of this annual scientific forum was shared between the Institute of Sustainable Education and Saint‑Petersburg State University of Architecture and Civil Engineering (SPSUACE).

During four intensive days, 94 participants from 17 countries such as Estonia, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Latvia, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Sweden, Taiwan, Turkey, Uzbekistan and Zimbabwe discussed the insights from their educational research and practices through the lens of the UNO Decade of Education for Sustainable Development 2005-2014, celebrated successes as significant milestones, discussed the ways of navigating related challenges as well as attempted to envision the future beyond the soon-to-be-finished Decade.

The 11th edition of the conference ran under the umbrella topic “Learning environment: Seeking sustainable solutions”. Contributions in the form of keynote speeches during plenary sessions as well as paper presentations, poster presentations and workshops were given in the following sections:

• Education focused on sustainable development and the needs of modern society
• Research methodology in ESD studies
• Learning environment in children’s education
• Innovative methods for sustainability-oriented pre-school and primary education
• Designing educational institutions for children and adults
• Teacher education for sustainability: Seeking innovative methods
• Sustainability-oriented professional and adult education
• Educational environment in education of architects, designers and engineers
• Additional education in the field of architecture and urban planning

We thank all the contributors to the 11th JTEFS/BBCC conference “Sustainable Development. Culture. Education” for making this event the rich and rewarding learning experience that it turned out to be for participants and organisers alike.