SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals - 2.3. Education for SDGs in the wider community - Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences
SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals
SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals - 2.3. Education for SDGs in the wider community
Last modified: 24. November 2025
2.3. Education for SDGs in the wider community
MATE actively extends its SDG-focused educational efforts beyond its campuses, engaging the wider community through dedicated outreach programs. These initiatives target alumni, local residents, and displaced people, providing accessible learning opportunities that raise awareness of sustainable development, promote practical skills, and foster environmentally and socially responsible practices. By involving diverse groups, the university strengthens community engagement and contributes to local capacity-building in line with the SDGs.
MATE Alumni
MATE Alumni’s goal is to provide an opportunity for the former students to connect with each other and stay in touch with their alma mater as well as with the small community of students who used to study together and belong to a professional community. They provide information to the membership through newsletters, and from January 2022 they provide information, news and discounts also by their Alumni Card program. MATE Alumni helps to highlight students who achieved professional success after graduation, and with their presence in the country represent an added value. MATE Career Trails-videos and Success stories can be inspirational for the young students:
https://alumni.uni-mate.hu/en/success-stories.
MATE Alumni is planning to prepare special events, alumni meetings and a publications for alumni called Alumni Magazine. They would like to work with their former students who can professionally strengthen the University, to help the current students as mentors, thereby supporting future generations of MATE. Also as part of the MATE 2030 Strategy, the Alumni Program is currently under development.
https://alumni.uni-mate.hu/en/
Researcher’s Night
Researchers' Night, a Europe-wide event, traditionally takes place on the last Friday of September each year. It is for everyone: from the very young to the very old, there is something for everyone. From 2018, the event has run over two days, usually at the end of September, showcasing the importance of science and the colourful careers of researchers through spectacular, interactive and diverse activities. All disciplines are represented with interesting programmes at the event. Whether you are interested in the natural sciences, engineering, medicine, agriculture, social sciences, humanities or even the arts, you are sure to find an interesting and attractive programme. As for the types of programmes, there are lectures, workshops, talks, exhibitions, guided tours, experiments, laboratory visits, demonstrations, competitions, films, creative activities and much more. It offers online and offline programmes, some of them are hybrid.
The coronavirus outbreak also demonstrates the importance of science in shaping the future of our world. R&D and innovation; the production of new knowledge-intensive products is the key to Europe's future competitiveness. This is particularly true for the economic renewal in the post-epidemic period. It is therefore of the utmost importance to present the researcher to society and to raise young people's awareness of the potential of a career in research and development. While the first Researchers' Night saw only a few institutions open their doors and organise interesting programmes, in 2024 tens of thousands of visitors were welcomed by more than 200 partner institutions in nearly 50 towns and cities in Hungary, with more than 2 500 programmes. More than a million people in nearly 5,000 cities across Europe took part in the Science Day. All programmes are free of charge.
Researchers’ Night is a flagship annual event held across multiple MATE campuses, showcasing the University’s scientific community. In September 2024, the celebration engaged a wide audience through diverse programmes hosted at several locations, including the Buda Campus in Budapest, the Georgikon Campus in Keszthely, and the Károly Róbert Campus in Gyöngyös.
https://uni-mate.hu/h%C3%ADr/-/content-viewer/kutatok-ejszakaja_a-maten/20123
"The World of Science" scientific event at MATE Károly Róbert Campus
During this annual scientific events, where young people can learn about national and international scientific achievements, but also aims to guide young people towards scientific careers. Through scientific and educational programmes, it brings young people closer to research and introduces them to the latest research results. The Károly Róbert Campus has been involved in the event for more than a decade, with numerous presentations in Hungarian and English.
Short extracts from the lectures associated with the event can be found here:
https://press.mater.uni-mate.hu/185/
Sharing knowledge and skills
MATE’s Department of Water Management and Climate Adaptation actively encourages students to apply their water-management knowledge within their local communities. Beyond teaching and research, the department aims to provide off-campus support for water conservation initiatives. Students enrolled in courses such as Agrometeorology and Water Management, Water Treatment and Utilization, Water Management, Water Quality, and Water Resources Engineering are motivated to share their skills and expertise outside the university. Particular emphasis is placed on working with communities in the watershed of the Rákos Stream, located near the Szent István Campus. To support public access to environmental information, the department makes data from its meteorological station in Gödöllő openly available and is developing a local soil-moisture estimation system to offer timely irrigation guidance based on ongoing research.
https://environment.uni-mate.hu/en/department-of-water-management-and-climate-adaptation
They have demonstrated their related expertise at a conference organized by local NGO’s (link). Data from their meteorological station in Gödöllő is publicly available (link), and they are also currently developing a local soil moisture estimation system, to provide timely information for irrigation to locals, based on the results of their research project (FK12480).
MATE’s Institute of Horticultural Sciences and its Centre for Adult Education and Consultancy offer a hands-on Summer (Green) Pruning Course across four locations in Hungary. This practical training complements spring pruning by teaching participants how to manage the vegetative growth of fruit trees during the growing season, helping to maintain yield balance and long-term tree health. In addition, attendees learn “sleeping” grafting — a widely used propagation method — and explore how the timing of green pruning can support both plant protection and fruit bud development. Designed for anyone from hobby gardeners to professional orchardists, the course starts with a short theoretical session, followed by fieldwork in MATE’s experimental orchards, and concludes with a certificate of completion.
MATE, in partnership with ABZ Drone Ltd., offers a professional-level plant-protection drone pilot training that combines technical, regulatory, and practical modules. Participants learn about drone hardware, aviation laws, agrometeorology, and agricultural software, as well as how to operate both survey and spraying drones for crop protection. The programme includes at least 84 hours of theoretical instruction and a minimum of 18 hours of hands-on flight training. Successful trainees can also obtain an official unmanned aircraft operator license under a special operational category. The course is taught by industry-experienced pilots and drone experts, and it provides full support for administrative and licensing procedures.
Horticultural days
Each semester MATE hosts a variety of fairs and events that bring producers and consumers together for direct interaction. These events take place at MATE’s Horticultural Training Facility or on the Buda Campus as part of the spring and autumn garden exhibitions.
The “Spring Garden” horticultural days were held on MATE’s Buda Campus from 19–21 April, drawing nearly ten thousand visitors to the Budai Arboretum. Now in its 34th year, the event hosted around one hundred exhibitors offering a wide variety of ornamental plants, seedlings, gardening tools and artisan products, alongside the national Bonsai and Suiseki Exhibition. The programme included professional workshops, guided tours and demonstrations by MATE experts, while the opening ceremony and a student competition award presentation added further highlights. The fair also featured the newly established MATE Agrárcsoport Kft., showcasing its diverse horticultural products.
Also, the Buda Campus hosted the “Autumn Garden” horticultural days from October 11 to 13, 2024, an event that offered something for both plant enthusiasts and visitors interested in diverse programs and exhibitions. Horticultural companies showcased their products, including annual flower seedlings, flower bulbs, perennial ornamental plants, cacti, orchids, and chrysanthemums. Culinary experiences were also featured, with visitors able to taste and purchase local honey, jams, and other delicacies.
Open educational programmes of the Szarvas Arborétum
Young and elderly alike can enjoy a rich variety of activities in the 82-hectare Szarvas Arboretum, which hosts more than 1,600 woody species — including a 150-year-old giant sequoia — as well as emus, Indian peafowl, squirrels, bunnies, deer and many other animals. Visitors can explore thematic routes such as the Bolza Mariette Alley with its ten information boards and seven covered stations, the shorter “Little Tour” trail supported by the Greening Footprints app, or the outdoor art exhibition Shining Stones. Children can play on an exciting wooden playground, discover outdoor games along the pathways, or join thematic summer and autumn day camps, while regular nature-education programmes engage kindergarten and school groups.
The arboretum offers a rich programme of traditional and seasonal events, including chamber concerts, painting exhibitions, running competitions, handicraft workshops and ECO classes. Night tours, bird-friendly programmes, gardening lectures and nature camps further broaden the experience. Guided botanical tours are available in Hungarian, English and German, while additional thematic tours — such as bicycle tours, worksheet-based tours, or forest-park walks — are provided in Hungarian. The newest attraction, an interactive forest-park tour, introduces visitors to the meditation area, ecological play park and a biblical medicinal plant garden.
At the heart of the garden lies the Magic Farm of Count Pepi, an interactive botanical museum ideal also for foreign-language groups. The Agricultural Exhibition, housed in the Meteorological Station building, showcases the history of beekeeping and agricultural training, complemented by a modern field table, a fishing exhibition, a cereal display unit and a visit to the meteorological measurement station.