The AI2SEP (Artificial Intelligence to Solve Environmental Problems) Erasmus+ project brought together educators and researchers from five European universities to apply artificial intelligence to environmental challenges. Supported by Oracle Academy, the collaboration culminated in the publication of the open-access volume Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Challenges: Research Insights and Emerging Solutions by the University of Maribor Press on June 18, 2026.
Artificial intelligence is often discussed in terms of models, algorithms, and computing power. Yet the most meaningful advances rarely begin with technology alone. They begin with people — educators, researchers, students, and institutions working together to solve problems that no single discipline or organization can address on its own.
This idea sits at the heart of the AI2SEP EU-funded Erasmus+ project that brought together universities from Poland, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, and Croatia around a shared goal: applying AI to some of today’s most pressing environmental challenges, affecting communities across Europe.
Universities join together in pursuit of shared goal
The AI2SEP consortium is led by the University of Silesia (Poland) and brings together Pavol Jozef Šafárik University in Košice (Slovakia), the University of Zagreb Faculty of Organization and Informatics (Croatia), Vilnius University (Lithuania), and the University of Maribor, Faculty of Organizational Sciences (Slovenia).
Oracle Academy has had the privilege of supporting this collaborative journey since its inception back in 2023. Seeing the project deliver one of its most important outputs, the publication of the open-access scientific volume, is a rewarding reminder that educational collaborations can have lasting research impact.
The volume is edited by Professor Robert Leskovar of the University of Maribor. It is dedicated to the late Professor Andrzej Grzybowski of the University of Silesia, whose vision helped initiate the AI2SEP project and bring the consortium together in 2023. The volume reflects the diversity of expertise across the consortium and demonstrates how AI methods can be applied to a wide range of environmental challenges.
Across eight chapters, it brings together research on renewable energy, environmental monitoring, sustainable finance, and urban sustainability, illustrating the breadth of expertise that emerged from the project collaboration. It also includes contributions from researchers at all career stages, from experienced professors to doctoral students and emerging researchers, working together toward common goals.
This kind of international cooperation creates benefits that extend well beyond a single research project. It builds professional networks, encourages knowledge exchange, and prepares students to work in multidisciplinary environments where technical expertise must be combined with communication, critical thinking, and collaboration.
Project connects AI education to real world
As AI education continues to evolve, students today need more than programming skills or theoretical knowledge of machine learning. They increasingly expect opportunities to apply AI to meaningful societal challenges, whether in healthcare, sustainability, smart cities, or environmental protection.
Projects like AI2SEP demonstrate how universities can create these opportunities, delivering a result that is technically rigorous while remaining firmly connected to real-world problems.
Oracle Academy’s goal is to support educators in preparing the next generation of technology professionals through teaching, learning, innovation, and collaboration. AI2SEP illustrates how educational partnerships can extend beyond teaching and create opportunities for researchers, educators, students, policymakers, and industry partners to work together on shared challenges.
Artificial Intelligence and Environmental Challenges: Research Insights and Emerging Solutions stands as one visible outcome of the AI2SEP journey — a publication that advances scientific knowledge while demonstrating the value of international collaboration in preparing the next generation of AI professionals.
For us at Oracle Academy, that may be the most meaningful result of all.