Rugilė Matusevičiūtė – Making sustainability engaging in Lithuania

Rugilė Matusevičiūtė is a sustainability advocate and EU Climate Pact Ambassador in Lithuania for over a year, she is a multi-skilled content creator and communicator working across various projects to raise awareness about the importance of sustainability, presenting it as a cool and trendy topic. She manages a communication agency, hosts a radio show, and works as a content manager, all with the goal of engaging people in meaningful climate action.

“I'd say my main goal is to find unique ways to grab people's attention towards this topic and just create sustainability, a cool and trendy topic that people want to participate in,” says Rugilė. Whether through educational initiatives, public events or collaborations with local and EU organisations, she aims to make sustainability a natural part of everyday life.

Bringing climate action to Lithuania

As an EU Climate Pact Ambassador, Rugilė helps bring the latest climate news and policies to Lithuania. She works with the European Commission to spread fact-checked information and encourages collaboration among activists.

“I became an EU Climate Pact Ambassador more than a year ago,” she explains. “Back then, it was a pretty small group of people—around 10 or 15 of us in Lithuania. Now, the community has grown quite a lot.”

The Climate Pact network allows ambassadors to share ideas, promote events and support each other's projects. Some travel to Brussels for EU meetings, while others organise local initiatives. “For example, tomorrow we're going to the Lithuanian parliament, where we will have a presentation about decarbonisation of Lithuania,” she shares, highlighting how Climate Pact Ambassadors engage in high-level discussions.

Vilnius as the European Green Capital 2025

As an EU Green Capital Ambassador, Rugilė supports Vilnius’ sustainability projects as the city prepares for its 2025 European Green Capital title. “I became the ambassador this year because Vilnius is the European Green Capital for 2025. But I've been working with the municipality for quite some time, especially actively since 2024.”

One of her most exciting projects was a Earth Day concert on April 22, featuring major Lithuanian artists performing for free to raise awareness and support forest conservation efforts. With backing from the Vilnius municipality, this project highlights how collaboration can create large-scale impact. The Earth Day concert became the biggest environmental initiative in Lithuania's history, attracting over 15 000 people in one place.

Sustainability initiatives in Vilnius

Vilnius has made great strides in sustainability and Rugilė is excited about several key initiatives. The city is actively promoting community gardens, helping residents create their own green spaces where they can grow food and build stronger neighbourhood connections. “Community gardens naturally become a space for neighbours to come together – whether it’s for gardening, dinners or local events,” she explains.

Another major effort is preserving wildflower fields in urban areas rather than cutting them down. This not only benefits pollinators and birds but also helps reduce urban heat islands by retaining more moisture in the environment. 

Additionally, Vilnius has focused on strategic tree planting to increase its urban tree canopy using collected data to determine the best locations for new trees to provide shade, reduce pollution and create a healthier urban landscape. “In general, Vilnius has been planting thousands of trees every year to increase the city centre's greenery.”

These initiatives, along with various public events and educational efforts, are shaping Vilnius into a greener, more sustainable city. 

Rugilė believes many people avoid sustainability because they see it as too difficult or boring. That’s why she focuses on fun, interactive ways to spread awareness – like festivals, social gatherings and hands-on activities.

“There's this understanding that living sustainably is difficult, that you have to refuse a lot of things and live in a very ascetic way. But it's not true. Sustainable living can be healthy, nice, fun and beautiful,” she says. 

To shift this perception, she works on projects that engage people through entertainment and social incentives, from concerts to community events and even board games about climate change.

The future of sustainability advocacy

Looking back at her journey, Rugilė is inspired by how much Lithuania has changed in just ten years. What started as a small movement of a few passionate activists has now become a nationwide conversation, with thousands of people engaging in sustainability efforts.

“There are so many unique aspects that other cities haven’t even thought about yet and Vilnius is already doing them,” she says, noting the city's commitment to food waste recycling, cycling infrastructure and biodiversity protection. Still, she acknowledges there’s a long way to go. “Of course, there’s always a long way to actually create the greenest city in Europe. But at the same time, Vilnius is trying. They’re definitely trying.”

Her motivation? Seeing real change happen.

“If you have a calling for something – if you're a really good artist, you can sell your work and donate some money or focus your art on these topics. If you're an organiser like I am, you do events and initiatives. If you're a teacher, you can teach kids,” she says. “Once you learn about the issues and you start caring about them, it sort of becomes a natural calling.”

With her passion, creativity and dedication, Rugilė Matusevičiūtė is proving that sustainability isn’t just necessary – it’s something people can truly enjoy being part of.