Wednesday 6th March 2024, IMREDD welcomed students from North Carolina state University for an inter-university partnership with ten MSc IDEX students from MSc BOOST (Biocontrol Solutions for Plant Health), MSc MARRES and MSC Engineers for Smart Cities. This event organized by the International Development and Europe Department of UniCA, is intended to promote a new international mixed experience that encourage global engagement focused on sustainability and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.  The international experience will be structured around an approach combining collaborative international e-learning activities and two weeks of intensive in-person training at UniCA.

The students had the opportunity to participate in an immersive Urban Technologies workshop on 3D Modeling and extended Reality ( XR) presented by Matteo Caglioni, Associate professor in Geography and MSc Engineers for Smart City director. Students had access to VR headsets and XR glasses in order to step into virtual world, interact with digital objects in physical space, and witness firsthand the transformative potential of XR technology.

Then, students from MSC Engineers for Smart Cities presented their projects :

• Energy at home: the students have taken the role of cosmopolitan innovators invited by leading change makers from 4 cities to respond sustainably to their neighborhood/household’s Energy challenged while taking into consideration possible future realities. The cities are Lagos ( Nigeria), Karachi  ( Pakistan), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Vardo ( Norway).
• Mobility in the Alpes-Maritimes: Student’s had to work on a real and applied project proposed by IMREDD’s local partners ( authorities, enterprises, research labs).  They worked on 2 mobility projects aimed at reducing road traffic and private-car dominance with two main axes : Promoting cycling through the creation of road infrastructure ( bikes lanes, cycle paths, bicycle equipment), and promoting carpooling thanks to the multiplication of dedicated parking lots.

This program ignites a dynamic exchange of ideas where participants learn from each other’s insights and diverse viewpoints. We are proud to had the chance to be part of this inter-university partnership and are looking forward to the next edition.