UASR Forum 2021

On November 19th the Annual UASR Presidents’ Forum took place, at the end of two weeks of online events organized by Polimi and XJTU.

The first week (8-11 November) was entirely dedicated to the Heritage sub-Alliance Roundtable, curated this year by Professor Luigi Spinelli with the patronage of Unesco Mantova Chair. The Conference, entitled “Heritage Management: Musealization or Use?”, aroused a lot of interest with the registration of 181 people, including students, professors, researchers and professionals.

The second week (15-19 November), dedicated to the topic “Sustainability”, was opened by the UASR Executive Committee Meeting during which 14 universities representatives shared their proposals for the Alliance’s future.

Three conferences took place from Tuesday to Thursday:

  • “Towards a Sustainable Post Pandemic Society”, curated by Polimi Professors Pierluigi Salvadeo and Michela Bassanelli
  • “Sustainable Materials and Manufacturing”, organized by UASR sub-alliances UASR “Advanced Manufacturing Sub-Alliance” and “Materials Science and Engineering Sub-Alliance”,
  • “Energy Storage and Saving”, organized by the “Energy Sub-Alliance”

The Presidents’ Forum on 19 November was attended by the representatives of 17 Universities, including Polimi’s Rector Ferruccio Resta and XJTU’s President Shuguo Wang. At the conclusion of the meeting Prof. Giuliano Noci, from Politecnico and Prof. Xi Guang, from XJTU, summarized UASR future projects, which emerged during the two weeks of events:

  • Focus for the year 2022 on the topic “Converging Cities”, intended as sustainable cities and districts, which place the individual at the centre, and in which innovative technologies (digital and environmental) play a fundamental role, with a particular focus on smart mobility.
  • Facilitate students mobility by:
    • the creation of university networks within which students can easily travel and benefit of mutual credit recognition;
    • the implementation of a summer internships’ scheme (on presence or online)
  • Deepen the collaboration from the research point of view, also involving companies and encouraging PhD mobility among UASR
  • Widen the offer of online courses offered by UASR partner universities, including the  “Civilitation in Museums” series.
  • Develop the “Silk Road Culture and Arts Marathon”project highlight the cultural and touristic attractions of the territories where UASR universities are located, through videos and live broadcasts.

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