Highlights from the Days of Sustainable Development and Social Innovation for Young People event hosted by UTCB 

EU-CONEXUS partners from UTCB hosted the second edition of the event “Journées du développement durable et de l’innovation sociale pour les jeunes 2024 “—Days of Sustainable Development and Social Innovation for Young People.  

The event was co-organised by UTCB, AUF-Bureau Central and Eastern Europe (a global network of French-speaking higher education and research institutions that EU-CONEXUS is a member of), and the Austrian Cultural Forum in Bucharest.  

The distinguished guests who spoke during the opening ceremony included: 

• Rudolf Schatz, Minister Plenipotentiary of the Austrian Embassy in Romania 

• Julien Chiappone-Lucchesi, Director of the Institut Français de Roumanie 

• Laure Castin, Regional Director of the Francophone University Agency—Central and Eastern Europe Office 

• Isabella Baer-Eiselt, EU-CONEXUS Executive Director 

• Ilinca Năstase, Vice-Rector for Scientific Research and International Relations, UTCB 

The conference drew the attention of Romanian and international students toward current topics, such as the stakes of climate change, sustainable development, and innovative projects in this field. 

The themes of this edition were: 

• Circular architecture and reuse of construction materials 

• Urban regeneration and sustainable solutions for construction—wood 

• Air quality and climate change stakes. 

Among the attendants of this conference were students from Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest, the University of Agronomic Sciences and Veterinary Medicine in Bucharest, the National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, the “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest, the Danubius

International University in Galați , Transilvania University of Brașov, Università di Corsica Pasquale Paoli, University of Limoges, École Spéciale des Travaux Publics, du Bâtiment et de l’Industrie (ESTP), and international representatives of other EU-CONEXUS partner universities: Catholic University of Valencia, University of Rostock, Agricultural University of Athens.  

Romanian and international students had the opportunity to meet experts from fields related to the core topics. Together, they explored such urgent and interesting topics as:  

• “Ilots de fraîcheur et qualité de l’air pour des villes vivables et durables. Etude de cas projet DivAirCity en Bucarest”, Cristiana Croitoru, UTCB 

• “Le bois – a durable solution for constructions”, Ioana Teodorescu, UTCB  

• “Approaching circularity in different fields and contexts of urban design as well as construction industry”, Andreea Crudici, Sebastian Hafner, ROMM forschen planen bauen ZT  

• “Régénération urbaine et économie circulaire”, Tatian Diaconu, TD Real Estate Consultancy 

These presentations were followed by two workshops: 

• “Circularity as a tool to contribute to climate repair: Challenges and Opportunities”, Andreea Crudici, Sebastian Hafner, ROMM forschen planen bauen ZT and  

• “Respirer bien: Pourquoi la qualité de l’air est essentielle?”, Cristiana Croitoru, UTCB.

On behalf of EU-CONEXUS, we would like to thank the event coordinators: 

• Mihaela Alion, Project Manager, AUF-Central and Eastern Europe 

• Alexandru Aldea, President of the UTCB Senate 

• Andrei Popov, Deputy Director of the Austrian Cultural Forum, Bucharest.  

Furthermore, we would like to extend our gratitude to the event partners: 

• EU-CONEXUS  

• Office of Architecture ROMM forschen planen bauen ZT 

• Organization internationale de la Francophonie (OIF) 

• Representation of the OIF for Central and Eastern Europe 

• French Institute of Romania in Bucharest  

• RFI Romania 

• Representatives of the Chambre de commerce et d’Industrie France Roumanie. 

On behalf of all EU-CONEXUS partners, we hope that such events will continue to raise awareness about the importance of social innovation as well as sustainable and durable development of our society.