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Nora Fernandez Fernandez
Last week, the participants of SmartWB They made several reports to develop the content of the project. The main objective of this is to modernize the programs of the universities in the Balkan area and adapt them to the demands of sustainability and the SDGs. Among the countries with which it works are Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Serbia.
The SmartWB initiative is a consortium of 15 partners. 12 of them are European universities, including the Rey Juan Carlos University.
The project, which began its journey in February this year, has recently held a workshop at the University of Agronomy in Vienna to specify the actions it will carry out. The meetings have tried to find innovative solutions to the problems generated by climate change and other Sustainable Development Goals. These workshops took place from May 31 to June 2.
According to Carmen De Pablos, professor of Business Organization at the URJC and main researcher of the project from Spain, "during the workshop various reports were made; one related to best practices on sustainability in Europe, another on curricular actions of the program Green Deal, the 'European Green Pact' and another dedicated to identifying the key points in teaching Smart Green, referring to the sustainable development of cities”.
In addition, the working group developed another report that has identified the main problems of the Balkan countries to carry out sustainable actions. Among them, De Pablos points out, "we find the lack of urban legislation, which makes construction chaotic and, now, it is difficult to follow efficiency criteria." The War in the Balkans has also been important, since the migration of people "has meant an unplanned growth of cities and with few environmental awareness criteria," adds the teacher. “In addition, the societies of these countries are very divided internally and when it comes to making policies at the national level it is more difficult,” she comments.
In general, in the Western Balkans area “there is a lack of awareness in society. They are aware of the problem, but for them the environmental issue still does not have as much space. However, the fact that they see Europe as a promoter and want to get closer to their practices is already something very positive”, adds De Pablos.
Specifically, the Rey Juan Carlos University leads work package 3, “the most powerful”, according to De Pablos, in which “the reports that include the guidelines for modernization and management of training courses are developed. These will be given to the professors of the Balkan universities next December in the different campuses of the URJC”, he adds.
In addition, several colleagues from ESCET will also help with the training, "especially in recycling practices and waste management, in which the Fuenlabrada City Council will also collaborate," adds the teacher.
The work package led by the URJC also aims to advise on the purchase of hardware and software tools to modernize its laboratories and materials. Another of the topics that will be dealt with will be employability and how to establish university-company relationships, so that students can carry out internships and gain work experience.