News

Between 23rd and 24th of June, Universitatea Tehnică de Construcții București (UTCB) was the host of our University to School Programme. As the aim of this Programme is to boost the cooperation among local EU-CONEXUS universities and partner schools while giving pupils the opportunity to discover some university curricula that they might be interested in, we would like to thank the 50 pupils and 15 professors and parents who made this event possible!

By combining open classes, workshops, training and innovation activities, this edition gathered in Bucharest over 60 pupils from 4 countries – Croatia, Cyprus, Spain and Romania, winners of the final stage of the EU-CONEXUS School Contest. Throughout their activities, the pupils expanded their knowledge on the sustainability of coastal urban areas and brought innovative solutions to real-life problems.

The pupils were taught how to build nZEB buildings (nearly zero energy buildings) by Prof. Mihnea Sandu from UTCB and took part in activities such as:

• Non-formal activities with Bucharest Construction Students Association;
• Climate Fresk Workshop with ClimatoSfera, a multidisciplinary group of people from research, entrepreneurship and the business sector who have come together out of a desire to contribute to facilitating the ecological transition;
• Improvisation and role-playing Workshop with Artists’ Nest;
• Visit to EFdeN Sustainable City, a Romanian educational NGO concerned with bringing sustainability closer to students, young professionals and the general public, that targets urban regeneration, energy-efficient and green architecture as the main interests;
• Presentation of a model for leak testing from the Romanian National Institute for Research-Development in Constructions, Urbanism and Sustainable Territorial Development URBAN-INCERC;
• Presentation by Prof. Janja Filipi, University of Zadar, on ‘The Role of solitary bees in ecosystem’;
• Presentation by Prof. Pablo Vidal, Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir, on the EU-CONEXUS programmes and opportunities;
• Cultural visits in Bucharest.

At the end of the Programme, as a reward for their hard work and diligence, the pupils got to choose a game they like (from a variety of board games and puzzles), courtesy of the sponsors of the event, Constructii Erbasu.

We would like to congratulate the participants of this edition and wish them the best of luck in their future academic endeavors!

• Smiljevac Team, Croatia
• Green Team, Cyprus
• Spain Team, EU-CONEXUS Sustainable Building
• Smart ARChitects Team, ARC Metropolitan School Bucharest, Romania
• Rainbow and Thunder Teams, Gymnasium School ”Smaranda Dumitru Roman” Vizurești, Ciocănești, Romania
• GREENsmarties Team,”Sfintii Voievozi” School, Bucharest, Romania
• Eco Power Team, Colegiul Național Mihai Eminescu, Iași, Romania
• HUBB Team, Ovidius Highschool, Constanța, Romania
• Lego Beasts’ Team, ASTRA Technological High School, Pitești, Romania
• Honterus Team, National College ”Johannes Honterus”, Brasov, Romania
• Biomatics Team, National College of Informatics, Piatra Neamț, Romania

Testimonials from participants

“A wonderful experience! Thank you all for sharing your knowledge and experiences! Always a joy to make new friends!”, Dragoș, Ștefan and Luiza from Metropolitan ARC School, Bucharest.

“To everybody: it was great to meet you all! We want another time!”

“Many thanks on behalf of the Cypriot team. It was lovely meeting you all! Hope to see you again sometime!”

“Thanks on behalf of the Spanish team. It’s been a pleasure to have met you all!”

“Dear friends, we were very happy to be a part of this group. We want to thank our Romanian hosts and organizers for the hospitality and all support! We wish you all the best! Maybe we’ll see you in Zadar, Croatia! Good luck to all of you, dear students and colleagues!”