Energy, climate and sustainable development: high school and USI students meet the experts

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Institutional Communication Service

9 December 2019

Global sustainability is at the heart of today’s international debate: the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, also adopted by Switzerland, encourages to actively take part in the dialogue, with the goal of creating a greener economy, which is at the same competitive and efficient. The Institute of Economics (IdEP) of USI Faculty of Economics organises a series of talks on “Energy, climate and sustainable development” and welcomes privileged stakeholders: the young generation.  

The first talk will take place on 16 December at the Lugano campus auditorium. First year Bachelor's students in Economics will take part in the event which will be held within the course "Introduction to Political Economy and Sustainable Development", together with selected students from the cantonal high schools of Lugano 1 and Locarno (about 130 students). For future generations, the concept of sustainable development should be considered a calling, and it also questions their access to resources. In the words of Prof. Massimo Filippini (USI e ETHZ) who organises the first talk “Thanks to the initiative by IdEP, USI wants to be the place were high school students and young university students meet experts in the various fields. A place where they are able to exchange views with representatives of the scientific community, from institutions to economics, to redefine and enrich their definition of sustainability”.

For future generations, the concept of sustainable development should be considered a calling, and it also questions their access to resources. In the words of Prof. Massimo Filippini (USI e ETHZ) who organises the first talk “Thanks to the initiative by IdEP, USI wants to be the place were high school students and young university students meet experts in the various fields. A place where they are able to exchange views with representatives of the scientific community, from institutions to economics, to redefine and enrich their definition of sustainability”.

For future generations, the concept of sustainable development should be considered a calling, and it also questions their access to resources. In the words of Prof. Massimo Filippini (USI e ETHZ) who organises the first talk “Thanks to the initiative by IdEP, USI wants to be the place were high school students and young university students meet experts in the various fields. A place where they are able to exchange views with representatives of the scientific community, from institutions to economics, to redefine and enrich their definition of sustainability”.

The collaboration with cantonal high schools creates a strong bridge with the territory: "The idea of involving our students, at USI's behest, stems from the desire to enrich the activities of the project Sale in zucca of Liceo Cantonale Lugano 1, which also aims to promote conferences and debates on sustainability with experts from the world of science and the humanities, to encourage dialogue on environmental issues and possible sustainable solutions," emphasise teachers Ludovica Cotta-Ramusino and Manuela Varini, also president of the Ticino Society of Natural Sciences (STSN). In this way, students can immediately "meet experts and professionals working in these fields and develop analytical and critical skills to better understand the complexity of relevant issues of the contemporary world".

Thanks to the guests input (the head of the Centre MeteoSvizzera South – Marco Gaia, the director of TicinoEnergia - Fabrizio Noembrini, the Director of SUSPI Institute for Applied Sustainability to the Built Environment - Roman Rudel, the Finance Professor - Laurent Frésard and the CFO of Green Arrow Capital - Alessandro Di Michele), the talk will focus on the environment, technology and economy, three areas that need to find a balance and joint solutions to address challenges such as resource consumption and climate change.

The second and third events are organised by the project Sale in zucca of Liceo cantonale Lugano 1 in collaboration with USI (IdEP) and STSN and supported by the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences: a morning of study (15 January) on global warming, sustainable technologies and economics involving 450 high school students, while on 9 March 2020, an evening conference open to the public will be organised.

 

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