On March 29th and 30th the e-SAFE 6th project meeting took place in Timișoara (Romania), and it’s been 2 days full of exciting events and activities!
Over the two days, the consortium held the semestral project meeting in its local pilot, the Liceul Sportiv Banatul of Timișoara, where the e-SAFE technicians visited the building and analysed the critical structural issues in order to develop a suitable renovation project.
But that's not all! The partners also had the opportunity to meet local authorities and hold the e-SAFE public event “Green and seismic safe school for Timișoara”.
Green and seismic safe school for Timișoara
The event, organized by e-SAFE partners BPIE and UNICT in collaboration with the Timișoara Local Platform, and hosted by the POLITEHNICA University of Timișoara, was open to the public and has been an excellent opportunity to learn, discuss and imagine how to build greener and safer schools for all. Representatives from Liceul Banatul, POLITEHNICA University of Timișoara, and e-SAFE project gathered all together for a constructive and stimulating discussion. The event allowed to unveil the renovation plans developed by experts together with Liceul Banatul students and to present the innovative approach that actively brought school children into the design process. All the participants were offered the opportunity to discuss the benefits of renovation and address the next steps for a future renovation of the pilot school.
Florin Drăgan, Rector of POLITEHNICA University of Timișoara, and Ramona Roman, Director of Liceul Sportiv Banatul, welcomed the public and underlined the value of e-SAFE outcomes for the city and its community. Among the many exciting speeches moderated by Vivian Dorizas (BPIE), the e-SAFE coordinator, Prof. Giuseppe Margani of UNICT, explained the main concepts behind the project.
Venera Pavone, urban planner at UNICT, together with the students from Liceul Sportiv Banatul, presented the activity "co-designing an energy efficient and seismic-safe project" that was performed in the school over the past months. The students co-designed with e-SAFE experts the renovation plan for their school, while understanding the process behind it and contributing with their ideas. They found this new experience very interesting, as it was something they had never done in their lives.
Ioan Silviu Doboși, President of the Romanian Association of Building Services Engineers thanked the e-SAFE consortium and said that renovating the Liceul Sportiv Banatul marks an opportunity for the city of Timișoara, which was selected as European Capital of Culture 2023!
Finally, Laura Saija (UNICT) closed this exciting event, stating that e-SAFE is a little bit more than just renovating buildings: “In a world where technical knowledge is far removed from the daily experience of living in a building, the project allowed students to say something meaningful about the spaces in which they live".
e-SAFE buildings on TV!
After the event, Ramona Roman (Director of the Liceul Sportiv Banatul), and Laura Saija (UNICT) were featured in TVR Timisoara. They were invited by the local TV to talk about the goal of e-SAFE, the role of Liceul Sportiv Banatul and about the importance of securing funding for the project.
During the show, Laura Saija reminded that it is crucial to demonstrate to the students that their ideas and creativity matter and to set an example for other schools and municipalities in terms of renovation and codesign that involves children and encourages future generations to think about renovation and sustainability.
