On Wednesday 6 March 2024, IMREDD welcomed students from North Carolina State University as part of an inter-university partnership with ten students from different MSc IDEX: MSc BOOST (Biocontrol Solutions for Plant Health), MSc MARRES, and MSc Engineers for Smart Cities. This event, organised by UUniversité Côte d'Azur's International Development and Europe Department, aims to promote a new mixed international experience that fosters global commitment to sustainability and the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The proposed international experience will be built around an approach combining collaborative international e-learning activities and two weeks of intensive face-to-face training at Université Côte d'Azur.

The students took part in an immersive urban technology workshop on 3D modelling and virtual reality (XR) presented by Matteo Caglioni, Associate Professor of Geography and Director of the MSc Engineers for Smart Cities . They had access to virtual reality headsets and XR glasses to enter the virtual world, interact with digital objects in physical space and witness the transformative potential of XR technology.
Next, the MSC Engineers for Smart Cities students presented their projects:

• Energy at home: the students took on the role of cosmopolitan innovators invited by the main agents of change in four cities to provide a sustainable response to their neighbourhood's energy challenge while taking into account possible future realities. The cities are Lagos (Nigeria), Karachi (Pakistan), Buenos Aires (Argentina), and Vardo (Norway).
• Mobility in the Alpes-Maritimes: the students worked on two mobility projects aimed at reducing road traffic and the dominance of cars, with two main thrusts: promoting cycling by creating road infrastructure (cycle paths, cycle facilities), and promoting car-sharing by increasing the number of dedicated car parks. This is a real project proposed by IMREDD's local partners (authorities, businesses and research laboratories).

The programme generated a dynamic exchange of ideas and diverse perspectives. We are proud to have had the opportunity to be part of this inter-university partnership and look forward to the next edition.