Around forty civil and military engineering students studying infrastructure on theAngers campus are rallying around Cities to Be, thethe 8th International Congress on Sustainable Building, of which Arts et Métiers a partner, to be held in Angers on September 12 and 13, 2019.
Angers 2030 - Let's imagine the city of tomorrow
In parallel with the International Sustainable Building Cities to Be, reserved for professionals, engineering students from the Arts et Métiers campus Arts et Métiers are organizing five events on the theme of "Angers 2030 - imagining the city of tomorrow" for citizens.
Supported by the city of Angers, Novabuild, the cluster that brings together construction companies in the Pays de la Loire region, COBATY, the international federation for construction, urban planning, and the environment,COBATY, the international federation for construction, urban planning, and the environment, engineering students work closely with students from the CFA in Maine-et-Loire.
Objective: to raise public awareness of the challenges facing buildings and cities of the future
Organized in line with theUN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the Cities to Be conference will take place in Angers on September 12 and 13. "This is a great opportunity for our students. Today's students are increasingly aware of environmental issues.They are highly motivated, and the organization of these five projects is directly integrated into their training. It is very rewarding for them to organize events aimed at the general public to raise awarenessof environmental initiatives," explains Guillaume Grampeix, teacher. inCivil Engineering and Construction who supervises the students involved.
Focus on the 5 projects organized by the students
Water and environmental management, to encourage everyone to take action, is the common thread running through these five events, which will take place on the banks of the Maine River from September 11 to 14.
We proposed these five projects ourselves and are actively involved in our work, which is very motivating! The actual purpose of these events requires a high degree of rigor in terms of organization and implementation.
1. Temporary floating garden to partially clean up the Maine River using phytoremediation plants
2. Eco-Family Triathlonfeaturing three fun activities (waste collection,magnet fishing, ororienteering) toraise public awareness of pollution in the city
3. SimCity board game, whichaims to make the design of a sustainable city fun for the residents of Angers
4. Giant pop-up bookthatraise awareness about drinking water cycles and consumption (tap and plastic bottle)
5. Reverse Trashtagto raise public awareness of our impact on the environment by creating a photo montage of a polluted site before and after it has been cleaned up
Cross-functional skills to manage these projects
Organizing these events is an opportunity for the forty engineering students to put into practice the cross-disciplinary skills they have acquired in class, such as management, project management, communication, teaching, popular science, graphic design, IT, materials, etc. It also provides an opportunity to develop more technical knowledge, such as CO2 emissions, carbon footprints, urban planning, and architecture, in order to offer the general public cutting-edge environmental initiatives.
A collective effort for complementary expertise
Since the end of April,certain projects have been carried out in partnership with students fromthe Maine-et-Loire CFA(apprenticeship training center) to combine their complementary skills. Three apprentices training in carpentry are working alongside engineering students from the Angers campus to create a model of the SimCityboard game, whilefive apprentice painters are working on a giant pop-up book measuring 1.5 meters in diameter.
It's a great opportunity to build relationships with other teams. It's a collective challenge that requires us to work as a team, just like in a company!
What is Cities to Be?
Organized bythe HQE-GBC Alliance and Novabuild, Cities to Be, the 8th International Sustainable Building Congress, aims to be a congress focused on mobilization, solutions, and action. It will provide an opportunity to discover feedback from the field in France and internationally, learn about innovative projects, pool experiences, share best practices and effective solutions, mobilize stakeholders, and promote French and European expertise. As such, this event aims to simplify the voluntary commitment of stakeholders throughout the construction, development, and real estate value chain.
1,000 participants are expected to attend this interprofessional conference, including 300 international, 300 national, and 400 regional attendees. All stakeholders in the building, real estate, development, infrastructure, and local government sectors—project owners, local authorities, architects, operators, construction companies, manufacturers, suppliers, design offices, urban planners, banks, investors, real estate agents, property managers, and institutions (FAIRE network, ADEME, professional unions, etc.)—will be able to enjoy a rich and varied program based on the following 12 themes: Environmental performance and carbon neutrality, Circular economy, Building renovation and operation, New models: value and green finance, Health and comfort, Mobilizing stakeholders, Mobility and infrastructure, Construction sites, Resilience, Positive and autonomous territories, Outlook for 2030-2050, Hot climate.
In total, there are nearly 60 hours of content available in various formats:
- 3 plenary sessions
- Nearly 50 workshops
- 8 site visits: construction sites or completed projects in the Angers metropolitan area
- 27 pitch solutions: offering manufacturers and project leaders the opportunity to present their solutions
- Plus nine project reviews, round tables, and themed tours, as well as networking areas and a TV set.
