On Wednesday, May 9, the Italian Commissioner General for Expo 2020, Paolo Glisenti, and LUISS Rector Paola Severino, signed a memorandum of understanding on the University's participation in the next World's Fair, hosted by Dubai, Connecting Minds, Creating the Future.
The project aims to promote academic and cultural exchanges on themes related to global citizenship, cultural conservation and sustainability.
"With the agreement we launch a collaboration to organize and promote educational and research activities in the field of digital innovation in line with the event's theme. This creates the foundation for a strong contribution on behalf of Italy in Expo 2020, centered on education to create shared social, economic and cultural value," explains Commissioner General Glisenti.
The University has also begun work on training programs aimed at students from the Mediterranean, particularly in Arab countries, focusing on initiatives that support talent and merit.
"Italy's participation in the next Expo is an amazing opportunity to create specific skills and new abilities, operating in a multicultural context and in rapid expansion like that in Arab countries," states LUISS Rector Paola Severino.
"This dynamism is contagious for the University as well. Over the next years, our challenge is to train new professionals, offering them further career opportunities in key sectors of the economy in line with the market's need for highly qualified and prepared resources that offer a combination of different skills, from management to art, from sustainability to digital know-how."
The University will offer scholarships to its degree and postgraduate programs in the field of digital transformation to create graduates specialized in internationalization of Mediterranean countries, and in the United Arab Emirates.
LUISS offers itself as a partner for academic, social and economic development to countries with which Italy will work more closely with in the near future. The University is furthermore dedicated to involving Italian companies in themes related to Expo Dubai 2020, with the direct participation of its students, who will serve as young ambassadors for the Italian delegation.
The memorandum is a step forward on the university's internationalization path, which includes 200 partnerships with universities in 44 countries. In addition to traditional exhange programs, the university offers over 20 Double Degree and structured partnerships.