RTU Receives The Visit from The President Of The 76th Session Of The United Nations General Assembly

On 21 July 2022, the President of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Maldives, Abdulla Shahid, paid a visit to RTU, holding a meeting with the management and visiting the Innovative Product Development Unit, Fiber Optical transmission systems laboratory and Water Research and Environmental Biotechnology Laboratory.  

Rector Leonīds Ribickis emphasized, that RTU, as a higher education and research institution, has prioritized the achievement of several UN Sustainable Development Goals in its strategy, that are in line with University’s research platforms. 

Vice-Rector for Research Tālis Juhna highlighted the importance of RTU strategic foundations – studies, science and innovations, which fosters the commercialization of products developed by scientists. He stressed the involvement of students in the creation of prototypes of innovative products: “We give students the freedom to dream”, making a point of the need to encourage young people to develop innovation that give a significant contribution to the national economy.

 

RTU Hosts The Secretary-General Of The United Nations Conference On Trade And Development

On July 19, Vice-Rector for Research, Academician Tālis Juhna and Vice-Rector for Strategic Development, Mr Artūrs Zeps met with the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), Rebecca Grynspan and the Ambassador of Latvia to the United Nations in Geneva, Bahtijors Hasans.

During the meeting, T. Juhna and A. Zeps outlined activities implemented in compliance with both RTU Strategy and Resolution «Transforming our World: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development», which has been adopted at the United Nations General Assembly on 25 September 2015.

Among the issues under consideration, significant importance in talks was given to Resolution’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) related to RTU contribution to the provision of inclusive and equitable quality education, sustainable management of water and sanitation, and building of sustainable innovation environment.

As for other SDG related to the global partnerships for sustainable development, T. Juhna emphasized RTU’s contribution in the implementation of international projects, aiming to develop technical and innovation pedagogy solutions for health care industry in the Southern African Development Community countries.

Drawing on information provided, RTU representatives, Rebecca Grynspan and Bahtijors Hasans discussed possibilities for further developments of inter-institutional cooperation between RTU and higher education institutions and industry in all continents, and how each of meeting’s participants could contribute to make it happen.

Enhancing Self-Leadership Skills: EU-leadS Priority

On the 8th of April 2022, the International Projects Unit (IPU) of the International Cooperation and Foreign Students Department (ICFSD), RTU, joined 3 partner organizations from Spain and Italy. The objective of this Erasmus+ project « EU-leadS » lies in the sharing of innovative methods and approaches to foster the resilience and sustainable development of European SMEs. Therefore, the partners aim to provide a continuous training to entrepreneurs, aspiring ones as well as to trainers from different educational sectors. In order to exchange good practices on self-leadership, the project is organized according to the following activities:

1. Collection of inspiring practices, tools and testimonies enhancing entrepreneurial self-leadership;

2. Learning mobility in Spain, creation of national pilots and report of lessons learned;

3. Organisation of a multiplier event in Italy.

The activities of the EU-leadS project aim to focus on the technical skills and cognitive, emotional, social and relational dimensions of entrepreneurship. These aspects act like a springboard to enhance self-leadership skills among trainers, entrepreneurs, aspiring ones or any other professionals active for the enhancement of individual skills.

This project is coordinated by FacilitAscolto, an Italian association specialized in modern and ancient disciplines that preserve and develop personal care.

For more information about the project, please contact the International Projects Units of RTU : Lily Bethencourt (Lily.Bethencourt@edu.rtu.lv)

A Face-To-Face Meeting of the EUt+ Consortium Takes Place in Riga

From 28th of June to 1st of July 2021 Riga Technical University (RTU), one of the 8 members of the European University of Technology (EUt+), hosted a face-to-face meeting of the alliance for the first time since the work on its creation began in November 2020.

During the meeting, delegates discussed matters related to student and staff mobility, emphasizing the main achievements and some obstacles in the implementation of mobility within the EUt+.

As for the execution of the strategy of a single identity for global outreach, members of EUt+ held a meeting with RTU counterparts from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jordan and Korea, in order to discuss possibilities for further cooperation in students and staff exchange, as well as for implementation of joint research projects.

Concerning to five recently launched common programs (clusters) – Civil Engineering, Telecommunications, Industrial Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Architecture, EUt+ management representatives discussed matters related to automatic recognitions of credits and provision of a sense of community on all campuses. On June 30, the panel discussion “Ethical and Responsible Innovation” took place, where distinguished guests representing EUt+ and the Latvian innovation and startup ecosystem discussed issues related to innovations from the legal, economic and political standpoint.

On the occasion of the 160th anniversary of RTU, representatives of EUt+ planted trees in RTU Ķīpsala campus, as well as enjoyed the traditional RTU Grand Graduation, a festive concert and an exhibition of products and prototypes developed by RTU scientists and students.