The scenario

The “Universities: for a future-proof country” document prepared in November 2021 by the Conference of Italian University Rectors states: “Fusion and exchange are values that must be placed at the centre of modern education which, in turn, must stay in step with the changing world of work. Universities must, therefore, set themselves educational goals to be achieved through cross-disciplinary courses.”

This is precisely the goal of the Transitions Technologies courses proposed by the School of Engineering at the University of Padua, in coordination with the Polytechnics of Milan, Turin and Bari and with the Schools of Engineering at the Universities of Bologna, Naples, Palermo and La Sapienza in Rome.

The aim is to train young engineers who are able to operate in a timely and reliable manner within a rapidly-evolving technological environment, through an interdisciplinary approach to problem solving and a systemic view in addition to specific disciplinary training.

The vision of the Transitions Technologies Project

Globalisation, sustainable development goals and the digital transition open up new scenarios and pose new challenges that deeply affect technical and scientific professions. There is a need for a more interdisciplinary training which can integrate technologies within a complex system characterised by several interconnected levels.

The Transitions Technologies Project addresses the training of engineering professionals who are able to address the multidimensional problems posed by the ecological transition (the Green Technologies Expert) and by the digital transition in support of infrastructure (the Smart Infrastructures Expert). These topics are of great strategic relevance, both within the framework of the Next Generation EU Programme and within the context of the measures envisaged by the National Recovery and Resilience Plan for transversal skills.

The Transitions Technologies programme offers flexible, interdisciplinary courses designed to enrich and enhance curricular activities and to create new professional roles, which are strategically relevant in the changing world of work.