COOPERATION AND SCHOLARSHIPS ABROAD
EU-NICE: A MISSION TO ACCOMPLISH
Scientific cooperation between European and Asian universities, training in the field of seismic safety with the objective that fellows will go back to their country and contribute to reducing earthquake risk. (by Giorgia Cingolani). From March 2012 PAUL Magazine, Rotary District 2080, Lazio Sardegna Italy.
There are cases in which Rotary International has a function although not very well known. Often it is training and building specific skills that can lay the groundwork for improving our world. In this context, there is a project that sees Rotary International join hands with some University in the world, and with the European Commission.
Creator and one of the protagonists of this project is Marco Faggella, a member of the Rotary Club Rome North-East. Marco moved to San Diego as an Ambassadorial Scholar from Rotary District 2120 Puglia and Basilicata (Sponsor Club Rotary Club Potenza). During the 4 years at the University of California San Diego within a PhD project with the University G. D'Annunzio in Pescara, Marco started to attend the Local Rotary and became a member of the La Jolla Golden Triangle Rotary Club. Here he met Rotarians Fary Moini and Steve Brown, currently serving as a Board of Trustees of the Rotary Foundation and very active in humanitarian projects in Afghanistan, who later became his mentor and sponsor in Rotary, and Brian Tucker, founder of the historic GeoHazards International. It is during this experience that the groundwork was laid for the project EU-NICE Erasmus Mundus, a partnership that joins earthquake engineering and capacity building for development cooperation. In an interview made for the Rotary magazine "Paul" Dr. Faggella
illustrates the contents of EU-NICE. This acronym indicates the project
Eurasian University Network for International Cooperation in
Earthquakes. It is made of 100 scholarships funded by the European
Commission within the Erasmus Mundus program and coordinated by the
University of Rome "La Sapienza", with the objective of promoting
scientific cooperation between Universities in Europe and Asia field of
seismic safety.
The project is intended to nationals from various Asian countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Bhutan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Maldives, North Korea, Philippines and Sri Lanka) that are interested in studying or working at one of the partner universities of the project. The European Universities are all centers of excellence for research and higher education in seismic risk mitigation: in addition to the University of Rome, partners are the University of Chieti- Pescara G. D'Annunzio, the University University of Basilicata, the University of Patras in Greece, the University of Aveiro in Portugal, along with Asian universities including the University of Nangarhar in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, among others.
The project is also supported by a number of Associations
and NGOs active in the reduction of earthquake risk (such as ANIDIS, the
Italian National Association of Earthquake Engineering and NGO
GeoHazards Society). Among these associations an important role is
played by Rotary District 2080, often a first actor in International
Development projects, together with the Rotary Club of Jalalabad, an
outpost of the large family of Rotary in Afghanistan. Marco will help us
to understand what precisely the role of Rotary within EU-NICE? "In San
Diego with Steve Brown we have discussed on how to involve Rotary in
seismic risk prevention projects in critical countries. This idea was
realized with the EU-NICE project that has among its objectives the
promotion of world peace through higher education and vocational
training. The result is under our eyes. The project started with a grant
of 2.5 Million Euros from the European Commission. And also thanks
Rotary, which played a role of aggregator among the various
stakeholders, and has understood that the capacity to manage and reduce
the risk of earthquakes cannot be separated from achieving technological
results and research through higher education programs. Rotary
understood that for achieving these goals it is essential to create a
network that would combine the side of science and education with the
humanitarian field that Rotary fully embodies. Somehow in the wake of
the educational program of the "Ambassadorial Scholarships", or the
"World Peace Fellowships". What are the scientific content the project? "Many of the home
Countries of Fellows are known to be very vulnerable to earthquakes.
These regions have also recently suffered the consequences of disastrous
earthquakes. Just think of Pakistan In 2005, it was hit by an
earthquake that caused a total of 80,000 victims, or Afghanistan, which
combines a high seismic risk condition with extreme conflict and
poverty. These are countries with endless metropolises where most of the
houses have come up without anti-seismic criteria. This is to say that
this development cooperation training focuses on methodologies for
studying and designing earthquake-resistant buildings, and simulation
techniques that can be used to model the response of structures to
seismic events and so on. The ultimate goal is that every Fellow will go
back in their country of origin with a stronger curriculum of higher
education to apply at home, obviously adapting the approach to the
characteristics and needs of their country. "What 's your hope for the future? "EU-NICE is a pilot project and has a duration of four years. My wish is that it will become sustainable in the years with private donors funding or with funds from other organizations, perhaps the World Bank or the United Nations ".
"In San Diego with steve brown we discussed how to involve Rotary in seismic risk prevention projects in critical countries. This idea has become real in the EU-NICE project that has among its objective the promotion of world peace through education and vocational training."
