A special panel was held at the Iteso University in Guadalajara to celebrate Italian Research Day in the World, promoted by the Italian Embassy in Mexico as part of the international conference 'Habitat and Sustainability: Possible Futures Beyond 2030'.
The event was held in an important academic setting, which saw the participation of an Italian delegation of eleven professors and researchers from the University of Ferrara, the University of Calabria and the Polytechnic University of Turin.
At the panel, entitled 'Towards 2030. Projecting the city between false myths, tradition and innovation', was attended by the Italian Ambassador to Mexico, Alessandro Modiano, together with the Embassy's Scientific Attaché, Roberto Marani, and the invited guests from Italy, professors Paolo Mellano and Annalisa Dameri from the Politecnico di Torino.
In his institutional greeting, Ambassador Modiano emphasised the importance of Italian Research Day in the World as an opportunity to give visibility to Italian scientific excellence abroad, and recalled the breadth of cooperation between Italy and Mexico: over 160 agreements between university institutions and research centres, and 15 bilateral projects underway, financed by the scientific and technological cooperation programme between the two countries.
During the panel, moderated by Pablo Vázquez Piombo of the Iteso University, the Italian speakers brought to the centre of the debate the current transformations of contemporary metropolises, denouncing the increasing homologation of urban spaces. Dameri highlighted the value of urban history as a tool for a sustainable regeneration of cities, while Mellano launched an invitation to recognise architectural memory and the quality of places as fundamental elements for a more just and humane urban future.
The speeches attracted the interest of over 130 participants including students, lecturers and researchers. The two Italian professors also gave a keynote lecture for the students of the Master's Degree Course in Architecture at Iteso University.
The Day of Italian Research in the World, established in 2018 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Universities and Research, aims to valorise the contribution of Italian researchers around the world. With over 146 Italian researchers among the most cited globally (2018-2022), Italy is confirmed among the leading countries in terms of quality and impact of scientific production, sixth in the world in 2023 for indexed scientific publications, with excellence in the fields of medicine, engineering, environmental, social and computational sciences.
In Mexico, the Italian Research Day is also a platform to strengthen bilateral ties with centres of excellence such as the ITESO University, which has structured agreements with the Polytechnic University of Turin, the IUAV University of Venice and the university network Routes Towards Sustainability, co-organiser of the Congress, in which the University of Ferrara and the University of Calabria participate. Academic collaboration between Italy and Mexico is thus confirmed as one of the most dynamic pillars of the bilateral relationship.
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