Rome, 14 March 2023 - Sustainability declined in scientific research, organization, teaching and third mission it will be the beacon of action for the next few years of the Italian university. A theme highlighted today by the speakers present in the main hall of theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma, which began the celebrations of its 30th year of life. “Deep roots and a look to the future” the motto of the anniversary, thanks to which the University, apostolic work of Opus Dei, rediscovers and reaffirms its origins by looking to the future in the only possible way: the One Health approach to achieve global health of all species and of planet Earth.
“History of the our first 30 years it is an extraordinary path and coherent with the approach centered on the person - said the Magnificent Rector Prof. Eugenio Guglielmelli during the intervention with which he kicked off the 30th academic year - We were born with a reverse-based approach on clinical, translational and basic research and innovation: from the birth of a departmental faculty of Medicine and Surgery integrated with the General Hospital , to the evolution in the second decade with the support and synergy of a departmental faculty of Engineering to arrive, in the third decade, to the faculty of Sciences and technologies for sustainable development and One Health, with an integrated, multi-interdisciplinary approach and of great mutual contamination".
"The motto with which we kick off our 30th anniversary today expresses well the way of feeling and operating that has brought theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and which will guide us in the coming years. Our educational and cultural project, inspired by the teaching of Blessed Àlvaro del Portillo, has always put science and technology at the service of people: we continue with the same enthusiasm and values that have characterized this university since its inception. We want to win the challenge of integral training and graduate global citizens and future professionals capable of putting the person at the centre. Centrality that today also means respect for the environment, attention to sustainability, development of an ecological awareness that allows us to approach our "common home" with a sense of responsibility and amazement - concluded Guglielmelli.
And right the Earth as a "Common Home" was one of the topics addressed in the solemn inaugural address by the professor Marcella Trombetta, Dean of the Departimental Faculty of Science and Bio-Technology.
"On March 4 last it was a historic day for environmental sustainability and human safety: 193 countries of the United Nations, after 20 years of negotiations, they signed the “High Seas Treaty” an agreement that guarantees the conservation and sustainable use of marine biodiversity in international waters and, therefore, in waters outside national jurisdiction, finally giving the sea the dignity of a common good thus allowing its protection and, in perspective, its cleanliness” – the professor stated in her solemn speech Marcella Trombetta, Dean of the Departimental Faculty of Science and Bio-Technology.
“The United Nations - recalled Trombetta - will therefore agree to protect these marine areas with concrete actions to eliminate from the sea the gigantic islands of plastic and waste present in the seas of the planet such as the "Great Pacific garbage patch", 5 times the size Italy. Today oceanic ecosystems produce half of the oxygen we breathe, occupy 95% of the planet's biosphere and absorb the largest quantities of carbon dioxide in the world: their protection represents a real issue of global security, as well as a serious environmental problem . The One Health approach asks us for this: to work together and quickly on problems like these, considering man, the environment and the animal world as parts of a single connected organism”.
The 30th academic year kicks off in the presence of Marcella Gargano, Director of the General Directorate of Higher Education Institutions of the Ministry of University and Research and of the different souls of the Italian university system represented by the CRUI president Salvatore Cuzzocrea, by the ANVUR president Antonio Felice Uricchio and by the CODAU president Alberto Scuttari.
A program of events during 2023-24 will allow us to retrace the main stages of the path that led to the birth ofUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma and, in 2022, at the launch of the Campus Bio-Medico University Polyclinic Foundation, taking a look at the important innovations of the future, first of all the new Cu.Bo building (“Cultural Box”) dedicated to teaching which will be active in the coming months.
An award went to Intesa Sanpaolo for scholarships and "per Merito" loans, inclusion initiatives with a high social value that have allowed students UCBM a strong expansion of support for the right to study. To collect the prize Elisa Zambito Marsala, Head of Social Enhancement and Relations with the Universities of Intesa Sanpaolo which underlined the Group's commitment to collaboration with the academic world, particularly in supporting research, talent, the fight against brain drain, and the growth of Italian poles of excellence, contributing to their international appeal.
During the morning, which began with the Holy Mass celebrated by Fr Norman Insam, regional vicar of Opus Dei for Italy, was announced by student representative Chiara Surace the distribution of the eco-bottles that will kick off to the operation “That's Life”, a campaign created in collaboration with Emerald, A&A Assicurazioni and Altintech to concretely involve the university community on issues of sustainability and reduce plastic consumption by 80 per cent in one year, allowing students and university employees to behave more ecologically and soberly. Ucbm has implemented a water supply system for the educational spaces.
