2024 brings a new initiative in the context of the Făgăraș Summer School: a partnership between the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and FRI that generates a one-week learning experience around the Sustainable Development Goals and Local Economic Development. The UQTR-FRI Summer School, which will take place between July 7 and 14 in Făgăraș, Romania, is interdisciplinary and designed for participants with a background in a wide range of subjects. The SDGs LED educational experiences will allow participants to explore how sustainability challenges affect local communities and how the SDGs can enhance local development.
While hopes for economic development and sustainability remain high, local communities face increasing challenges navigating the impact of global crises. From climate change to enhanced insecurity to digital and cyber threats and populism, local communities find themselves in a growing confrontation between democratic and authoritarian states. All of the above significantly impact local communities’ economic development, leading to growing economic insecurity and augmented political polarization.
Within the framework of the SDGs, the Summer School will focus on more specific sustainability areas. This year, three of the challenges that will be explored are:
- the actualization of industrial heritage for local economic development,
- leveraging assets in contexts of structural violence, inequality, and discrimination (concerning the Roma population, domestic violence, and intergenerational trauma generated by the former communist-totalitarian regime), and
- leveraging biodiversity for addressing climate change.
The registration fee for attending the UQTR-FRI Summer School is 300 CAD and can be paid here. To register, please fill in this form.