University of Rijeka (Croatia)

Founded in 1973, the University of Rijeka has matured into a modern European university and a center of excellence whose impact extends beyond the region. The University is proud of its efforts towards innovation, which recognize the importance of sustainable development, community engagement, education for the needs of the labor market and jobs of the future, and knowledge transfer as pillars of society’s trust in academic institutions. The University bases its future on the following main strategic directions – learning and teaching, research, knowledge transfer and regional engagement, and internationalization.. We have created an educational system and learning framework that puts students in the centre. With this goal in mind, our University continuously updates its teaching methods, promotes social awareness, and attends to the needs of all members of the academic community.

The University of Rijeka has a number of activities that fit within the framework of public interest technologies. A long-term strategy of the University is to strengthen transdisciplinary research through the establishment of and collaboration between University Centers. The Centre for Support to Smart and Sustainable Cities, established in 2018, along with the Centre for Artificial Intelligence, the Centre for Micro and Nano Sciences and Technologies, and the Centre for Advanced Computing and Modelling, form a cluster of centers where interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary work on technologies of public interest is carried out. It is particularly important to note that the idea of establishing a Centre for Support to Smart and Sustainable Cities was to leverage the technological background of other university centers, as well as the social, financial, and technical capacities of other regional and global institutions, to formulate strategies and policies for optimal application for the benefit of citizens.

Dr. Saša Drezgić, Professor, Faculty of Economics and Business