Progress Meeting at the University of Catania in Catania, Italy (30 May 2022 – 1 June 2022)

The MARE Erasmus+ Project Team from Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) was invited to attend the project progress meeting from 30th May 2022 to 1st June 2022 at the Museo della Rappresentazione, University of Catania, in Catania, Italy. The objective of the meeting is to report the financial status of each partner university and preparation of the final report by the project coordinator, as well as presentations of the final versions of teaching and learning materials by the partner institutions.

The project meeting commences with welcoming greetings by the Director of The Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, the Institutional ERASMUS Coordinator, and the Scientific Coordinator of Museo della Rappresentazione (MURA) of the University of Catania. 

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Opening and Welcoming Greetings by the representatives of University of Catania

This meeting starts with a presentation by the project coordinator, Professor Igor Novopashenny from the University of Bremen, Germany. Prof. Igor reported on the current financial status of all MARE partner countries. Next, representatives from partner institutions presented the final version of teaching and learning materials for the MARE courses.

Presentation by the project coordinator, Professor Igor Novopashenny from the University of Bremen, Germany

Presentation of final versions of the teaching and learning materials by UTP representative, Ir. Haizatul Hafizah Hussain 

Progress Meeting with all partner institutions

In the afternoon, the partners visited the Benedictine Monastery, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Largest Monastery of Europe, now the most important and iconic facility of the University of Catania. This visit allows observation on the management of the geohazard (lava flow) where early preparation was made underground of the building (basement) to accommodate civilians during the lava flow. Moreover, leveraging on the existing geohazard, the site has been used as a geo-heritage attraction for Catania. 

Visit to the Benedictine Monastery, UNESCO World Heritage Site

On the second day of the progress meeting, Prof Kalev Sepp from the Estonian University of Life Sciences presented on the development of the PhD research framework. Besides that, the Sectoral Collaborative Platform (SCP) was also presented by Dr. Siti Nur Fathiyah. The SCP presentation by UTP covers the activities conducted by UTP together with IGM-GSM Marine Coastal Group. These include seminars, workshops, and colloquiums. Apart from that, the presentation on SCP by UTP also covers activities among Malaysian collaborators particularly between UTP and UMT. 

Dr. Siti Nur Fathiyah presenting on the Sectoral Collaborative Platform (SCP) on behalf of Malaysian partners

Lastly, the progress meeting ended with individual consultations with the partners to discuss Summer School 2022 preparations and other upcoming events, potential MoU with other partners, as well as discussions on the mobility allocations.

Individual consultations with partner institutions

Besides being the host of the progress meeting, the University of Catania also organized an excursion to Mount Etna with a guided tour. During the trip, participants were exposed to the geological knowledge related to the formation of Mount Etna. Basically, the island of Sicily is a geological complex area, involving the collision of the African plate, subducting underneath the Eurasian Plate. The city of Catania in the northeast of Sicily experienced more intense tectonic activity as it sits directly on top of the active subduction zone. Mount Etna arises as the product of the subducted slab (break-off).