UNS INAUGURATED AS THE BRAUIC REGIONAL CENTRE FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE

A one-day online scientific conference Panel Session on Resilient City and Smart Development, organized by the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture – BUCEA and the University of Mostar (SUM), was held under the 5^th China-CEEC Capital Mayors Forum & the 5^th BRAUIC Conference on November 19, 2021. The conference was organized under the auspices of the Belt and Road Architectural University International Consortium (BRAUIC), in which the University of Novi Sad actively participates, and which brings together a large number of universities from the People's Republic of China, Europe and Asia.

 

The conference was attended by over 200 delegates from 15 countries, including the Republic of Serbia. The aim of the conference was to present and discuss the sustainability of cities in future unforeseen challenges, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference also presented the works and results of the competition in architecture on the topic of Modern Cities.

In addition, the presidents of the BRAUIC regional centers were inaugurated at the conference. On that occasion, the Rector of the University of Novi Sad Prof. Dr. Dejan Madić has been appointed the Chairman of Central and Eastern Europe Region. In his address, Rector Madić emphasized that the experience with the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the ability of cities to manage and face numerous unforeseen challenges has been of the utmost importance for their future development and a precondition for sustainability. The Rector also pointed out that urban resilience is a much more complex concept than previously thought and that it should be further investigated and developed.

The University of Novi Sad recently started cooperation with the Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture (BUCEA). To formalize the cooperation and build the foundation for further joint activities, the two universities signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2020. The cooperation includes the exchange of students, teaching and scientific staff, the organization of joint scientific and professional conferences, work on joint scientific and professional projects, as well as participation in competitions in the field of architecture.

In the second part of the conference, researchers from participating universities spoke on various topics in the field of architecture. Within this part of the conference, Dr. Vesna Stojaković, full professor at the Faculty of Technical Sciences, University of Novi Sad, presented a paper entitled The Future of Digital Design in Architecture and Urbanism.