Approval of the ITI Switch | Sustainability of water & cities

The mid-term evaluation of the University of Strasbourg's Interdisciplinary Thematic Institutes (ITI) validated the renewal of support for 13 existing ITIs and approved two new projects, including ITI Switch, led by the Strasbourg Research Initiative for Sustainability and the Environmental (RISE).

ITI Switch focuses on the sustainability of hydrosystems and urban socio-ecosystems. It will receive funding as part of the Sens§us programme ‘Strategic commitment to students, sustainable development and society at the University of Strasbourg’ of France 2030. The transition from federation to ITI marks a significant milestone for the RISE community, illustrating our community's commitment to promoting interdisciplinary research and teaching in sustainability, strengthening the link between training and research and fostering interdisciplinarity to meet the scientific and societal challenges of the 21st century. Dedicated to research and training in sustainability, the ITI led by EOST draws on the diversity and complementarity of its entities (8 UMRs and 11 components) and its 115 members.

ITI Switch aims to understand, co-create, experiment with and disseminate innovative concepts and approaches for the socio-ecological transformation of water and urban systems. This programme will explore the dynamics of socio-ecosystems in the face of climatic and anthropogenic challenges, at the heart of societal and territorial transitions. ITI Switch operates through seven LivingLabs, which are integrated into international networks and involve local authorities and public and private players. Built around six scientific challenges, ITI Switch will develop transdisciplinary methods and tools for research and training, introducing new concepts and establishing scenarios for tackling the complexity of urban socio-hydrosystems and socio-ecosystems, as well as their governance. It will also create new integrative tools to support management and decision-making.

The overall vision of ITI Switch is to consolidate, on an international scale, its expertise and its research and training initiatives in the fields of continental water sustainability, such as the ‘Continental Water Sustainability’ Master's programme run by EOST and the city, in order to establish itself as a world-renowned sustainability institute.