The mid-term evaluation of the Interdisciplinary Thematic Institutes (ITI) at the University of Strasbourg, conducted by an international jury chaired by Professor Michael Hengartner, confirmed the excellence of these projects, renewing support for the initial 13 ITIs and accrediting two new ones, including the SustainabilITI project, led by RISE. This ITI, focused on the sustainability of hydrosystems and urban socio-ecosystems, will be funded under the Sens§us initiative "Strategic Engagement for Students, Sustainable Development, and Society at the University of Strasbourg" as part of France 2030. This transition from federation to ITI marks an important milestone for the RISE community. This project aligns fully with our mission to promote interdisciplinary research and education in sustainability, structuring research, strengthening the teaching-research link, and fostering interdisciplinarity to tackle the scientific and societal challenges of the 21st century. We warmly thank the members of RISE for their contributions and support, and we look forward to bringing this innovative project to fruition together!
SustainabilITI is a four-year programme aimed at understanding, co-creating, experimenting with, and disseminating innovative concepts and approaches for a socio-ecological transformation of water and urban systems. It will examine the dynamics of socio-ecosystems in relation to climatic and anthropogenic constraints, at the heart of societal and territorial transitions. The ITI develops and implements transdisciplinary and structuring methods and tools for research and its training programme. This effort aims to introduce new concepts and approaches and to establish scenarios to address the complexity of socio-hydrosystems and urban socio-ecosystems as well as their governance. Additionally, it will create new integrative tools to support management and decision-making. The overarching vision of SustainabilITI is to consolidate, on an international scale, its expertise and initiatives in research and training in the fields of freshwater and urban sustainability, thereby establishing itself as a world-renowned Institute for Sustainability.
