The Second Summer School of the EMJMD Smart Cities and Communities (SMACCs) took place in Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain on the week of 11-15 July 2022. The summer school program comprised the dissertation defense of the second cohort, the poster presentations of the third cohort, and a Climathon attended by all current students.
EMA’s President (ad interim), Md. Ashiqur Rahman and the Program Representative for SMACCs of EMA, Shahin S. Eity, were invited to showcase the importance of the association, showcase its work, and inspire students about their prospects after their Erasmus Mundus Masters. It was the concluding session of the Summer School; an apt moment to connect the recent alumni with career prospects and what's ahead for them after SMACCs.
The session comprised interactive and participatory games, presentations about EMA, and break-out sessions with open dialogue about SMACCs and EMA. In the beginning, the program representative for SMACCs showed how a person's life changes thanks to the new experiences during their Erasmus journey. All current students, faculty members, and other invited guests participated in this interactive game. It resulted in a visual representation of how EMJMDs change people's lives and enrich them with unique experiences. The president then shared his own Erasmus Mundus and EMA paths. Afterward, a breakout session focused on expectations, experiences, and experiments about the EMA and SMACCs. The current students were excited to learn about EMA activities and showed interest in actively participating as members and volunteers.
EMA’s President stated, “EMA is delighted to represent the diversity and brilliance of Erasmus students and alumni at this summer school event and to foster relationships with the program and consortium. Congratulations to SMACCs on the success of this event. EMA is looking forward to working together with SMACCs in the near future.”
The SMACCs program coordinator, Prof. Zacharie De Grève, University of Mons, shared in a discourse, "We look forward to more segments like this where the participants can be interactive, share ideas, and showcase creativity." The SMACCs Coordinator at Universidad del Pais Vasco, Prof. Luis del Portillo said, "Students were eager to learn about a network that will keep them connected after this Master. We told them about arranging this segment for solely this purpose." The faculty members were delighted by the EMA activities, dedication, and contribution to students and EMJMDs and showed keen interest to collaborate in future opportunities.
The official Summer School ended with a provisional certificate, transcripts for the recent graduates, and prize giving ceremony for the participants of the Climathon followed by a gala dinner in the culturally enriched Guggenheim arena. The Program Representative also took part in shooting a promotional video for SMACCs where he talked about what EMA is contributing to enhancing the experience of recent graduates and what opportunities EMA offers them to explore for future endeavors.