The European project SUSTAINABUILD started at the beginning of last year and its main objectives are to raise awareness and increase knowledge about the sustainable development goals (SDGs) between construction sector actors. In it, together with the Construction Technology Centre of the Region of Murcia, the following are participating (CTCON)three universities: the University of Applied Sciences, located in Belgium (PXL)the Danish University of Applied Sciences, the University of Applied Sciences in Denmark (UCN) and the University of Applied Sciences located in Finland (SAMK).
The SDGs were adopted by the UN in 2015 and form part of the 2030 Agenda. There are 17 of them and they cover the entire spectrum of sustainability: environmental, economic and human or social. Their potential application in construction is a great challenge for a sector that moves huge amounts of resources and generates a strong impact.
In the framework of the project, several activities have been carried out including the holding of a focus group with the participation of leading members of the main universities in the region (UPCT and UCAM), the public administration, neighbourhood associations and companies (CHM Obras e Infraestructuras, Pavimentos Asfálticos LARIO and Cementos Cruz). The meeting was very fruitful and important conclusions were reached that will facilitate the achievement of the following objectives of the project: the launch of an international course for university students and the design of an informative manual aimed at professionals in the sector. All the materials produced will be publicly accessible.
Although most of the collaboration within the project is taking place online, several face-to-face meetings between the partners are scheduled. After a first meeting in Denmark and a second one in Belgium, last April, all the partners met in the the partners travelled to Spain to meet in the newly renovated CTCON facilities. In addition to the monitoring sessions for the different project goals, Víctor Martínez Pacheco from Cementos Cruz presented one of their latest projects, a successful example of SDG implementation.
