Charm-EU: 64 European students meet professionals from the Thau basin
MoxMo (Montpellier cross-thematic mobility) is an Erasmus+ student mobility program organized for students from the five member universities of the European Charm-EU alliance. From April 15 to 26, 64 of them will arrive in Montpellier and the Thau basin to tackle six environmental challenges directly related to the region, in partnership with the Syndicat mixte du bassin de Thau (SMBT).
MoxMo in a nutshell
Coming from five universities that are members of the European Charm-EU alliance, including the University of Montpellier, 64 students from the international master's program "Global Challenges for Sustainable Development" will be traveling to Montpellier and the Thau basin to participate in the second edition of MoxMo from April 15 to 26. A key moment in their training, which focuses on learning through problem-solving, MoxMo is an opportunity for students to work in international and interdisciplinary teams. Their goal will be to solve six challenges in line with the issues facing the region: fishing, sustainable tourism, and biodiversity protection.
During the first week around the Thau basin and the second week in Montpellier, they will meet professionals involved in solving these challenges (start-ups, farmers, fishermen, associations, etc.), as well as researchers, teachers, and specialists. Also this year: a collaboration with Icireward (UNESCO Water Center) will enable six foreign doctoral students to join the teams working on the challenges for the 2024 edition.
The themes of the six challenges:
- the installation of shellfish farming tables equipped with solar panels on the Thau lagoon;
- the installation of AI-powered water quality monitoring stations on the Thau lagoon;
- the creation of an 80-kilometer walking trail around the Thau lagoon;
- the development of a project supported by the Local Food Plan aimed at coordinating local food production stakeholders;
- the appropriation of subsidized actions (MAEC) by farmers and livestock breeders in the region;
- a large-scale aquaponics project linked to the University of Montpellier's aquaponics training platform.
Highlights of MoxMo 2024:
- Monday, April 15, from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the Théâtre de la Mer (Sète): Students will meet with local representatives for the six challenges.
- Friday, April 26, from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Triolet campus (Montpellier): Presentation of challenge resolutions before a jury of teachers and local professionals.
About CHARM-EU
The Charm-EU alliance of European universities was launched in 2019 at the initiative of the University of Barcelona under the leadership of its then rector, Joan Elias Garcia, in response to the first Erasmus+ call for projects from European universities. In June 2019, the Charm EU project was one of 17 winners, bringing together five partners under the coordination of the University of Barcelona, including the University of Montpellier, the University of Utrecht (Germany), Trinity College Dublin (Ireland), and Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest (Hungary). Five European universities have joined the CHARM-EU alliance: Åbo Akademi University (Finland), the University of Würzburg (Germany), the Ruhr-West University of Applied Sciences (Germany), and the University of Bergen (Norway).
A joint master's degree program was launched by the CHARM-EU alliance in 2021. Entitled "Global Challenges for Sustainable Development," this transdisciplinary, research-based curriculum focuses on solving real-world challenges in line with societal issues. The CHARM-EU alliance has numerous projects, including a catalog of joint international courses, the introduction of microcredits, and the development of a team-based doctoral program. Today, only 10% of universities in the 27 member states of the European Union participate in an alliance, yet around 50 European university alliances have already been created, involving more than 40 French universities.