[Launch #11] Setting up an Erasmus+ Capacity Building Project

[Article, Video] - Published on March 16, 2026 in Major Programs, Valorization

Emmanuel Houzé (MRM) and Emilien Azema (LMGC) areProfessors. With support from the Partnerships and Innovation Department, they launchedGreen Gecko, an educational cooperation project bringing together eleven universities in Thailand, the Philippines, and Europe. They tell us about it in theDécollageby Dipa of thetheof Montpellier.  

“The idea behind this is to revamp engineering school curricula in Southeast Asia so that students can develop skills related to the environmental transition,”explains Emmanuel Houzé,Professor MRE and director ofthe IAE. Together with Emilien Azema, director of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and head of international relations at the Faculty of Sciences, they launched Green Gecko.  

A cooperation project involving four engineering schools in Thailand and four in the Philippines aims to enhance their curricula by adding ten modules related to the energy transition.“These include, for example, calculating carbon footprints or conducting circular economy analyses—skills that could be of interest to industry,”explains the director of the IAE.  

To set up this project, the two teachers applied for the“Capacity Building in Higher Education”action under the Erasmus+ program. They received support from the DIPA until the contract was signed, after which the DIPA handed the project over to the International Relations Office. “We came in with a fairly general idea, and the DIPA translated it into language the European Commission could understand,” notesEmilien Azéma. “They were there from start to finish during the drafting of the project […] It’s hard to get, but once you have it, it’s incredibly satisfying!”  

Keywords: Takeoff, Innovation