Casa della sostenibilità https://www.casasostenibilita.usi.ch/it of the Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) was inaugurated on March 21, 2024, in Airolo. This venue aims to promote, through a series of activities aimed at university staff as well as the general public, a culture of sustainable development in synergy with the environment. The choice of Airolo is deliberate: the Gotthard massif is an ideal open-air laboratory to reflect on crucial environmental and energy issues outside the classroom, and it is also a region of primary importance in Swiss history.
Given the project’s special focus on younger generations, the Majid Foundation decided to make a significant contribution to its development. This support allowed for the salaries of two deserving students to be covered, enabling each of them to develop, over six months, a project related to environmental sustainability as part of the scientific activities carried out at the Casa della sostenibilità. Through this project, the Foundation wishes to help cultivate a strong connection between youth and nature, emphasizing their commitment to environmental protection, which is of utmost importance in our times.
Within this project, space was created to welcome Alice Seffusatti, a student in her final year of the Master’s degree in Economics and International Policies at USI, who worked inside the House in Airolo designing and implementing training strategies to raise sustainability awareness among university students. This initiative, made possible by the Majid Foundation’s intervention, became Alice’s thesis work, supervised by Prof. Giovanni Pellegri. The second candidate selection will take place later, referring to the academic year 2024-25.
“With the support of the Majid Foundation, I was able to realize a dream that seemed difficult to achieve: participating in a new project at the University of Lugano in Airolo, the House of Sustainability, and writing my thesis on the perception of USI economics students regarding sustainable development. This experience allowed me to deepen my knowledge of the area, explore new research methods that will be valuable for my professional future, and contribute to the development of a student association dedicated to sustainability at the University. Without the support of the Majid Foundation, none of this would have been possible.”
Alice Seffusatti
