During an educational trip over spring break, a group of 12 students from Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar learned about the innovative ways that Greece is approaching questions of sustainability.

“We want to develop and contribute to a deeper understanding of sustainability, which involves many different aspects. In Greece, we explored infrastructure and culture, food in an urban community, and the environment,” said Nui Vatanasakdakul, a visiting associate professor in information systems.

Vatanasakdakul, along with associate teaching professor in information systems Chadi Aoun and Annette Vincent, associate teaching professor in biological sciences, organized the trip for the students. This is the third year that CMU-Q has offered an educational trip that delves into sustainability solutions that are being developed by cities around the world. Past trips have included Sydney, Australia, and Singapore.

“The students on the trip come from different majors, which is very important. During the trip, there was sharing of ideas from everyone which offered different perspectives to the theme of sustainability,” said Vincent.

With a large tourism industry, Greece grapples with food waste, infrastructure efficiency and the cultural implications of high tourist season. The students noted that these are all issues Qatar will face during the World Cup 2022.

“The world is our classroom,” said Aoun, adding that “sustainability trips provide tremendous value to students’ applied, multidisciplinary and cross-cultural learning.”