Co-UDlabs Open Days at the Centre for Technological Innovation in Construction and Civil Engineering (CITEEC)

On June 19-20, 2024, the Horizon 2020 project Co-UDlabs (Collaborative Urban Drainage research labs communities) will host two Open Days in one of its research infrastructures, the Centre for Technological Innovation in Construction and Civil Engineering (CITEEC) facilities at the University of A Coruña.

CITEEC is an institution that aims to improve investigation and research in the field of construction, specifically civil engineering, from an experimental analysis approach. CITEEC allows researchers to undertake large-scale tests, at the level of the most advanced centres in Europe, and its research infrastructure hosts three of the 17 facilities that Co-UDlabs is making available for its Transnational Access (TA) programme.

With the Co-UDlabs TAs, scientists and practitioners from all over the world can be hosted, free of charge, at seven different research institutions to perform experiments and studies in hydraulics, urban drainage, water management, and sanitation.  The Open Days will open the CITEEC laboratories’ doors to the larger public, with guided tours addressed to students, youths, scientists, practitioners, and business partners.

CITEEC staff will show visitors the main infrastructure available in the laboratories – including visits to rainfall simulators and an augmented reality flooding testbed. On the one hand, the visit will be key to show to a larger audience how impactful the research work conducted in the laboratories can be on the actual functioning of sanitation and water management systems in our own cities and territories.

On the other hand, the Open Days want to be an inspirational opportunity for younger students and even pupils from local secondary schools to get a hands-on and closer approach to civil engineering, water engineering, and hydraulics as a specialisation and professional trajectory. The laboratories will be accessible for at least three sessions (two afternoon session and one morning session), with demonstrations of the experimental work being carried out at the facility and Q&A opportunities.

The Open Days aim to increase awareness about the great research and knowledge potential that the CITEEC facilities can provide – a tool for increased collaboration, exchange, and support in the field of water policy and sustainability, with immense repercussions on the daily life of our cities and territories.