From May 19th to 21st, the reZEB consortium gathered in the historic coastal city of Pafos for our fifth transnational meeting—three days of focused collaboration and exchange. Hosted by Neapolis University Pafos, this gathering brought together academic leads, technical experts, and industry representatives from across the Western Balkans and EU to drive forward our shared vision: equipping future engineers and professionals with the knowledge and skills to design, build, and operate near-zero energy buildings.
Day 1: Project Management & Foundations
We opened with a comprehensive review of our six work packages, ensuring alignment on timelines, deliverables, and resource allocations. Interactive breakout sessions allowed each WP leader to present achievements to date—ranging from the launch of our mobile-friendly project website to the initial drafts of modernized course modules—and to solicit feedback on any emerging challenges.
Day 2: Curriculum Design & Industry Cooperation
The heart of our work: module development. Faculty and industry partners showcased new learning materials and hands-on lab exercises, while roundtable debates clarified how best to integrate real-world case studies into the classroom. We also finalized agreements with several renewable-energy companies to host student internships, ensuring that theoretical knowledge translates into on-site experience with cutting-edge systems.
Day 3: Quality Assurance, Innovation & Dissemination
Quality Assurance experts guided the consortium through refined evaluation metrics for teaching materials and examination procedures—mirroring EU best practices. A standout moment was Prof. Georgios Dafoulas’s patent-development workshop, which demystified intellectual-property strategies for novel energy-efficiency solutions. We closed the meeting by mapping our dissemination roadmap: upcoming webinars, regional info days, and the next biannual newsletter to share progress with stakeholders and the wider public.
