Approximately 1,100 elementary, middle, high school, and university students involved in co-design and career guidance programs and MIND's innovation opportunities.

  • €14,000 in prizes for the best projects in the A City in MIND competition for elementary and middle schools and for degree theses submitted to the Call 4 Ideas on microplastics.
  • Sector-specific and orientation meetings with 50 representatives from the worlds of profit and non-profit business, research, universities, and technical colleges for 700 high school students.
  • Since 2018, 11,100 children and young people from primary schools to universities have already been involved in the project promoted by Arexpo, Lendlease, and Fondazione Triulza in partnership with Gruppo San Donato, Human Technopole, and in collaboration with the University of Milan, Milan Polytechnic, and JRC-European Commission.
  • 200 participants at the awards ceremony on Saturday, May 11, at the close of MIND Innovation Week and as part of the Festival for Sustainable Development.

Saturday, May 11: MIND Education awards ceremony

Over 200 children and young people from primary and middle schools, high school students, and university graduates, accompanied by their teachers, parents, and friends, took part in the award ceremony for the seventh edition of the MIND Education project on Saturday, May 11. It was a true celebration of innovation and sustainability—with collaborative robotics workshops and guided tours of the district—in which the protagonists were the projects, ideas, and testimonials of the younger generations, who once again demonstrated creativity and practicality in designing and imagining a sustainable, accessible, and inclusive city of the future...suitable for everyone. There could not have been a better ending to Innovation Week.

MIND Education involved around 1,100 students this school year and, in addition to offering a total prize fund of €14,000 – most of which was allocated to schools for the purchase of equipment or educational activities – it also offered children the opportunity to respond creatively to the challenges facing our cities and young people the chance to learn more about the training and job opportunities offered by MIND stakeholders from over 50 speakers and testimonials. Since 2018, MIND Education has pursued the goal of involving young people and placing them at the center of the MIND development project, making them aware protagonists of the city of the future: in these first seven editions, the program has already reached over 11,100 students from primary schools to universities and awarded €109,000 in prizes.

MIND Education has now become a joint project of the innovation district, which evolves with each edition with new formats and content in line with citizenship education, guidance, and PCTO courses, within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Promoted by Arexpo, Lendlease, and Fondazione Triulza, the latest edition was developed thanks to a partnership with the San Donato Group, collaboration with Human Technopole, the University of Milan, the Polytechnic University of Milan, and the JRC-European Commission, and support from the Think Smart Mobility @MIND business network.

Public institutions and the Lombardy Regional Education Office consider the Project a model for students of all ages.

"It is important that all public, private, and social entities present at MIND, which are very attentive to innovation, impact, and sustainability, continue to play a leading role in the education and involvement of new generations. Not only to transfer skills and opportunities to them, but also to receive new visions and a sense of the future from young people. The path of sustainability has been laid out and must be pursued,"says Massimo Minelli, President of Fondazione Triulza.

"It is important that through MIND Education, young people learn about the context and opportunities offered by MIND for their future career and educational choices. But it is also important to involve young people in helping us, through their proposals or research, to raise everyone's awareness of sustainability,"says Mauro Capitanio, Commercial, Planning, and Sustainability Director at Arexpo.

“Lendlease’s mission is to create places where communities can thrive. MIND is just that, a city of the future to be experienced today. It is important to give a voice to children, young people, and their ideas, not only to absorb a vision and inspiration for tomorrow's world, but also to make MIND the prototype of an inclusive, sustainable, and empathetic city today,"emphasizes Domenico D'Alessio, Marketing Director Europe Lendlease.

“A City in MIND. The Senses of the City” competition for primary and middle schools

The challenge that around 400 children and young people responded to with their projects was to present creative and innovative solutions, ideas, and proposals that used a multisensory perspective to promote social and environmental sustainability in the city of the future while also promoting accessibility, with a focus on people with sensory impairments or disabilities. Thirty-two classes from schools in Baranzate, Bollate, Borgoforte, Calolziocorte, Como, Fagnano Olona, Milan, Rho, Siziano, and Vertova took part. Seven schools won €9,000 in prizes for the purchase of teaching and laboratory equipment with their projects.

Primary school category: 1st place went to class 2A of the Istituto Buon Pastore Milano Primary School with the project "A noisy city," a game to raise awareness of the sounds and noises of the city. 2nd place: classes 3A and 3B of the Istituto Comprensivo di Vertova – Primary School of Fiorano Al Serio (BG) with the project "Tra la terra...un tesoro" (Between the earth...a treasure), a journey into biodiversity with various activities, including an educational garden and cooking activities, using the five senses. 3rd place went to class 5A of the Paritaria Istituto Buon Pastore Milano Primary School with "A blind city," a game in which tactile sensory perceptions are used to create a drawing. Prizes of €2,000, €1,500, and €1,000 respectively.

Discover all the proposed projects

Contest for high schools “A Claim for MIND Education”

During the event, awards were also given to the upper classes who voluntarily decided to make a video for the "A Claim for MIND Education" contest. The videos were made outside school hours and after participating in one or more of the seven PCTO meetings for vertical and sectoral in-depth analysis with 50 representatives from the world of profit and non-profit businesses, research, universities, and ITS, involving 700 students from 36 high school classes in Lombardy. The three classes in the ranking were rewarded with a guided tour of MIND, and the first-place class with a visit to the European Commission's JRC laboratories in Ispra: 1st place: Class 4B, Lucio Fontana Art School in Arese; 2nd place: Class 3F, Applied Sciences, Bertrand Russell IISS in Garbagnate Milanese; and 3rd place: Class 5ID, IT Sector, ITIS Paleocapa in Bergamo.

Call for ideas for dissertations on microplastics

Finally, four degree theses from the University of Milan and the Polytechnic University of Milan were awarded prizes for participating in Call 4 Ideas to develop awareness and research in the field of microplastics and investigate their impact on health and the environment. For the University of Milan, the theses by Nicolò Siena – "Assessment of sub-lethal effects induced by microplastics of Polylactic Acid (PLA) on Daphnia" – and Ahmed Nbiga – "An investigation of microplastic contamination in beach sediments from Alpine and Subalpine Italian lakes" – from the Faculty of Science and Technology. For the Politecnico di Milano, the first prize of €1,500 was awarded to Arianna Vismara's thesis – "Development of Coarse-Grain Models for in silico Study of Nanoplastics and Protein Corona: Analysis of the Interactions with Peptides and the Lipid Membrane" – and the second prize of €1,000 to Giorgia Galvani's thesis – "Development of Coarse-Grain Models for in silico Study of the Interaction between Nanoplastics and Human Proteins" – from the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering.

The juries

The jury for the A City in MIND competition, the MIND Education slogan contest, and the Call 4 Ideas on microplastics included: Chloe Larsay, Head of Communications – San Donato Group; Diego Rubolini, Professor of Ecology, Department of Environmental Sciences and Policies – University of Milan; Douglas Gilliland, Synthesis and Characterization Team Leader – JCR Joint Research Center of the European Commission in Ispra (VA); Edoardo Nardella, Art Director – Arexpo; Fabrizio Pregliasco, Medical Director – IRCCS Galeazzi Hospital – Sant'Ambrogio; Felice Romeo, Advisor – Fondazione Triulza; Giulia Bonisoli, Public Realm Development Manager – Lendlease; Giuliana Coccia, Gdl Goal 1-10 Representative – Gdl Goal 8 – ASviS- Italian Agency for Sustainable Development; Giuseppe Banfi, Scientific Director – IRCCS Galeazzi Hospital – Sant’Ambrogio; Giuseppina Cleffi, Guidance Office – Milan Polytechnic; Ilaria Mariani, Head of Communications – Arexpo; Marta Nathansohn, Head of Communications – Human Technopole; Mauro Capitanio, Commercial, Planning and Sustainability Director – Arexpo; Riccardo Guidetti, Mobility Manager and Representative of the Città Studi Sustainable Campus Project – University of Milan; Simone Vesentini, Associate Professor, Department of Electronics, Information and Bioengineering – Politecnico di Milano.