The University of Balamand (UOB) and United Cities held a signing ceremony for a Memorandum of Understanding to promote smart and sustainable cities and local communities, supporting Lebanon in implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development.

The MOU was signed by Dr. Elias Warrak, President of UOB and Ms Kari Aina Eik, Director General of United Cities.

Also in attendance were key representatives from United Cities: Dr. Kire Ilioski, Chairman; Dr. Kristian Mjøen, Deputy Director; Bente Malmø, Program Director; Øyvind Tanum, Head of Smart City Solutions; Alexander Reitan, Director Business Development, Sponsorship & ESG for Xplora Technologies; Dr. Samah Elsaadi, Country Lead for Lebanon; Kilikia Kassem, Consultant; Houssam Nesr, Consultant; and from the university: Professor Rami Abboud, Vice President for Internationalization & Engagement and Dr. Youssef Bassim, Chief Operating Officer.

This partnership further reinforces the mission of the university to actively participate in the advancement of ethical and competent environmental practices and to provide solutions with applied translational research as a basis for decision making.

As part of the agreement, the university will dedicate its facilities to the development and testing of smart solutions and will contribute to data collection and knowledge dissemination. Furthermore, students will be engaged with sustainability projects and encouraged to be active participants in building a better community.