On May 9th, as part of the Festival dello Sviluppo Sostenibile 2025, the School of Engineering hosted an event at Sala Paladin, Palazzo Moroni, reflecting on how engineering and AI can contribute to sustainable development.
Together with Prof. Emanuele Menegatti, our contribution drew a parallel between two scales of the same challenge: AI applied to waste sorting in schools, and AI-powered systems used in real waste management facilities. The juxtaposition made visible how the same underlying principles as teaching a machine to recognise and classify can operate at very different levels of complexity and impact.
The school project we presented introduced students to the basics of AI through hands-on activities and simple DIY robotics projects, encouraging reflection on the reliability of results and raising awareness of the UN 2030 Agenda. At the same time, it offered teachers a concrete model for integrating AI and robotics into their teaching in a cross-disciplinary way.
A reminder that sustainable thinking can, and should, start in the classroom.
