International visit encourages engagement

Deakin University’s School of Architecture and Built Environment was delighted to host visitors from India’s CEPT University recently.

Meghal Arya, Head, Exchange Office and Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture, CEPT University and Ganesh Devkar, Associate Professor in CEPT’s Faculty of Technology, visited Deakin from 8 to 11 March, spending time at the University’s Waterfront Campus and also visiting the Centre for Advanced Design in Engineering Training (CADET) at the Geelong Waurn Ponds Campus.

CEPT University takes its name from the ‘Center for Environmental Planning and Technology’ (CEPT). During the visit, Associate Professor Devkar presented a research seminar titled ‘Competencies in urban local bodies for implementing water, sanitation and solid waste management PPP projects in India’. Associate Professor Arya presented a research seminar titled ‘The spatial dimension of water’ and also presented a public lecture, ‘Thematic spaces in Indian architecture’.

Dr Mirjana Lozanovska, Associate Head of School (International) in Deakin’s School of Architecture and Built Environment, said the visit followed the formalisation of the relationship between CEPT and Deakin with a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Dr Lozanovska visited CEPT in 2014 with the Head of School, Professor Anthony Mills. She said the opportunity to meet face-to-face enabled a ‘specific and more targeted level of interaction’ and avoided the ‘aspiring ideals that can be too abstract to be fulfilled’.

‘The interest and engagement of the Deakin staff was amazing and a wonderful response to the presence and intelligent delivery of background, ideas and research by the CEPT staff, and the ease with which conversations took place,’ Dr Lozanovska said.

‘The visit identified real and staff-responsible potential for developing our relationship, and a good “realistic” list of action items!’