News & Events

CYENS Centre of Excellence is a leading Research and Innovation hub specializing in Interactive Media, Smart Systems, and Emerging Technologies. As the only organization in Cyprus dedicated to immersive technologies, it plays a vital role in advancing knowledge and facilitating technology transfer across the region. This Centre is the result of a unique collaboration between three public universities—the University of Cyprus, the Cyprus University of Technology.

Best Practical Paper Award

Date

28th September 2024

Location

CYENS Centre of Excellence

The paper ‘Co-designing virtual reality-based solutions to promote the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals’, authored by Kalliopi-Evangelia Stavroulia, Marina Emmanouil, and Andreas Lanitis, has been awarded the Best Practical Paper Award at the 21st European Mediterranean & Middle Eastern Conference on Information Systems “Connecting Minds and Technology to Shape our Digital Future”. The paper was presented by Dr Stavroulia during the conference that was held on 2-3 September 2024 in Athens.
The paper addresses the lack of knowledge on sustainability and the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs) through emerging technologies. As part of this effort, the design journey for designing virtual environment prototypes focusing on promoting SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), and SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) are presented. Preliminary results highlight the urgent need for immersive educational resources on sustainability and the SDGs, with virtual reality-based training showing promising potential.

Dr Stavroulia and Prof Lanitis are with the Visual Media Technologies Co-Lab (VMC2) that operates both at the CYENS Centre of Excellence, and the Cyprus University of Technology.