The Energy Future in Dialogue: NTUA Cross-School Debate

NTUA's commitment to preparing engineers who can navigate the complex trade-offs of the European energy transition is reflected not only in technical training, but equally in the cultivation of open, evidence-based dialogue across competing technological visions. On 25 February 2026, the School of Mechanical Engineering hosted a structured debate on the energy future of the planet, of Europe and of Greece, between Associate Professor Nick Petropoulos, defending the case for nuclear energy and                                 Dr. George Caralis, defending the case for renewable energy sources. The event was organised in the framework of the inter-school undergraduate course "Environment and Development" of the 8th semester, with engaged participation from students across all nine Schools of NTUA. Audience members challenged both speakers directly on the technical, economic, environmental and social dimensions of each pathway, exchanging views and reasoned arguments throughout the session. The format, a respectful but uncompromising adversarial debate between equally rigorous positions, is itself a pedagogical instrument: it trains future engineers to hold multiple viable scenarios in mind, to weigh evidence rather than ideology, and to recognise that the energy transition is not a single technological choice but a societal one. Events of this kind complement the technical and certification-oriented training of NTUA's laboratories with the broader civic and intellectual dispositions that the green transition will demand of the engineers who deliver it.