VIII Project meeting in Jinan

Meeting with representatives of the largest enterprises of China working in water related fields, attending the school with modern education technics, excursion to laboratories equipped with the latest technologies, discussing the purchase of equipment for partners, developing new laboratory courses for the developing lectures and much more were the subjects of discussion at the eighth project meeting in Jinan that was organized by the Shandong Jianzhu University (SJU) and was held from 2th to 6th of November, 2017.

The meeting began with the official part, at which the Vice-Rector of SJU welcomed the partners of the project at the university. “The project “Water Harmony Erasmus +” is an important part of SJU’s international activities and I am very happy, that our educational programs become harmonized with partners from all over the world” – said the Vice-Rector.

The project team visited the Jinan State Primary School and conducted short presentations for the children about the participating countries of the project, emphasizing the importance of learning English and encouraging future students’ ambitions for international education.

Traditional and, for sure, one of the most important activities in the framework of the project meeting was the holding of a seminar on “Wastewater – the untapped resource”, dedicated to the water reuse and the recovery of valuable resources from wastewater. The following presentations were given by the participants:

Wastewater reuse and resource recovery, Harsha Ratnaweera, NMBU;
Value in leachates/Resources from black water?, Martin Oldenburg, UAS-OWL;
Circularity in wastewater management, Zakhar Maletskyi, NMBU;
Wastewater management in food industry, Michał Smoczyński, UWM;
Microalgae for nutrient recovery and energy production, Ketheesan Balachandran, UoJ;
Potential for wastewater reuse in Sri Lanka, S B Weerakoon, UoP.

Also, was held a meeting with representatives of large enterprises that work in the field of water treatment (Everbright Water Company, Shandong Elong Environmental Protection Co Ltd, Shuifa Group Co Ltd, Origin Water). A unique opportunity for representatives of universities was to demonstrate their scientific development to representatives of Chinese business. The partners presented three practical ideas:

A low-cost innovative method for safer drinking water, Viktor Gevod, USUCT;
Use of industrial wastes (Red mud) in water treatment, Olga Sanginova, KPI;
Use of mechanical cavitation in wastewater treatment, Gennadiy Stolyarenko, CSTU.

In addition, a number of administrative and financial issues were discussed, new tasks and responsibilities were assigned, and was started a work on the development of laboratory courses that would complement the developed lectures by practical skills.

This year was very rich on mobilities, so this issue was highlighted in a separate session. About the October 2017 Special mobility strand of six teachers from Germany, Poland and Norway to NTUU “I. Sikorsky KPI” told Dr. Zakhar Maletskyi. Students-participants from Shandong Jianzu University of Summer School – 2017, which was held in June -July at the NMBU, prepared a short overview about the spent time. Serhii Shmyhol told about the annual mobility of Ukrainian students to the universities of Germany and Poland.

The closest activities within the project will be the mobility of six teachers from Ukrainian universities to the University of Warmia-Mazury in Olsztyn (Poland) in December, 2017; mobility of six teachers from Ukrainian universities to the University of Life Sciences (Höxter, Germany) in January 2017; IX project meeting of the project participants at the University of Jaffna (Sri Lanka) in February 2018.

Participants of the project meeting in Jinan express their gratitude for such a high-quality organized events, which made it possible not only to work fruitfully, but also to fully enjoy the unique cuisine, art and other cultural features of the People’s Republic of China. We look forward to the new meetings of the Water Harmony family.