Water Harmony – Water Harmony Erasmus +

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Water Harmony Erasmus+ the third time in Ukraine

The 10th jubilee project meeting of the Water Harmony ERASMUS + was held. This time in Ukraine, in the Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology (Dnipro). The project team has already become one family (participants call it “the Family of Water Harmony”), so the meeting was held in a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere. Although this can be explained by the fact that all actual participant of the working process was the rector of the host university, Alexander A. Pivovarov.

This time the main focus of the meeting was aimed at analyzing the implementation of the commitments undertaken by partners. The progress in the work on the disciplines “Water Management”, “Municipal Wastewater Treatment”, “Industrial Wastewater Treatment”, “Water Supply”, “Academic Writing” and “Entrepreneurship and Innovations” was discussed. At the moment, have been developed 90% of all planned lectures, reviewed and placed on the distance education platform of the Norwegian University of Life Sciences. In addition, two laboratory courses for “Water supply” and “Wastewater treatment”, consisting of 17 laboratory works, were also developed and reviewed.

The developed laboratory courses are provided with the necessary laboratory equipment. For equipment purchasing in project budget was allocated the amount of 270000 euros. At the moment,equipment was purchased at 262,554 euros (97.2%). The list of purchased equipment includes more than 40 items: spectrophotometers, turbidity meters, chromatographs, analyzers of oil product in water, conductometers, saltmeters, ionomers, pH-meters, analytical and laboratory scales, drying cabinets, thermostats, distillers, muffle furnaces, polarographs, fluorometers, analyzers of chemical and biological oxygen demand, oximeters, refractometers, mixers etc.

In the format of group work, the participants discussed the question “How to promote entrepreneurship among students, in particular, what could be done by the university and by each of the participants personally.” The result was a generalized in recommendation, which will be available soon.

The last day of the meeting was devoted to acquaintance with the university, where the participants of the meeting were able personally assess the project’s contribution to the development of the university: visited new laboratories for water technologies and held a meeting in the modern conference hall.

In addition to the main program, the participants of the meeting had the opportunity to visit the sightseeings of Dnipro city – the National Center for Aerospace Education of Youth n. a. A.M. Makarov, walk the historical places of the city and the longest seafront of Europe, as well as enjoy the beauty of the city from different viewing platforms and from the deck of a pirate schooner.

The staff of the USCTU thanks all the participants of the meeting for fruitful work and hopes for further cooperation in the field of science and education.

Will meet each other at the next and final meeting in October in Norway.

PM In Dnipro (Ukraine), 29.06-3.07.18

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Special mobility strand to KPI

November 15, 2017 / waterheu / 0 Comments

Representatives of three universities of Germany, Norway and Poland were visiting the “Igor Sikorsky Kiev Polytechnic Institute” from 16 to 21 October 2017 in the framework of the Special mobility strand Water Harmony Erasmus + project .

The goals, formulated by the participants of mobility, are related to the increasing the relevance and quality of masters and PhD education in the water related fields through the development and harmonization of educational resources, the integration of education, research, innovation and entrepreneurship. Such a wide range of issues led to an extremely intensive program of the meeting.

On October 16, the project coordinator from the I. Sikorsky KPI, Deputy Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Technology Sanginova O.V. familiarized representatives of european universities with the peculiarities of the education system in Ukraine, educational process and mechanisms for ensuring the quality of education in the KPI. Also was held a short excursion through the university campus. On the same day, the participants of mobility had an opportunity to see in practice how Ukrainian higher education institutions interact with non-governmental organizations (NGOs) by visiting the All-Ukrainian Environmental NGO “MAMA-86” (https://mama-86.org/), where representatives of the organization talked about their activities in the field of affordable and safe drinking water and sanitation for all. During the week, two more meetings with NGOs were held : the Ukrainian Water Community WaterNet (http://waternet.ua/) and the Water Information Center (Water Museum http://www.aqua-kiev.info). Enthusiasts working in these organizations demonstrated brilliant examples of interaction between public and state organizations.

From 17 to 20 October, professors and teachers of European universities were giving several lectures for students of the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th courses of the Department of Technology of Inorganic Substances, Water Treatment and General Chemical Technology:

professor of Norwegian University of Life Sciences Lars John Hem made a presentation “Microbial barrier analysis for water supply”;
associate professor of University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (Poland) Andrzej Żołnowski introdused two topics: “Agricultural sources of water pollution” and “Calculation of maximum doses of nitrogen with animal slurry on specified areas”.
professor Martin Oldenburg from Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences (Germany) presented next lectures: “Biological treatment of industrial wastewater” and “Nitrogen and Phosphorus removal in wastewater treatment”;
associate professor Sławomir Kalinowski from University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn (Poland) presented next topics: “Flow analytical methods in Chemical analysis” and “Equilibrium in water solutions of weak electrolyte”.
the lecturer of Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences (Germany) Mr. Volker Pick gave a lecture “Treatment of Tapioca Starch Wastewater: Pilot scale investigations in Tay Ninh” and also prepared a short overview “Transfer of knowledge to professional practice”.

Also on October 18, the coordinator of the Erasmus + program of the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, Andrzej Żołnowski, held the information hour “ERASMUS+. Opportunities”, and other teachers visited the laboratory classes of students.

A visit to the “Bortnicheskaya aeration station” and The Museum of Sewerage on October 19 allowed the participants of mobility strand get acquainted with the experience of cooperation of Ukrainian universities with state enterprises for wastewater treatment. On the same day, the teachers visited Ecosoft, an international company that manufactures filters for water purification, which offers a wide range of products from jar filters to industrial reverse osmosis systems. Many graduate students of the Department of technology of inorganic substances, water treatment and general chemical technology work in this company.

On Friday, October 20, there was a discussion of ways to increase the relevance and quality of Masters and PhD education in the water related fields. The participants of mobility plan to use this experience for further development and harmonization of education.

Nataliia Tolstopalova, Head of Department Department of technology
of inorganic substances water treatment and general chemical technology,
Olha Sanhinova, the project coordinator from the Igor Sikorsky KPI

SMS To KPI (Ukraine) 16-21 October 2017

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Meeting of the partners in Germany

April 24, 2017 / waterheu / 0 Comments

March 22-27, 2017, the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences held the fifth meeting of the participants of Water Harmony Erasmus + project , which was attended by teachers from Norway, Poland, Ukraine, Sri Lanka and China.

The aim of Water Harmony Erasmus + is the harmonization of higher education in water related fields in partner countries.Project coordinator, prof. Harsha Ratnaweera underlines: “The project is a two-way street. All countries have both strengths and problems in the subject areas. Therefore, the exchange of experience is the basis for activities within the framework of the project”.

The main topic of the meeting was the joint development of six educational disciplines: Water resource management, Water supply, Municipal wastewater treatment, Industrial wastewater management, Innovation and entrepreneurship, Academic writing and presentation. The idea of the project is to create modular training materials, which will allow each of the partner university, independently form the training courses, choose the necessary lessons from the general box of knowledge.

The participants discussed the issues of studentы and teacherы mobility within the framework of the project. There were two staff mobilities in 2016: into the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and the Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology. Furthermore, 11 students from Ukrainian universities was enrolled for annual training at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, and their colleagues – 5 students from Poland, training in partner universities from Ukraine.

In addition, in 2016 the University of Peradeniya (Sri Lanka) conducted an intensive course for students from partner universities. Participants of the intensive course from Germany shared their impressions with the project coordinators: “At home, we do not notice what we know and what we have. In Germany, high-quality drinking water from a tap is a normal situation, not a luxury. In Sri Lanka it is not available, so our experience can be useful to change the situation. It inspires and motivates to do something new” – said Anna Busch.

Participants also had the opportunity to visit one of the largest water exhibitions in Europe, which takes place every two years – Wasser Berlin. Besides familiarizing themselves with the latest technical trends, representatives of partner universities had the opportunity to establish connections with enterprises, which were taking part in exhibition, and discuss areas of cooperation.

– An important part of the project is the development of a professional network between six countries. Each project meeting strengthens the family of Water Harmony, which means that even after the end of the project, the partners will stay in touch and work together” – mentioned prof. Ratnaweera.

More information about the project: www.waterh.eu

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Visist to the leader of water treatment

February 2, 2017 / waterheu / 0 Comments

Within the Water Harmony ERASMUS+ project students of Cherkasy State Technological University visited the leading Ukrainian enterprise manufacturing water purification equipment – Ecosoft.

On 20 th of January 2017 Ecosoft, company, which holds over 50 percent of the Ukrainian market of water purification equipment, kindly opened their doors to students and teachers from the Department of chemical technology and water treatment ChSTU.

Ecosoft is one of the partners in educational project Water Hamony ERASMUS + and was founded in 1991 by the graduate of Kiev Polytechnic Institute, and now professor Tatyana Mitchenko. Future market leader began with a small own laboratory in which young team designed solutions for the treatment of water for energy and food industries. Now the company employs about 300 professionals, 40 of which – the water industry professional of high qualification. This company is a prime example of the science and business synergy, the results of which were the developments that are in demand in Ukraine and in 44 countries, including USA, Germany, UK, Italy and others.

Besides acquaintance with production and technological processes of products manufacturing was also discussed the possibility of passing the practice at the plant and in partner companies by the students of the Department of chemical technology and water treatment. It was also agreed to set up and reestablish reverse osmosis system, which was developed within the framework of the international project “Water Harmony”.

An excursion was organized in the frame of the implementation project objective: improving of cooperation with enterprises. Also special thanks expressed to the labour union of ChSTU, which helped to cover the voyage cost.

S. Shmyhol, s.smyhol@chdtu.edu.ua

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Erasmus+ project meeting in Qingdao (China)

January 1, 2017 / waterheu / 0 Comments

The project meeting was carried out from 1st to 4th December in Qingdao (China).

The participants were welcomed by the vice president of Qingdao Technological University prof. Li Guohua and coordinator of the project from the University prof. Xuejun Bi.

After opening the meeting, the Chinese colleagues conducted an interesting excursion-presentation of research and development and teaching laboratories of the University. The audience showed a great interest in the laboratory, designed for conducting classes, equipped with a model of water treatment units. Representatives from many universities expressed a desire to establish similar models in their laboratories, which would allow students to perceive the course material better and prepare them for the practical training at the enterprises in the field of water.

During the meeting a seminar for students and teachers was held. Participants were presenting the latest achievements from the sphere of their scientific interests.

Aspects of high importance, such as: the mobility of students and teachers, the coordination of the upcoming meetings of the working group and the development of lectures and presentations related to 6 studying courses, were discussed in the meeting as well.

Concerning student mobility, the following dates were agreed: 18.06-08.07.2016 for summer training courses in Norway and the 1st of October 2017 as the start up date for annual studying in Germany and Poland. In addition, the requirements for English proficiency, established by host universities, were discussed.

Besides, the dates for the next three project meetings were set: in Germany (Höxter) – 25.03-28.03.2017; Ukraine (Cherkasy) – 8.07-11.07.2017; China (Shandong) – 24.10-24.10.2017.

A lot of time was devoted to the content of the training courses, analysis of what has already been done on the subject of “Wastewater Treatment” course. In addition, prof. H. Ratnaweera raised the issue of the teaching quality improvement – presentation of the lectures and the ability to awake students’ interest and curiosity by the subject of the lecture, which also entailed quite a hot discussion, exchange of best practices between the teachers. Finally, all the above-mentioned resulted in the design of 10-12 practical recommendations for lecturers that will attract the student attention to the studying material.

On the topic of cooperation with enterprises, it was decided that during the project implementation, every university should involve at least two companies in the practical training sessions for students and their further employment there.

Between discussions and contentious work the Chinese colleagues organized a kind of educational excursion to the Wastewater treatment plant in Qingdao and provided an interesting city tour.

In general, the meeting was fruitful, informative and interesting. Colleagues from Qingdao Technological University made good conditions for work and rest, and provided the opportunity to catch a glimpse of Chinese identity, to get acquainted with its culture and traditions.

Serhii Shmyhol, s.shmyhol@chdtu.edu.ua