Alumni Expert Seminar IFAT Africa
"Efficient Water Use - Waste Water Management"
Africa
DAAD - 2017
The expert seminar was held in Pretoria from 05-11.09.2017. Afterwards, the participants visited the international trade fair IFAT Africa at the Johannesburg Expo Center, one of the largest conference and exhibition venues in South Africa, from 12-14.09.2017. The seminar was organized by CICD of the University of Siegen in cooperation with the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA).
The fair's themes on water management, waste and recycling were reflected with the following objectives:
- Raise awareness of sustainable water use and management,
- Improve networking among local stakeholders,
- Sharing experiences and strategies in the region on issues of efficient use of water and water distribution systems, wastewater collection and treatment, technologies for measuring and controlling water pollution.
In preparation for IFAT Africa, a match-making process was initiated to establish contacts between educational institutions, government agencies and the corporate sector in South Africa.
15 alumni from 11 African countries participated in this seminar to exchange ideas, learn new technologies and concepts, and establish new contacts for professional collaboration.
A field trip organized by the Federation for a Sustainable Environment (FSE) with all participants focused in particular on the legacy of gold mining, rehabilitation of mine-contaminated wetlands, and ecosystems and retention ponds at the former Witwatersrand gold mines.
During IFAT Africa 2017, alumni participated in the DWA session "Technology Adaptation - Wastewater and Sludge Treatment" organized by the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA) through co-moderation, scientific presentations and contributions to the following discussion.
In addition to continuing education, an important goal of these alumni special projects is networking - between research and industry, between theory and practice, and between old and young. Experienced alumni were jury members of the "University Challenge", which the DWA organizes for students at trade fairs outside Germany. The "University Challenge" was based on a simulation game in which students were asked to use DWA environmental maps to build a rational infrastructure for water supply and wastewater disposal in a fictitious landscape. The winning team from Tshwane University of Technology in Pretoria, South Africa, was given the opportunity to travel to IFAT Munich 2018.
The founding of the APIWEC initiative laid the foundation for cooperation among African professionals in the field of water, energy, environment and climate. Here, alumni have expressed their willingness to jointly solve the upcoming problems of environment and water. APIWEC was officially registered in the Alumni Portal Germany in 2018.