The team comprised of Mr. John Krijnen of Krijnen Consulting - Geneva
(KCG) and Ms. Anne Stannveld of CERES Consultants, and it was
accompanied by Prof. Stefan Uhlenbrook of UNESCO-IHE.
The delegation held deliberations on three joint educational programs
between UNESCO-IHE and AIT – Urban Water Engineering and Management
(UWEM), Agricultural Water Management for Enhanced Land and Water
Productivity (AWM) and Environmental Technology for Sustainable
Development (ETSuD). These educational programs are being implemented
by Water Engineering and Management (WEM) of AIT’s School of
Engineering and Technology (SET), and Environmental Engineering and
Management (EEM) of the School of Environment, Resources and
Development (SERD).
The visiting team was also provided an overview of projects including
Permeable Reactive Barrier for Remediation of Acid Mine Drainage
(PRBRAMD); Evaluation of Two Technologies for Heavy Metals Removal
under Tropical Conditions (EVOTEC); Post Doctoral Research Programme on
Adaptation to Climate change (PRoACC); Adaptation to Global Change in
Agricultural Practice (AGloCAP); Assessment of Applicability of an
Equitable and Sustainable Financing Model for Agricultural Water
Services (AFMAS); Optimization of water allocation between off-stream
and in-stream competing demands (OWATER); Online Module Development on
Urban Water Systems Modeling; Comparative Research on Groundwater
Management in the Coastal Areas in Southeast Asia; Netherlands
Initiative for Capacity Development in Higher Education (NICHE) project
for CUET, Bangladesh; and Climate change impacts on seasonally and
intermittently open tidal inlets (CC-SIOTI), among others.
The delegation met Prof. I. M. Pandey, AIT’s Vice President for
Academic Affairs and Acting President; and Mr. Noppadon
Rittipongshusit, Head, Finance. The delegation met with Professors
Mukand S Babel, C. Visvanathan and Ajit Annachhatre and visited AIT's
educational and research facilities. The team also met with Dr. Sangam
Shrestha, Dr. Sutat Weesakul, Dr. Roberto Clemente and Dr. Damien
Jourdian of WEM. Prof. Babel of the School of Engineering and
Technology (SET) and Dr. Gabrielle Groves, Program Coordinator,
External Relations and Communications Office (ERCO) coordinated the
visit. "A positive outcome of the review would lead to enhanced
cooperation between UNESCO-IHE and AIT on education and research in
water sector for sustainable development of developing regions,” Prof.
Babel remarked.
From left: Mr. John Krijnen, Ms. Anne
Stannveld, Prof. Stefan Uhlenbrook and Prof. Mukand Singh
Babel.