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USN to chair it's second Capacity Building in Higher Education project

Beach in Sri Lanka. photo

The University of South-Eastern Norway will coordinate an international waste management project on Sri Lanka.

With colleagues from Sri Lanka, United Kingdom, Denmark and Portugal, USN succeeded – in global competition – to secure USN’s second Capacity Building in Higher Education as a project coordinator.

Chamara Kuruppu at the School of Business is appointed as consortium manager of the project. The consortium consists of the following partners: 

  • The University of Essex (UK)
  • Danish University of Technology – DTU (Denmark)
  • Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal)
  • University of Rohuna (Sri Lanka)
  • University of Jaffna (Sri Lanka)
  • University of Vocational Technology (Sri Lanka)
  • University of Sri Jayewardenepura (Sri Lanka)
  • University of Moratuwa (Sri Lanka)
  • Janathakshan Ltd. – NGO  (Sri Lanka)

TESS

TESS (Techno-Economic-Societal Sustainable Development Training in Sri Lanka) focuses on improving conditions for waste management and technology in selected areas of Sri Lanka. Through novel and existing technologies, it is estimated that the project lasting for three years (starting primo 2020) will reduce waste and assist in improving technologies that will further reduce waste that has severe health bearings on the population in Sri Lanka.

The project consists of a number of work packages whose purpose is to address solutions on environmental challenges faced in Sri Lanka. As this is a cross-sectoral approach, different work packages will have different focus (administration and technology), but will unite in the overall ambition to introduce circular economy and adjacent technological measures to reduce waste in Sri Lanka.

The TESS consortium also includes a environmentalist NGO – Janathakshan Ltd – which purpose in the project is to supervise and include local municipalities in absorbing and use the skills learnt from the WPs to the local population in the selected areas of Sri Lanka. It is important to add the local focus to meet the local needs, and the project feels that the inclusion of a local NGO will considerable lift the attention and awareness of environmental challenges outside the classroom.

Honored

Circular economy/technology courses will further be developed – both on the undergraduate and graduate level – by the Sri Lankan stakeholders. This work will be done in concert with European partners that currently hold a longer experience in these areas than those of Sri Lanka. Thus, a number of the WPs in Sri Lanka will be jointly developed by European and Sri Lankan partners. The consortium’s ambition is that environmental awareness and skills will considerably increase – thus making Sri Lanka able to deal with some of its considerable challenges of the environment.

USN is very honored to be chosen to coordinate the project and hope, notwithstanding a lot of work – both academically and administratively – that an effort on improving environmental standards in Sri Lanka will have a successful impact in the years to come – also after the project period has passed.