11.07.2017 - 15:21:24

ERASMUS+ Project Envi-Chain

ZWU and ZLV Foster International Research in Urban Sustainability at UDE

The University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) has recently initialized the project Envi-Chain funded by the EU-programme Erasmus+ which supports students to study and university staff to take action in scientific events abroad. The project is coordinated in collaboration between the UDE-institutions Centre for Logistics and Traffic (ZLV) and the Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU), partnering with the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) as well as the Fayoum University in Egypt.

The Erasmus+ project Envi Chain – “Environmental and Supply Chain Management for the Water, Energy and Food Nexus – the Basis for Sustainable Development” has just started at the University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE). Envi-Chain is designed to help students from Egyptian partner institutions to develop an interdisciplinary perspective on issues related to the main research field of “Water-Energy-Food Nexus”. In addition, the programme supports students to strengthen their ideas for a PhD or Master thesis and grants the possibility to attend to relevant courses and contribute to a collaborative research paper. This is also meant to intensify knowledge exchange between UDE and the respective Egyptian universities on the long run. The project period is divided into two action cycles: one in the ongoing summer semester 2017 and one in the winter semester 2017/18.
The Centre for Logistics and Traffic (ZLV) of the University of Duisburg-Essen has welcomed the first two Erasmus+ PhD students from the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport (AASTMT) in Egypt. The students will complete a period of six months, in which they will be supported by ZLV-scientists to develop ideas for their thesis and transfer the results of this cycle into a collaborative international publication on “Urban Sustainability in Egypt”. Besides the financial aid by the Erasmus+ programme, the students will be provided with working rooms at the campus of Essen to work individually as well as group work sessions which will be regularly scheduled. Finally, the participants will present their working-status and results in a 5-day-colloquium at the end of their stay under the core topic “Urban Sustainability in Egypt”. During the colloquium UDE- as well as AASTMT-scientists, for whom Erasmus+ withholds additional seven- to ten-day-scholarships, will provide input of their recent research findings and experiences to support the students and intensify the discussion in the colloquium. The colloquium will close with a round discussion with feedback for the students in order to improve their PhD or Master thesis. In addition, all participants will outline the structure of the international publication combining their different ideas about urban sustainability, exposing major problems and suggested innovative strategies for Egypt.
The next action cycle in the winter semester 2017/18 will be conducted in collaboration with the Centre for Water and Environmental Research (ZWU) of the University of Duisburg-Essen and the Fayoum University in Egypt. A comprehensive research involving students from both Fayoum University and AASTMT specifically on the research field Water-Energy-Food Nexus in Egypt will be supported. The participants will be involved in an intensive collaborative and interdisciplinary environment, receiving scientific input from UDE-experts and attend UDE lectures and seminars exclusively related to water, energy, agriculture and food supply.
The output of EnviChain is expected to be highly beneficial to all partners and will initiate new research channels in the future.

The cooperation with both Egyptian institutions developed through the research network „ECoL – Emerging Concepts of Logistics“:
http://ecol-network.eu/

For more information on the project please contact Nawwar Harfoush (ZLV):
nawwar.harfoush@uni-due.de