Category: EM40

IT ALL CAME BACK TO ME…

By Kebaabetswe Keoagile

It started with the long flights and landing in Montreal reminded me of the time in January, 2017 when arriving in Dresden for the Centre for Postgraduate Studies on Environmental Management for Developing and Emerging countries (CIPSEM). Of course the excitement will always be there but coming in winter time was a different story. The cold, the snow all brought back the memories in Dresden and made me think of the “onion principle” as Joyce Kiruri from Kenya will put it.

The twenty first meeting of the Subsidiary body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA 21) and the Tenth meeting of the Ad-hoc open ended working group on article 8j and related provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) met from the 11thto the 16th December, 2017 in Montreal, Canada. The meetings provided the basis for negotiations for the 2018 Conference of Parties.

SBSTTA provides the Conference of the Parties(CoP) with timely advice relating to the implementation of the convention. It comprises government representatives competent in the relevant field of expertise and are mandated to provide assessments of the status of biodiversity (BD), provide assessments of the types of measures taken and responding to the questions that the CoP may put before them.

Items covered during the meeting were:

On the other hand, working group on article 8j is also open to all parties and, indigenous and local communities’ representatives which play a full and active role of its work. Issues of Traditional Knowledge are considered as cross cutting that is said to affect many aspects of BD. The working group has raised the profile of indigenous peoples and local communities’ issues and developed guidelines and tools on TK.

Items covered during the meeting were:

For more information and outcomes of the meetings please visit www.cbd.int

All aimed at implementation of the Convention strategic plan…

Giving a statement on behalf of my country in support of the Africa position on agenda item, “Sustainable wildlife management: Guidance for achieving a more sustainable bushmeat sector” and saying, ‘Thank you madam chair…’ brought back the CIPSEM 40 memories especially the exercises we did at the Island of Vilm on CBD negotiations. Thanks to the facilitators I was able to use the knowledge to prepare for these meetings and impart it to the other stakeholders (delegates) from my country.

Another highlight was the reunion with Marle Patricia Aguilar Ponce from Honduras. It was a moment of craziness and happiness just seeing each other after the course. We met over lunch to catch up!

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Farewell EM40!

“Time just flew by” was the statement included in the speeches given by the representatives of the 40th UNEP/UNESCO/BMUB International Postgraduate Course on Environmental Management for Developing and Emerging Countries (EM40) at today’s award ceremony. And really, also for us, it seems like yesterday that we met the EM40 participants from Honduras, Vietnam, Colombia, Uganda, Sierra Leone, Botswana, Kenya, Niger, Peru, China, Indonesia, Mexico, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, Sudan, Brazil, Ethiopia, Jamaica, and India at the airport. But even though, the one or other tear creates the impression of time having passed by maybe too fast and the moving speeches let us realize the sadness of goodbyes, they are also an impressive demonstration of how naturally people from different countries, with different religious backgrounds, and from different cultures can become friends or even more, become like a family and how a city which may have been entered with mixed feelings at first, can become a second home in the end.
Congratulations EM40 for all your professional and personal achievements during the last six months. We wish you luck, endurance, and success for your professional careers and for your efforts for a more sustainable future!

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Photo: Harald Schluttig

Chemnitz – the city of modernity

“Stadt der Moderne” (City of Modernity) is the title that Saxony’s third largest city uses to describe itself. In terms of its energy concept, this rings true to us. In 2015, the municipality has received the European Energy Award in Gold. During our excursion today we got to meet some main actors contributing to this sucess: employees of the city administration as well as Dr. Schwenk of FASA AG. The company earns most of its money with noise cancelling infrastructure, but is also passionate about offering affordable buildings equipped with solarthermal heating.

Please see the image captions for details.

Mr. Braumann works on energy management for the city of Chemnitz. He has introduced us to a municipal, energy efficient kindergarten building which is heated by cloud computing servers.
After Mr. Zichner from Chemnitz’s environment office has introduced us to the energy-related activities of the city, Dr. Schenk of FASA AG outlines the solar-thermal building concept employed by the company.
We get to see refurbished houses dating back to 1904.
The lower part of the heat storage tank in the refurbished multi-family homes.
Not far away, a complete solarthermal district is being established.
We get to see various stages of construction an can ask tons of questions to the endlessly patient Dr. Schwenk.

A story of science, policy and healthier trees – excursion to the Ore Mountains

During our excursion to the Altenberg Area of the Ore Mountains, the interlinkages of environmental issues becomes – once again – very clear. We have learned about the high concentrations of air pollutants such as Sulfur Dioxide in the area during the end of the 20th century to a large extend brought about by the burning of lignite rich in sulfur in the power plants of the German Democratic Republic as well as the CSSR and facilitated by the topographic conditions. Transboundary impacts of such unmitigated air pollution have been noticed to such an extend in many terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems throughout Europe that led to the UN-ECE Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution in 1979. With that went the establishment of an international monitoring programme for the impacts of air pollution on forests. The long-term monitoring site close to Altenberg operated by the Saxon State Public Enterprise Sachsenforst is part of this network.

Our group is being welcomed by Dr. Henning Andreae of the Saxon State Forest Enterprise. You will guess from the picture that mornings in the Ore Mountains are more chilly than in Dresden 😉
Dr. Andreae and the local sampling expert explain the motivation and framework for the forest condition monitoring scheme, and also shed light on the sampling procedure and results.
Sampling soil solution from different depths – how does this work?
We also get to see the nearby meteorological measurement site and location for measuring concentrations of various atmospheric pollutants as they would impact the top of the forest canopy.
This is how tiny the passive samplers are!
In the end, we have a short hike to Kahleberg (‘the bare mountain’). Where there had been serious forest die-back during the 1980s and early 1990, young trees look quite healthy.

The high atmospheric inputs of sulfur still have an impact on soil chemistry and the chemical composition of the run-off from this area. Thanks to abatement of sulfur emissions during the 1990s, forests are recovering as we could see during a short hike to Mount Kahleberg. This shows that positive changes are possible. This confidence and determination is needed as issues such as NOx-emissions, Ozone concentrations, persistent organic pollutants, interdependencies with climate change mitigation and other challenges still require a lot of attention, as has been outlined in the latest air quality assessment report of the UN-ECE.

Thanks to Dr. Henning Andreae of Sachsenforst for sharing some of his insights with us.

Last resort – a visit to the soil cleaning facility in Hirschfeld

During an excursion to the soil treatment facility of the Bauer Resources GmbH we learned what can be done if prevention has failed and in-situ treatment of polluted soil is not an option – and at which cost.

See the image captions for details.

We meet with Dr. Uwe Schlenker of Bauer Resources GmbH and Dr. Axel Fischer (TU Dresden).
Dr. Schlenker, a CIPSEM alumnus, explains how a former pig farm has been transformed into a soil treatment facility.
He answers a long series of questions about how different kinds of soil pollutions can be treated in-situ and ex-situ, in this treatment facility.
After optimising our outfits towards maximising visibility and lowering the risk for spreading pollutants, we set out for a tour of the premises.
This is one of the halls in which soil bacteria are provided good conditions (through regulation of aeration and temperature as well as addition of nutrients) for multiplying and breaking down pollutants.
Activated carbon, mainly from coconut shells, is for example used to treat emissions from the ventilation system of the facility.
The soil is partially being processed by machines and techniques used in composting plants.
Some of the processing is also done outdoors, on a sealed surface. All the run-off from this area is being collected and treated.
Dr. Schlenker activates the installation which cleans the wheels of lorries leaving the treatment facility.

The treated soil can be used for construction, not for food production.

Excursion to the Ecological Station Neunzehnhain and Reservoir Management

by Yulia Mariska (EM40)

On 15th – 16th June 2017, the participants of the 40th UNEP/UNESCO/BMUB International Postgraduate Course on Environmental Management had the opportunity to visit the Ecological Station Neunzehnhain and learn more about reservoir management.  Located about 80 km south-west of Dresden in the “Ore Mountains”. First day, the group transferred to dam Neunzehnhain II guided by the Dam Administration Saxony.  The area of the dam are not populated and surrounded by almost 80% of forests as drinking water protection. The main reason is to keep the good water quality because the dam’s primary purpose is for  drinking water supply of the nearby located city of Chemnitz with a storage capacity of about 3 million cubic meters.

dam Neunzehnhain II
the Neunzehnhain reservoir

The second day started with a lecture about freshwater organism and quality indicators by Ms. Beesk (TU Dresden); in this session, the participants were equipped with microscopes to see some of the micro-organisms in the water sample and then continued to have get some explanation about water quality indicators in the reservoir Neunzehnhain II. The next session was guided by Dr. Paul (TU Dresden), he explained about the water quality and quantity management in reservoirs and how it can be used as a bio-manipulation tool to manage fish stocks.

preparing a water sample
session on water quality indicators

After having lunch the excursion proceeded to dam Saidebach guided again by Dr. Paul for another session about land use in the catchment area, water and sediment treatment, catchment protection and climate change issues. The dam Saidebach like the dam Neunzehnhain II also functions as a drinking water reservoir with a capacity of 22 million cubic meters.

at the Saidenbach dam
EM40 course

Dresden Nexus Conference – at the science-policy interface

by Andrea Vera (Peru) & Fernanda Martinelli (Brazil)

During three days we had the opportunity to participate and be involved in the Dresden Nexus Conference (DNC). The conference was held at the Deutsches Hygiene Museum (a must see museum if you are in Dresden) from 17th to 19th May.

This biannual conference was focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Nexus Approach: Monitoring and Implementation. Major topics covered were ‘Wastewater Reuse in Nexus Perspective: Environmental, Economic and Societal Opportunities’, ‘Smart Green Cities: Adaptation and Urban Resilience’, ‘SDG Agenda: Achieving SDGs’, and ‘Resource Recovery and Reuse in Multifunctional Land-Use Systems’.

It was a great space for networking, discussion, lectures and sees the results from case studies around the world. DNC is a platform that brings all stakeholders and actors (researchers, implementers, decision makers) together implementing the Nexus Approach. But what does it mean to implement the ‘Nexus Approach’? This was the first question that some of us were wondering during the conference. First, this approach is focused on Water-Soil-Waste and that all natural resources are interconnected to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).  Amazing goal! But, it is a serious challenge as we look forward to reduce poverty and provide enough food and water for all. Second, this approach also aims to join scientist, implementers, decision-makers and donors to exchange experiences, discussions and close the gaps between actors. This was well addressed, but more involvement from the private sector is needed.  Finally, it seeks to improve governance and participation to implement the Nexus Approach outside the academic circle and intersect all efforts from individuals to governments.

One of the newest sections in the conference was the World Café. During 60 minutes, in a round-table, we dialogued about multifunctional land-use systems and resource management. Every person could choose on which table to participate according to their field of expertise or interest. An expert moderated the discussion and noted the main points of interest to be taken into account for the next conference. Questions like ‘What data is missing?’, ‘How can we monitor and what potentials indicators could we use?’, ‘Which stakeholders should be involved?’, ‘What are the next steps? Where are the information and knowledge gaps?’: among other were discussed and summarized into key points.

Some final remarks that we need to bear in mind: you can’t manage what you don’t measure. Management and monitoring is important in every work, so we can see where we are and how are we achieving the goals; we must work together, build bridges between all actors and stakeholders, make connections between governments and financial sector. Let’s move from laboratories and start field implementation. As the Agenda 2030 says: ‘let’s ensure that no one is left behind’.

Photos by Anna Görner

Another knowledge-search excursion to the German Environment Agency (UBA)

by Ms. Kebaabetswe Keoagile (Botswana)

It all started with the admiration of the main building. One would have thought it’s a business building; it is a piece of architectural beauty indeed!

 

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Picture by Bendicto Kabiito, Uganda

That was on the 11 th and 12 th of May, 2017 when CIPSEM EM40 participants had an excursion to the German Environment Agency (UBA) in Dessau. The Agency is Germany’s central federal authority on environmental matters. According to their website and other websites, there have three main functions.

Its key statutory mandates are:

  • To provide scientific support to the Federal Government (e.g.. the Federal Ministries for Environment; Health; Research; Transport, Building and Urban Affairs);
  • Implementation of environmental laws (e.g. emissions trading, authorisation of chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and plant protection agents)
  • Information of the public about environmental protection.
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Introduction to UBA (Photo by Andre Lindner)

 

Different topics were presented, graced questions and discussions from the participants. The agenda for sustainable development 2030 was of great importance to generate insights into topics such as Sustainable development, green economy, sustainable resource use, and resource efficiency. Presenters were insightful about the need for action regarding transitioning to green economy. Population growth, high economic growth in developing countries, increasing fluctuating energy resources prices were cited as reasons for action.

And with these actions they are benefits that can be derived and the presenter covered: business opportunities, job creation, less environmental change hence higher welfare and quality of life, less dependency on energy imports and less use of resources, to name a few.

In the discussions, green economy was being viewed an aspect of sustainable development.

It also emerged through the discussions that sustainable development is an overarching vision while green economy gives shape to sustainable development, however, it does not fully address social issues.

It was important for us to learn that Germany has sustainability strategies which include resource efficiency policy and national strategy for sustainable development which were updated in 2016 for alignment the Sustainable Development Goals.

As the day progressed, the Dr. Uwe Leprich, Head of Department under Climate Protection and Energy unit, welcomed us to the Agency and introduced the two alumni of the CIPSEM Programme: Ms Rachel Boti-Douayoua (a 2015 CIPSEM participant) and Prof. Dr. Bert Kohlmann (a 1981 participant). The two gave interesting presentations about their experiences during the course. The latter noted that environmental issues by that time included ecological change, soil pollution, ozone layer depletion and air pollution, as opposed to climate change. His valuable experiences included making friends who were resourceful for his subsequent collaborations and project work. His projects were more into what he studied during the course (renewable energy and bio monitoring) and currently embarking on renewable energy projects as part of the transition to green economy.

Ms Boti-Douayoua also gave insights into her current work of which she managed to integrate what she learnt from the course on carbon credits. This was evident that indeed the course reaches its objectives of skilling and enriching participants.

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Professor Dr Bert Kohlmann (CIPSEM Alumnus -1981, photo by Dr. André Lindner)
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Ms Rachel Boti-Douayoua (CIPSEM Alumna -2015, Photo by Dr. André Lindner)

The participants had a relaxed evening and informally continued discussions about the day’s events at a joint dinner at the NH-Hotel (courtesy of CIPSEM secretariat). Some participants had a night-walk within the city centre to appreciate its beauty thereafter. Thanks to CIPSEM invite!

Day 2 was the day to get the practical part of the issues previously identified, with aid of cases from Germany. The topics of the day ranged from climate change priorities, adaptation and institutionalisation, to waste electrical and electronic equipment management and the strategic and environmental impact assessments. Thanks to the presenters for the knowledge share with or imparted onto the participants on the above areas. The participants engaged the presenters through discussions.

At the end one will say it was still clear that the challenge is putting theory into action remains critical in many spheres. One example of such challenges was the comment from a participant on the amount of work done on the environmental issues especially climate change, the results of which are not yet realized.

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Ms Judith Voss-Stemping (presentation on international Climate Protection-Priorities and institutionalization in Germany, photo by Dr. Anna Görner).

Implementation! Implementation! Implementation!

The Dilemma of land use: Bringing Reality to the Classroom

By: Ahmed Said Sulaiman

Making decisions that affect people’s use of land is among the most anxious actions that any progressive society has to deal with. Some of the mainstream arguments claim that the economic needs of the country should always take the priority in determining land use, while others say that indigenous or traditional claims to land use have to be respected. Emphasizing humankind’s stewardship obligations, still others argue that where nature is threatened, the best use of land is excluding human intervention. Even though, the intensions of conservation might be industrious in protecting fauna and flora, its final consequences could also be destructive. For example, if the actions of protected areas impose misery on people especially those who are fully dependent on it for their survival, it is unlikely to succeed in the long run. Well!  What is the best option of using natural resources then? This question seems easy to ask than answered!

As part of unpacking this complexity associated with land use, Environmental Management Class (EM40) led by Dr. Eckhard Auch, performed a simulation game on May 3rd 2017. The role play was based on a case of conservation area located in India (Kaziranga National Park) which was threatened by human encroachment. The intension of the scene was to bring all relevant stakeholders and involved actors to a meeting and eventually make an agreement on issue at stake (eviction of local users). The scene brought reality on the ground to the classroom and provided a lively discussion, arguments and counterarguments among the opposing parties.

Jürgen Habermas, a German Sociologist was right when he said “only by knowing the partner’s real interests (best), a negotiation can achieve best compromises”.   I learned that land use is beyond the affiliation of certain actors. There are other stakeholders (private, civil society and NGOs etc.) who have a say and influence the decisions of every aspect. Hence, making compromises was one of the determinants of reaching success.

However, even with in this role play, the process of making compromise was not smooth either. It was quite challenging to reach a common ground even with in a small group of the same interest let alone confronting opposing parties.

On the other hand, moderation of such kind of meetings needed skillful tactics and attention to the details. For example, the facilitators’ understanding about the culture of the involved community or behavior of individuals is crucial while on the other hand systematically balancing the power of the actors in the discussion process is important factor for reaching a fair consensus.

Overall, being part of this exercise was a valuable brainstorming. It stirred my sense and brought my attention that land use management does not happen in a vacuum – it combines science and society. Though the process is complex per say, if well designed and managed, it can make a tangible progress and lead to a cumulative positive outcome or, in other words a win-win solution.

 

Ahmed Said Sulaiman is EM40 participant from Ethiopia

Visiting the wastewater treatment plant Dresden-Kaditz

By Liu Haibo, China

Today we visited the wastewater treatment plant Dresden-Kaditz. Although the weather conditions were not beautiful with wind and rain, the EM40 course participants still happily visited the unit. This unit, as the only municipal sewage treatment plant in the area, has a long history but is maintained well and orderly. Although conventional sewage treatment technology is used, the plant is unique in its design / operation and management. Moreover the processing indicators can meet the management requirements.

Photo: T. Karp
Photo: T. Karp
Photo: T. Karp
Photo: T. Karp
Photo: Liu Haibo
Photo: T. Karp
Photo: T. Karp
Photo: T. Karp

Photos: T. Karp / Liu Haibo

Mr. Lucke, the head of the environmental analysis laboratory at the wastewater treatment plant, guided us along the treatment process, and explained the different treatment steps from inflow to coarse and fine screens to the different clarification tanks and sludge treatment. Seeing the huge groundwater pipes, we could feel our gap with Germany not only on the ground, more perhaps we can not see the place. During the visit, the participants were able to ask questions about the treatment process, the rainwater impact，and so on.