Pay Drechsel wins 2015 IWA Development Award

Stockholm, Oct. 18(Greenpost)–Pay Drechsel, IWMI’s research theme leader for Resource Recovery, Water Quality and Health, has won the 2015 International Water Association’s Development Award for Research, according to news reaching here from Colombo, Sri Lanka.

 

The award has just been presented at the opening ceremony of the IWA’s Development Congress and Exhibition in Amman, Jordan on Sunday, October 18.

 

“The award is granted in recognition for Pay’s contributions to science which have led to demonstrable impact in low and middle income countries,” said Ger Bergkamp, Executive Director of IWA. “[He is] an example to the water community in each corner of the globe.”

 

Drechsel’s research has played an important role in developing options for safe wastewater use in countries where treatment capacities are low and informal wastewater irrigation is common. His studies continue to explore the importance of irrigated urban and peri-urban agriculture for food security in cities.

 

The award, which is granted every two years, recognizes his long track record in research which has contributed to the development of low-cost safety options along the farm to fork pathway. This work directly supported the World Health Organization’s multi-barrier concept for safe wastewater irrigation, as has been acknowledged by Robert Bos, the former WHO Coordinator of Water, Sanitation and Health.

 

“This recognition is a fantastic acknowledgment of more than a decade of research,” said Drechsel. “I have been strongly supported in this by my dear colleagues, students and partners, as well as the International Water Management Institute which entrusted me with the task to conceptualize and coordinate our work on water quality, food safety and resource recovery”.

 

“This Award from the IWA, the largest global association of water professionals, is also very special as most of our work is been carried out in those places where the technical solutions we all prefer to see are not yet in place.”

 

German by birth, Drechsel graduated as environmental scientist from the University of Bayreuth and started his career as consultant in Africa. He then became as research coordinator for the continent at the International Board of Soil Research and Management (IBSRAM), being first based in Bangkok and then Ghana where he opened the organization’s Africa office. After IWMI incorporated IBSRAM in 2001, Drechsel worked as its sub-regional representative, expanding the number of IWMI staff in Ghana from five to over thirty. In 2005 he became a research division leader. During his 11 years in West Africa, Drechsel comprehensively analyzed the links between rural-urban food demands and the urban footprint. Given the high density of irrigating farmers in and around cities, he was particularly interested in the pollution of water bodies and consequent food safety risks. This work influenced legislation in Ghana including national strategies, development plans and policies, as well as several international water reuse guidelines and their supplements produced by WHO, FAO and USEPA/USAID. His work on safe wastewater management was also one of several highlights cited in 2012 award of the Stockholm Water Prize to the International Water Management Institute.

Stockholm växer snabbast i Europa

Av Xuefei Chen Axelsson
STOCKHOLM, OCT. 18(Greenpost)– Nya siffror visar att Stockholms stad förväntas växa snabbast i hela Europa de kommande fem åren. säger Stockholms Handelskammare.

Stockholms diversifierade ekonomi med snabbt växande teknikföretag och många internationella huvudkontor drar till sig talang.– Stockholms stad är en internationell tillväxtregion. Befolkningsökningen är starkast i Europa och vi har många fördelar som internationella företag börjar få upp ögonen för, men vi har också ett antal utmaningar.När befolkningen växer med två bussar varje dag ökar kraven på investeringar i infrastruktur, bostäder och tunnelbana.

Det säger Maria Rankka, VD Stockholms Handelskammare, i en kommentar till siffrorna.

– Företagsklimatet i Stockholm är bra, men även solen har sina fläckar. Den tillväxtskadliga värnskatten borde tas bort och optionsskatten sänkas, avslutar Maria Rankka.

Underlaget har tagits fram av Peter Stein på konsultbolaget Stein Brothers.

De tio snabbast växande städerna i Europa:

1. Stockholm förväntas öka sin befolkning med 11 procent till 2020. En ökning till 1 012 488 människor år 2020.

2. Köpenhamn förväntas öka sin befolkning med 10,3 procent de kommande fem åren.

3. Oslo förväntas öka sin befolkning med 7,9 procent fram till 2020.

4. London förväntas öka sin befolkning med 5,80 procent de kommande fem
åren.

5. Helsingfors förväntas öka sin befolkning med 5,70 procent de kommande fem åren.

6. Wien förväntas öka sin befolkning med 5,50 procent de kommande fem åren.

7. Berlin förväntas öka sin befolkning med 4,30 procent de kommande fem åren.

8. Dublin förväntas öka sin befolkning med 3,90 procent de kommande fem åren.

9. Bryssel förväntas öka sin befolkning med 3,60 procent de kommande fem åren.

10. Bratislava förväntas öka sin befolkning med 3,30 procent de kommande fem åren.

Nyföretagandet fortsätter öka i Göteborg‏

Av Xuefei Chen Axelsson
Stockholm, Oct. 18(Greenpost)– Nyföretagandet fortsätter öka i Göteborg, enligt en meddelande från Business Region Göteborg.
Göteborg är på väg att vända trenden inom nyföretagande. För femte kvartalet i rad ökar antalet nystartade företag i Göteborgsregionen. I de andra storstäderna går utvecklingen bakåt.
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China expects broader education cooperation with Britain

 Stockholm, Oct. 18 (Greenpost) — China’s Minister of Education Yuan Guiren on Friday praised the progress of education cooperation with Britain and called for more.
Britain is a major destination for Chinese students studying abroad and the number of British students who come to China has increased steadily, said Yuan, in an interview with Xinhua ahead of President Xi Jinping’s visit to Britain next week.
Last year, Chinese government sponsored 2,400 students studying in Britain and 224 British students in China. By the end of 2014, a total of 150,000 Chinese had studied in Britain. In 2014, more than 6,000 British students came to China, a notable increase from previous years.
“Increasing exchanges between young people of China and Britain not only open more opportunities for their personal development but also inject energy into the relationship in the long run,” he said.
Cooperation between universities has also picked up, with Chinese and British universities jointly setting up 17 institutions and 240 programs in China.
In September, the Beijing Normal University and Cardiff University opened a college for Chinese studies in Cardiff. Britain also has the largest number of Confucius Institutes in Europe. Since 2004, education ministers of the two countries have met regularly.  Enditem

Source Xinhua.

Editor Xuefei Chen Axelsson

H&M Group’s Sales Increases in September 2015

Stockholm, Oct. 18(Greenpost)–The H&M group’s sales including VAT increased by 11 percent in local currencies in September 2015 compared to the same month last year.

The total number of stores amounted to 3,733 on 30 September 2015 compared to 3,338 on 30 September 2014.

  H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) was founded in Sweden in 1947 and is quoted on Nasdaq Stockholm. H&M’s business idea is to offer fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way. In addition to H&M, the group includes the brands & Other Stories, Cheap Monday, COS, Monki and Weekday as well as H&M Home. The H&M Group has more than 3,700 stores in 60 markets including franchise markets. In 2014, sales including VAT were SEK 177 billion and the number of employees is more than 132,000.