The International Project Weeks Water has begun!
From September 27th to October 8th the international project weeks of Water takes place in Leeuwarden. Students and teachers from the water sector will engage in various forms of education related to the field of water, attending introductory sessions and visiting project related locations.
On Monday, Leo Groendijk, a lecturer of Water Technology at Van Hall Larenstein University, introduced the project and events to the students. When asked about his thoughts on the Water Weeks he said “I like the opportunity to be one of the teachers in the program and we are glad to have the group here. It is the first version of this course. We have some experience the last eight years with Dutch groups from vocational centers from the Netherlands, but this is the first time we have a group of integrated students. I’m really curious, and we are ready for this after two years of preparations. It is a pity we couldn’t start last year, but there is a reason, as we all know.” Leo also stated that he was interested to learn from the students about how their countries deal with water.
The project week is an event for students and teachers from the Czech Republic, Latvia, Malta, and the Netherlands. The international students work together with Dutch VET students of MBO Life Sciences in Leeuwarden to make their own water purification system on Kameleon Island in Terherne. In addition to the classroom and practical lessons in the Water Application Center laboratory, excursions to different places of interest are also on the agenda; for example, the steam pumping station “het Woudagemaal” in Lemmer.
Knowledge exchange
Throughout these two weeks, students will learn about water ecology, water pollution, testing water quality, water treatment, legislation and regulations. In parallel with the Water weeks, project partners will meet to discuss a follow-up to the project. An Erasmus+ subsidy helps to fund this project.
The project week in Leeuwarden is hosted by the Center for Innovative Craftsmanship Water (CIV Water) and is part of the international project “Platform of Vocational Excellence Water” PoVE Water. It is the first of several exchanges between the partner countries. PoVE Water wants to motivate students and teachers to share knowledge with each other, to look beyond national borders, and to make the water sector sexy again. Learning Hub Fryslan is also involved as a regional partner in this project week.
PoVE Water is a project for VET students in the water sector in Europe that looks at various Sustainable Development Goals including SDG 4: Quality education, SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation, and SDG 17: Partnerships for the goals.