Media Release
October 27 2006
Australia-China research collaboration helps solve water worries
UniSA will join with SA Water to host to some of China’s top
environmental scientists and researchers at the inaugural Australia
China Workshop on Water Quality and Technology next week (October 31-
November 2, 2006).
Supported by UniSA’s Water Science and System Centre in partnership with SA Water the workshop brings together leading SA innovators from UniSA and SA Water with researchers from China’s internationally prestigious Research Centre for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES) based in Beijing.
Founded in 1975 RCEES is a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and employs more than 50 full research professors. The Centre has forged relationships worldwide from the US and the UK to Germany Switzerland, the Netherlands and now Australia.
UniSA Pro Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation, Professor Caroline McMillen says the workshop will provide the groundwork for important research collaborations in the future.
“Researchers in the water sector will have the chance to share information, plan for future programs and prioritise research needs at a time when the future of the world’s water is very much in the spotlight,” Prof McMillen said.
“We hope these discussions will pave the way for the development of opportunities for joint research between UniSA, RCEES and SA Water to find clever solutions for today’s water challenges.”
More than 50 delegates are expected at the workshop, with 17
attending from RCEES and the Chinese Natural Science Foundation and
local attendances from UniSA, SA Water, the Australian Water Quality
Centre (AWQC) and the International Centre of Excellence in Water
Resources Management (ICEWaRM).
Key research themes for the workshop include water and wastewater
treatment; microbiology and biotechnology; water chemistry and ecology
and toxicology.
The workshop will also showcase important research work being
undertaken at UniSA into water conservation technologies and waste water
management.
UniSA Associate Professor Bo Jin based at the SA Water Centre for Water
Science and Systems is well known to researchers at RCEES in China and
has been a catalyst for the staging of the workshop.
Prof Jin has been working with the wine industry in SA to develop a technique to clean and recycle waste water at the same time capturing pollutant organic materials in the water and converting them into protein rich food for farm animals.
“It is the development of these kinds of clever and efficient technologies that will make a vital contribution to the preservation of our environment in the long term and the protection of our water resources globally,” Professor McMillen said.
The Australia China Workshop on Water Quality and Technology will be
held at the National Wine Centre, Hackney Road, Adelaide.
Media contact
- Michèle Nardelli office (08) 8302 0966 mobile 0418 823 673 email michele.nardelli@unisa.edu.au