The visit of Chennai delegates to Trier, Germany, kicked off at the city hall where the mayor of Trier, Mr. Wolfram Leibe, gave a warm welcome and discussed his city’s goal on having exchange programmes between the Trier University of Applied Sciences, represented at the meeting by Professor Peter Konig, and the Hindustan University of Chennai with the support of the IURC programme. The study visit in Trier followed the visit of the Trier delegates to Chennai, India, on 21-23 September 2022, during which a Letter of Intent was signed to formalize the two cities’ commitment to collaboration.
Later that day, the Chennai delegates had a tour at SWT (Stadtwerke Trier Versorgungs-GmbH), a mostly city-owned company providing Trier with electricity, gas, drinking water, heat and managing wastewater (sewer network and sewage treatment plants) in a sustainable manner, and exchanged ideas on sustainable waste management. SWT also shared their strategy to make Trier become energy-independent. The next stop on the site visit was the Energy and Technology Park (ETP) newly built by SWT to illustrate their strategy and circular economy.
On the second day, the Chennai delegates learned about good practices on zero-emission at Umweltcampus Birkenfeld, The Environmental Campus Birkenfeld, which presented the Sustainable Campus Concept. In the afternoon, they finished the visit at ZAK, Central Waste Management Kaiserslautern, checking out a modern waste management facility and demonstrating the separation of biowaste and plastics.
On the last day, the Chennai delegates had a tour of the Trier University of Applied Sciences. They observed various demonstrations of auto vehicle safety systems, food technology, efficient heating systems, and energy generation. To close off the day, they visited Waste Management Region Trier, where they learned about advanced waste sorting technology and toxic water treatment.
The Chennai delegates’ visit to Trier was full of learning sessions on best practices implemented in Trier. Chennai and Trier will discuss their future cooperation and implement a pilot action within the IURC programme.