International Water Summer School at FCH BUT focused on the sustainability of water resources

At the turn of August and September a summer school called "WATER" took place at the Faculty of Chemistry of Brno University of Technology (FCH BUT) with the participation of 15 foreign students. The programme combined a professional part filled with online lectures on the topics of wastewater treatment or water recycling with the contact part of the summer school. The latter, in addition to other expert lectures, offered, for example, an excursion to the uniquely preserved water reservoirs on the “Žlutý kopec” area in Brno

The summer school took place as an Erasmus+ activity in the form of a "Blended Intensive Programme" (BIP), a way to promote international mobility by combining physical and virtual activities.

Thus, the summer school took place online in the first phase, from 26 to 30 August. In the next part of the programme, from 2 to 6 September, the participants, who came from Latvia, Finland, Slovenia, Poland and Slovakia, met physically at the premises of the FCH BUT.

The lecturers were the academic staff of the FCH BUT, as well as experts and specialists from companies with which the faculty cooperates.

The online programme consisted mainly of expert lectures, but also offered participants information about the FCH BUT and the city of Brno. Foreign students were also given space for a short presentation in which they introduced themselves, their studies and the university.

The professional programme provided the participants with a lot of interesting information on hydrobiology, water microbiology, hydrochemistry, water technology, ecotoxicology, analytical chemistry with a focus on new trends in wastewater treatment and purification, water recycling, but also on water sustainability, water resources, pollutants in water or microorganisms as indicators of water quality.

In addition to other technical lectures, the following physical part of the programme offered interesting thematic excursions. Visits were made to the wastewater treatment plant in Bílovice, the neutralization station at the Technical University of Technology, the water technology laboratory and the unique preserved water tanks on the “Žlutý kopec” area in Brno. The students practically tried sampling water using the sampling equipment at the Brno Dam. There was also a city tour of Brno.

Among the activities offered was also participation in the professional scientific conference of young water managers "Young water grinds the banks", which was co-organized by the CzWA association directly on the premises of the FCH BUT.

During the whole contact part of the event, students worked on group projects on selected topics under the guidance of mentors from among the lecturers of the summer school. At the end of the week, presentations of these group projects were made and the learners were presented with certificates of completion.

Participants also had the opportunity to give feedback to the event organisers. Both through the questionnaire and in informal discussions, they expressed great satisfaction with the summer school.