German-MENA university network - PREVENT Waste Alliance

LOCATION:

Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Egypt

TARGET GROUP:

National decision-makers
Public authorities and organisations
Bachelor and Master students
Waste management experts and other key stakeholders

CHALLENGES:

Insufficient study programmes for waste management and circular economy in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)

SOLUTION:

The aim is to develop an online study programme for waste and circular economy in order to qualify future personnel of the public and private sector with regard to improved and integrated waste management solutions for a sustainable circular economy.

DESCRIPTION:

Improper waste management has become one of the major environmental challenges in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). To address this problem, each country requires a new integrated solid waste management system, sufficient financing and a skilled workforce to manage the rapidly growing waste amounts sustainably. This project aims at establishing a network through collaboration between German and MENA-region universities. The long-term objective is to obtain qualified personal staff in the political, regulatory, municipal and private sector. The network will focus on transferring practical experience through developing comprehensive courses on the state-of-art technologies. This will be achieved through establishing a comprehensive online-based teaching programme about waste management and circular economy. The learning objectives will be based on an analysis of the current situation in the target countries and the stakeholders’ needs. Hence, the knowledge-transfer will meet the needs and address the challenges in the field of waste management in the target countries. In sum, a sustainable capacity building for graduates and decision-makers will be achieved.