Delegation of Chinese scientists visit Maastricht University

In the first week, the delegation visited UM, the Municipality of Maastricht, Roermond and Maasmechelen. In the second week, institutions like the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, the Municipality of Rotterdam, Port of Rotterdam Authority and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency were visited.

The visit takes place under an international training scheme for senior Chinese scientists in governmental agencies funded by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology. The aim is to build international networks and partnerships, and to learn about Dutch and European approaches to environmental monitoring and environmental health. More specifically, this visit focusses on decision support systems using a multi-criteria modelling approach (based on the Horizon 2020 project Euro-Healthy) and the use of big data analysis along with the synthesis of this data to inform policies in the context of environmental health. 

The visit is part of the larger Sino-Dutch collaboration. Thomas Krafft was asked to organise this training because of his affiliation as honorary professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and his earlier collaboration with CNEMC. To follow up and intensify the collaboration, a member of the delegation will be visiting UM for four months next year with a scholarship of the Chinese Scholarship Council.

Guests from the China National Environmental Monitoring Centre (CNEMC):

• Prof. Lihuan He, Chief of the Department of Comprehensive Analysis and Assessment
• Prof. Lanyu Lin, Assistant Chief of the Department of Comprehensive Analysis and Assessment
• Prof. Haijiang Liu, Assistant Chief of the Department of Ecology Environment Monitoring
• Dr. Fengying Zhang, Associated professor, Department of Comprehensive Analysis and Assessment
• Dr. Yong Ni, Engineer, Department of Comprehensive Analysis and Assessment
• Mrs. Congying Jiao, Engineer, Department of Science and Technology