Vagalhão – in a nutshell
Teaser
Expanding the network – University of Helsinki and The Finnish Forest Research Institute
Hello!
August and September have been busy months preparing more teaching materials. Vagalhão team welcomes Aalto staff member Sakari Toivakainen to the group who specializes in water and wastewater research. Sakari will be assisting in educating the Universidade Eduardo Mondlane teaching and expert staff in laboratory and field work during their upcoming visit to Finland in 2014. The UEM trip to Finland will include workshops and meetings at Aalto University and visits to companies for an overview of forestry management and engineering in Finland.
University of Helsinki Viikki campus acted as host for another successful workshop between the universities and The Finnish Forest Research Institute (METLA) on Wednesday 9 October. Viikki Tropical Resources Institute (VITRI) at the University of Helsinki has an ongoing project named PAIMO: Private Agricultural Investments and Land Use Change Impact on the Adaptive Capacity of Local Communities to Climate Change In Mozambique. We were happy to hear details and get contacts of both Finnish and Mozambican Master’s thesis students doing the field work at Niassa province, northern Mozambique. METLA project FORECAS (Forest Research Capacity Strengthening in Mozambique 2012-14) is another interesting work mainly studying local Mozambican wood species. The meeting proved altogether mutually very beneficial for everyone to get updated on the programmes and moreover to pursue ideas and plans for further collaboration. This is something we all agreed and value highly when we can find common interests and ground to work on for greater development.
Discussing processes and thesis positions, Prof. Andrade Egas and Roope Husgafvel, Madeirarte saw mill in Xai-Xai.
Prof. Andrade Egas showing the wood technology laboratory at Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, currently being equipped and updated with METLA.
Based on the meeting outcomes we have ever more reasons and motivation to continue the discussion and already benefiting from this to get more data and people connected to assist in our development tasks at the university level. Combining efforts on Nordic level were also discussed which will be taken into account to get more effectiveness in the various projects. Other incoming activities we are excited about will include the first official workshop on curriculum development and module planning that will take place in Maputo on 30 October. The list of participants already looks promising. On the Mozambican end we also managed to raise interest for our project at the Finnish Embassy that will act as an important link and contact between the universities but also the companies in Mozambique.
Conversation and plans for further Nordic collaboration for development efforts in Mozambique. Hosting visit third from right, First Secretary representing Research and Infrastructure, Elisabeth Ilskog, Embassy of Sweden.
Universidade Eduardo Mondlane Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry Engineering - meeting place for the first official workshop on October 30.
Work at the university Maputo is going well and we sincerely want to thank all our colleagues Prof. Andrade Egas and Prof. Natasha Ribeiro for their excellent work! We will stay tuned for the workshop results soon.
Thank you again!
First field experiences
Bilene Beach, Gaza. Lunch stop after Xai-Xai town saw mill visit in beautiful southern Mozambique.
Hello again,
Since coming back in mid-June we have wanted to share our experiences with you. Our first project visit to Maputo and its surroundings turned out to be a wonderful experience. Little did we know of what to expect before departure and all we set out to see where more than satisfactory. The itinerary was as follows:
ITINERARY
6 – 16 June, 2013
Finnish team: Prof. Olli Dahl, Dr. Roope Husgafvel, MSc. Mikko Martikka
Local organizers: Prof. Andrade Egas, Prof. Valério Macandza
Fri 07.06 – Sun 09.06
Project meetings with STIFIMO project
Mon 10.06
Finnish Embassy
Board meeting
Wood Technology Lab – UEM University
Tue 11.06
MICOA
Swedish Embassy
Wed 12.06
Visit sawmill in Maputo (J. M. Construções Lda)
Green Resources
Thu 13.06
Travel and visit Madeirarte sawmill in Xai-Xai
Prodeza II meeting at Polana Hotel
Fri 14.06 – Su 16.06
Project meetings & meetings with STIFIMO
Straight after arrival at Maputo international airport we were met by the welcoming staff of STIFIMO (Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation between Finland and Mozambique). One of our main hosts Teemu Seppälä showed us around the places to get us oriented. STIFIMO has a broad network already operating within Mozambique as well as the neighboring countries of South Africa and Swaziland. Teemu took us on a mini tour on the weekend during which we had time to get an overview of the environment and discuss project objectives and share our previous experiences. We saw glimpses of local waste management and forest plantations to name a few examples but also the gloriously beautiful flora and fauna of the region with very diverse landscape.
Tree plantations of Swaziland.
On Monday we started with the HEI ICI project board meeting and a tour of the University and its wood technology laboratory. Professor Andrade Egas of UEM Forestry Department had arranged us an excellent schedule for the week that continued with visits to the embassies of Finland and Sweden and to companies and representative agencies working in the field of environmental issues and sustainability. We also had a privilege to see two saw mills and furniture companies in full operation with a truly detailed insight into how things are manged locally. Particularly these mill visits were excellent in seeing the people in action in their daily work and practice.
A picture is worth a thousand words so please let us illustrate our journey for you with these photos. Enjoy!
HEI ICI staff and project board members at the Faculty of Agronomy and Forestry Engineering.
UEM Forestry department, memorizing the names of the numerous species of hard wood.
Embassies of Finland and Sweden. Great visits for HEI ICI project for working together with sustainability initiatives and education development.
Circular saw operators at J.M. Construções Lda, Maputo
Hands-on expertise of door making.
Final products.
Delicious Mozambican seafood. Straight off the coast of Maputo. Thank you everyone at J.M. Construções for wonderful hosting!
New projects discussed for sustainable forestry management and collaboration of UEM university and the industry. Great visit at Green Resources Maputo hosted by CEO Arlito Cuco (second from left).
Sustainability at its best where not a fraction of the wood used is discarded. Leftover hard wood bits are used for floor tiles and mosaic, bark vaneer for garden decoration and plants edging and saw dust for henhouse flooring. All workers are local and UEM students are regularly doing projects and mini thesis studies at Madeirarte saw mill in Xai-Xai. The staff also operates a comfortable roadside accommodation service with self-built lodges.
Madeirarte saw mill in Xai-Xai.
Keeping busy at the workshop.
Finished products drying in the sun.
Finished high-quality furniture ready for customer.
Sun setting over Maputo bay.
A big thank you for Professor Andrade Egas and his colleagues, STIFIMO and all other hosts for making us feel so welcome during our entire visit. The work now continues with workshops in curriculum planning and writing of the new teaching material for our module in industrial environmental engineering.
We look forward to seeing you very soon again! Muito obrigado!
Networking in Helsinki
HEI ICI project will participate in the launch of the FinCEAL Project – Developing Finnish Science, Technology and Innovation Cooperation between Europe, Africa and the Latin American Region – Event will be held at University of Helsinki Main Building, Fabianinkatu 33, on 3rd and 4th June, 2013.
For us, the FinCEAL will be a good source of information to reflect on some of our project objectives such as capacity development and providing services and collaborate with the industry and Mozambican national initiatives.
To register for this event
http://unipid.wufoo.com/forms/finceal-kickoff-event/
For more information on FinCEAL http://www.unipid.fi/en/page/146/finceal
First visit to Maputo in June!
Collaboration with UEM has proceeded to the first major step. Aalto University project group will make their first visit to Maputo between June 6-17 2013.
During the excursion we will also meet with local contributors and make contacts with MICOA (The National Directorate of Environmental Impact Assessment), Green Resources and Embassies of Finland and Sweden among other visits. The intensive week will include two interesting site visits to saw mills, one in Maputo and Madeirarte mill in Xai-Xai town. We also hope to get a glimpse of the magnificent wilderness of the national parks bordering Mozambique and South Africa as well as the Indian Ocean coastline just outside the city of Maputo.
Networking with the Mozambican partners in forestry and nature tourism will surely give us a good overview of the situation of environmental matters and the task at hand in Mozambique. We look forward to the visit and want to express our sincere thanks to our collaborators: Professor Andrade Egas at UEM and Advisor Teemu Seppälä of STIFIMO, thank you both for your big efforts!
Project group for the visit in June will be:
Roope Husgafvel, Project coordinator
Mikko Martikka, Lecturer
Olli Dahl, Professor
Hello world!
This is the blog for the Vagalhão project. Aalto University Clean Technologies group was granted funding for a development project in research and teaching in collaboration with Universidade Eduardo Mondlane, Maputo, Mozambique.
The mission for the two year project will be:
• To develop a study module with associated curriculum and implement expert training on sustainability and clean technologies
• To develop UEM capacity to provide services for and to establish strong links with industry, national sustainable development efforts and initiatives and other higher education institutes in the field of sustainability and clean technologies.
