RECRUITMENT TIMELINE

17th Oct 2021 – registration deadline – REGISTRATION CLOSED
29th Oct 2021 – recruitment results (publication of the list of participants)
1st – 5th Nov 2021 – contact with participants
21st Nov 2021 (afternoon) – arrival to the hotel and “icebreaking” meeting
22nd – 26th Nov 2021 – Winter School (Cracow, Poland) MonGOS Winter School

Due to the specify of the Winter School we mainly invite PhD candidates and Master students interested in the circular economy, sustainable development, environmental sciences/engineering, environmental management/economy.

BACKGROUND OF THE WINTER SCHOOL

The European Union is currently under the process of transformation toward a circular economy (CE) model in which various areas of activity should be integrated for more efficient management of raw materials, energy, water and waste. The water and sewage sector has a great potential in this regard and therefore is an important element of the transformation process to the CE.

When sewage treatment was identified to have a major contribution to the over-exploited water resources in Europe, the European Commission stated that several measures are needed to promote the reuse of treated sewage, including legislation on minimum requirements for reused water. Furthermore, the sewage sector has a high potential in terms of nutrients recovery because of the significant content of phosphorus and nitrogen in almost all municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs). Due to the inclusion of phosphorus and phosphate rock on the Critical Raw Materials list by the European Union, it seems especially important to introduce nutrient recovery technologies among the largest WWTPs in Europe.

Following the scientific and professional reports, it can be seen that closing the loop in the water and sewage sector is ongoing for few decades. However, its potential has not been fully used and the circularity level of various material flows could be improved. Therefore education among future environmental professionals gains real importance.

The MonGOS Winter School aims to extend the students vision about the CE aspects in the water and sewage sector based on the following elements developed during the MonGOS project:

1. Studying barriers and drivers for CE model implementation in the water and sewage sector.
2. Developing a set of indicators to monitor the transitions of the sector towards CE.
3. Reviewing the existing examples of good practices.

The content of the MonGOS Winter School is designed to include the newest policy approach – the European Green Deal, Europe’s new agenda for green and sustainable growth, for which the CE model is one of the main building blocks. The above complex topics will be discussed in terms of the opportunities for the water and sewage sector followed by an analysis of the possibilities to achieve carbon neutrality and increase raw materials recovery and water reuse using water/sewage infrastructure.

Based on the expert knowledge gained during the learning path, the Winter School participants will propose indicators for three areas of sustainable development (economic, environmental and social) regarding water and sewage management.