Welcome Message from Lead Partner of WaterPro

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Welcome to Water pro

I am happy and proud to present to you the first WaterPro project newsletter, which allows us to share project related information across partner organisations. The project started 1st June 2016, and I believe that each partner is fully committed to the project goals and objectives by now.  The project has started in such a way that each partner finds out the national laws, regulations and good water management practices relating to the nutrient loadings of agriculture and extractive industries. Partners have started to design the pilot sites for testing and developing the practices for runoff management. Project communication such as logo, brochure and website are also the first efforts of the project. I’m sure that in upcoming newsletters, we’ll have a number of interesting results to report as well. I Hope you’ll enjoy this first issue.

Ville Matikka, Project Manager

Project Partners

WaterPro is made up of a variety of partners spread through the Northern Periphery area, each bringing their own experience and expertise in researching and managing agricultural and mining run off.

The project is being overseen and managed by the lead partner Savonia University of Applied Science, Finland, who have extensive experience in developing and managing similar European programmes.  The lead manager from Savonia is Ville Matikka.  Other main work packages associated with the project include communication activities, best practice pooling and pilot and innovative site actions.

The main WaterPro partners include:

  • Savonia University of Applied Sciences, Finland
  • Geological Survey of Finland
  • Agricultural University of Iceland
  • Luleå University of Technology, Sweden
  • Lough Neagh Partnership, Northern Ireland UK
  • Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute, Northern Ireland UK
  • Heriot Watt University, Scotland UK
  • Donegal County Council, Republic of Ireland
  • Búnaðarstovan, The Faroe Islands
The first formal meeting of the WaterPro project kicked off in the Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute (AFBI), Hillsborough, Northern Ireland on the 8th June 2016.  As expected, the first meeting focused on the agreement of the main roles and responsibilities of each the partners and putting together an agreed work plan for the three-year duration of the project.
Each of the partners gave a presentation on the main agricultural and mining sites associated with their own area and highlighted the particular run off problems and research based solutions.

 

WaterPro site visit at AFBI

 

Chris Johnston from AFBI gave a tour of the facilities of the Hillsborough Research Farm and in particular demonstrated the research associated with growing willow. The benefits of a Short Rotational Willow Coppice System were explained and the key mitigation measures of the system were identified, including environmental protection for streams, rivers, lakes, environmental compliance, and biomass energy production.

 

Second Project Meeting

The WaterPro WaterPro meeting will take place in Luleå /Kiruna Sweden in the end of Nov 2016 and will be hosted by Luleå University of Technology.  This time, the focus of the project will turn to the mining industry and the impacts of mining run off on water quality.  The Luleå team will hold a full seminar for partners and an invited audience of Swedish stakeholders, together with a presentation of their specific mining run off research projects.  Site visits to the local mining industry will also be included.

 

Kiruna Sweden
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