On May 15, Prof. Dr. Dana Mawlood, the director of the Centre for Environmental Studies (CES) and the Vice President (Administration) at the University of Kurdistan Hewlêr (UKH) welcomed a delegation from Kyoto University from Japan represented by Prof. Koichi Unami from the Division of Environmental Science and Technology, an expert in water reservoir management, with extensive field experience in the Middle East. It is worth mentioning that Kyoto University is ranked one of the top universities in Japan and the world for its excellent research facilities, robust academic programs, including civil engineering and agriculture department.
During his one week stay, Prof. Unami met with Dr. Zana Ibrahim, UKH’s Interim President, academics, and fellow members of CES, to discuss collaboration and fundraising opportunities for essential research projects in water harvesting, which further attracted the engagement and collaboration of various universities in Iraq and Jordan.
On May 18, Prof. Unami and UKH’s CES team visited Bastora Dam site to investigate and evaluate projects in Erbil and explore the needs of water harvesting due to the adverse impacts of climate change in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
The visit concluded with Prof. Unami presenting essential subjects about environment and water reservoir management to students from UKH’s bachelor, master and PhD programmes with a focus on hydraulics and roll waves. In the end of seminar, students had the opportunity to discuss and ask questions about his field experience of over a decade in water harvesting and management in Jordan.
This visit comes as part of UKH’s vision to enhance local and international collaboration and engagement in academic exchange and to address climate related challenges in the KRI through CES.
