Danish Agriculture Delegation visited Yangtze River Delta
On Oct 26, 2009, a Danish delegation of 11 experts in agriculture (especially in biomass, animal fertilizers, water treatment) arrived Shanghai to start their full week program. They were from two universities and three research institutes/centers. Michael Støckler, manager of CBMI (Innovation Centre for Bioenergy and Environmental Technology) led the delegation.
Innovation Center Denmark and Central Denmark Region Shanghai Office arranged the whole week’s visiting program. In Shanghai, the delegation visited Shanghai Jiao Tong University, East China Science and Technology University, Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology (a branch institute of CAS). The delegates were all very interested in the similar research Chinese partners were conducting. They found out that there were a lot of common interests which could potentially lead to collaborations between Danish and Chinese researchers, especially in the fields of bioenergy crops and ethanol production.
In addition, the delegation met with Fenghai Company which was involved in an EU project called “Ecological Use of Pig Waste”. This gave the delegation the opportunity to learn about a large-scale animal manures treatment project in China. http://www.euchina.info/
Visits to Nanjing Agricultural University, Zhejiang University and two other research institutes in Zhejiang were also inspiring. The delegates were impressed by the size of the Chinese universities and the institutions’ existing international collaborations.
For most of the delegates, it was their first time visiting to China. Experiencing China in person and talking face to face with Chinese researchers left a memorable impression to the delegates. Though it’s a long way to go to establish research collaboration, it is a very important and meaningful first step for Danish researchers to know what their Chinese colleagues are doing and what they might do together.
Picture at top: Lab Tour in Shanghai Jiao Tong University
Picture below: Visit to Institute of Plant Physiology & Ecology, CAS