Objectives

One of the long-term objectives of this project is to educate a new generation of students capable of addressing challenges in waste collection, waste management and waste disposal. The institutions involved in the project strive to be a catalyst for transforming Sri Lanka into a society that moves toward a “circular economy” with more emphasis on sustainability, improving local people’s living standards and health. Similarly, this project aims to increase the number of employees in municipalities with a graduate degree, and the number of technical staff in municipalities with at least a bachelor’s degree. In addition, by focusing the attention of waste management and treatment on more sustainable approaches, TESS aims to facilitate new business models and new waste management systems that could open up new possibilities for public and private sector growth and to generate new job opportunities.

The objectives within the life span of this project are:

To build new programmes at the bachelor and master level in “Waste Management, Sustainability and Circular Economy” and “Waste Treatment” (Wastewater Treatment).

To recruit more female students to programmes in “Business Administration” and “Engineering” and to be sensitive to their needs when designing the programmes.

To strengthen the capacity of academic staff to teach in new programmes and to offer suggestions for different modes of teaching and assessment.

To increase the university-industry cooperation in Sri Lankan HEIs and use input from industry to increase the relevance and quality of the new programmes and modules.

To offer knowledge-based advice to municipalities in Sri Lanka to implement efficient waste management systems.

To secure good project management and budgetary control during the lifetime of the project.

TESS is made of institutions that have cooperated with each other for several years in a rage of individual and institutional projects. Tis project envisages the following innovative characteristics:

• Has adapted an interdisciplinary approach. Instead of merely relying upon technological expertise of waste management, TESS pinpoints the importance of utilising both technological and managerial competence in the process of addressing waste management challenges.

• Circular economy perspective is promoted to foster new attitudes toward waste. This project treats waste as a source of resources. 

• This project underscores the importance of adopting a student-centred learning approach that would encourage students to use both theoretical knowledge and analytical skills in identifying alternative ways of addressing waste management challenges in Sri Lanka.

• Information communication technology is also used to increase societal awareness about waste management solutions. A digital tool (app) is developed for this purpose.

• Both academicians and industrial partners corporate to assure new bachelor and master programmes are aligned with industrial needs and to provide opportunity for students to receive practical training with real-life case studies.

Specific Target Groups

A number of primary and secondary target groups in Sri Lanka are expected to benefit from this project. These groups have different needs and motivations, but we believe that this project offer something of value to all of the groups mentioned below.

Individual Groups

• Students
• Academic staff
• Workers in municipalities and local residents
• Policy makers

Institutional Groups

• Higher Educational Institutions
• Municipalities
• Provincial Councils
• Central Government
• Business entities

TESS has brought both business schools and engineering faculties together to produce a substantial impact on waste management initiatives in Sri Lanka. Leading universities from Europe and Sri Lanka aspires to generate the following outcomes:

• Exchange knowledge and competence amongst project partners. The Sri Lankan partners will be able to adopt waste management models and practices compatible with the country specific characteristics based on the training sessions and experience sharing visits to Europe.

• Introduce Waste Management, Sustainability and Circular Economy, and Waste Treatment and Valorisation Technologies into the existing undergraduate programmes at the University of Vocational Technology. Its three-year bachelor degree programme is to be converted into a special degree programme with the financial assistance from this project.

• Establish a graduate programme in “Waste Management, Sustainability and Circular Economy” at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura.

• Offer a graduate programme in “West Treatment and Valorisation Technologies” at the University of Jaffna.      

• Promote collaboration between higher educational institutions and industry partners in Sri Lanka.

• Foster the adoption of digital tools to increase wider societal awareness about challenges of waste management and potential solutions for waste management problems.         

• Facilitate the Sri Lankan universities to access cutting-edge research knowledge on Waste Management, and West Treatment and Valorisation at the European universities.