EuropeAid delegation visits SWITCH project in Shanghai Go back »

2009-10-23 | All chapters

On October 20th a delegation from the European Commission’s EuropeAid Cooperation Office paid a visit to the SWITCH Project “Train the Trainers”  in Shanghai.

Head of Unit William Hanna and assistant Esther Martin first visited the European Chamber in Shanghai. General Manager Ioana Kraft briefed them about the activities of the Chamber and handed in a copy of the latest Position Paper. She also presented the IPR project conduced under the Asia Invest framework from December 2006 to November 2008.

Project Leader Silvia Sartori introduced the scope and the practical implementation of the “Train the Trainers” SWITCH Project. Started in February 2009, this four-year project on energy efficiency in buildings (EEB) aims at training a minimum of 1,100 Chinese SMEs in the construction industry from Shanghai and four neighboring provinces. Besides training, the project includes activities in the field of research, awareness-raising and policy, with the joint efforts of the Stockholm-based IVL Environmental Research Institute and Tongji University.

Mr. Hanna and Mrs. Martin later visited the Tongji University campus to assist to an ongoing practical training session and see how the training is concretely conducted. They shared viewpoints and experience with the University Faculty, the trainees and their trainers. Prof. Chen Xiaolong, Tongji University’s Vice President, took the delegation to the energy efficient campus of the university, including its energy monitoring unit, which ranks on top of the environmental sustainable campuses in Asia.

The guests were positively impressed by the achievements of the project to date, while the meeting with the University counterpart further strengthened the current cooperation.



























Left to right, Mrs. Martin (EuropeAid), Ms. Jarnehammar (IVL), Mr. Hanna (EuropeAid), Dean Wang (Tongji University), Ioana Kraft (EUCCC) and Silvia Sartori (EUCCC)




























The SWITCH project team with Mr Hanna and Mrs Martin at the practical training site in Tongji University



























Vice President Chen introduces the Tongji University energy-efficient campus to Head of Unit Hanna