PREFACE

INTEGRATED WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT - NAM ĐỊNH

Recently the Vietnamese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), along with the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), is promoting a series of scientific and engineering-technical projects in order to support the development of sustainable concepts concerning Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM).

One of these projects was developed to stabilize the long-term Vietnamese-German co-operation in Nam Dinh province (2006-2009). The Institute of Geological Sciences at the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (VAST) has coordinated all these scientific activities in Nam Dinh province together with the scientists and engineers from the University of Greifswald (Germany) and their German partners from different research institutes and engineering companies.

The main results of this cooperation are the characterization of all facets of typical handy-craft villages and the development of a pilot facility of wastewater treatment for industrial zones in rural areas in Nam Dinh using Vietnamese biotechnological experiences and German engineering technologies. In urban areas, the development of an innovative integrated solution for a decentralized/centralized wastewater treatment system for Nam Dinh city (which shall promote also the further industrial development of Nam Dinh city) as well as the estimation of water resources in the province are further results of cooperation.

As a result of this cooperation, five Vietnamese MSc-students and five Vietnamese PhD-students have graduated in Germany in themes that linked directly to this project. After graduation, these students are now working as young scientists at the Hanoi University of Science (VNU), the Institute of Geological Sciences (VAST), and the Institute of Biotechnology (VAST). They are active contributors of the modern scientific networking. Otherwise, several German students have studied directly environmental situations in Vietnam. As part of their study in Germany they have learned how to organize a successful scientific research under such conditions.

Hereby we have learned how to develop scientific collaborative projects, which are linking R&D with higher education, partnership between public Vietnamese and German research institutions with innovative private companies and promoting young scientists from both countries in these interdisciplinary fields of Integrated Water Resources Management.

We would like to express our thanks to the Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF), Germany and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) Vietnam for the financial and logistical supports. Also, our special cordial thanks to the authorities and colleagues of DoST and DoNRE Nam Định and Yên Xá People committee for their effective collaboration.

Prof. Dr. Steingrube University of Greifswald

Dr. Trần Tuấn Anh Institute of Geological Sciences