About the Centre

History of the Baikal Wasma Centre
The international environmental Centre "Baikal Waste Management" (the Baikal Wasma Centre) was founded in February 2008 at the Department of Raw Material Processing and Environmental Protection of the National Research Irkutsk State Technical University in Russia. It was established in course of the Project TEMPUS-TACIS JEP_27150_2006 "Development of a Master's program in Waste Management at the technical universities of the Baikal Region" in order to coordinate current environmental research and educational projects.

As a result of the Tempus-TACIS project, in autumn 2009 the new Master program in Waste Management was launched at National Research Irkutsk State Technical University in Russia, which runs in accordance with the Russian and international educational standards.

More than 30 students successfully completed the Master program during the first four years. Since then, more than 20 Master and PhD students took a semester abroad and made internships at different European universities. Additional information can be found on the website of the Tempus project that has already been completed: www.baikal-wasma.de.

Mission of the Baikal Wasma Centre
Integration of international research and educational experiences, material and financial resources and new perspectives to establish and maintain the sustainable waste management in the region of Baikal.

Educational activities of the Centre:
• Dissemination of information in Russia about the activities and achievements of Europe's leading research and educational institutions in the field of resource conservation and waste management;

• Support of universities in the East Siberian and Baikal regions that are adopting the two-step BSc / MSc education system, including the development of new masters programs in waste management (organisation of seminars, training, etc.); organisation of distance learning internships abroad, as well as regional, national and international accreditation of master programs;

• Preparation of comprehensive literature collections on the master training in waste management and on the current environmental issues, as well as the establishment of international cross-library;

• Support of the educational institutions in the Baikal region and the region of Primorje in the development and launching of the Advanced Training course "Integrated Sustainable Waste Management" for employees of the industrial companies and authorities;

• Establishment of the partnership with European universities and academies in the area of environmental technology, environmental management, waste recovery and waste recycling;

• Organisation of advertising campaigns with the aim to promote the environmental consciousness:

- Publication of brochures, CDs, videos and flyers informing about the services of the Centre
- Support in the dissemination of advertising information in international technical journals
- Dissemination of the environmental information in the Internet
- Dissemination of the information on services of the Centre in the mass media


• Development and maintenance of the Centre website

Research activities of the Centre:
• Development and coordination of international research projects;

• Establishing and strengthening of international contacts with research centres, organisations in waste management and resource conservation;

• Equipping of the lab rooms with modern analysis devices;

• Organisation of international environmental workshops;

• Participation in Russian and international scientific conferences and exhibitions.

Innovation activities of the Centre:
• Promotion of European BAT techniques in the areas of waste recycling and treatment, as well as resource conservation in Siberian regions;

• Integration of research results in the areas of environmental protection and the sustainable use of resources through the transfer of technologies and information databases of Russian and foreign know-how;

• Support in creating a database of innovation technologies and best available techniques (BAT);

• Support in establishing international contacts between the regional Russian and foreign companies for joint development and production of innovative products;

• Support in establishing and developing the representative offices of the international funds, agencies, consulting and educational companies.