An interesting article shared by a colleague Ed Krisiunas on scientists scrutinising sewage to study the health of a city. A field which is attractively termed as ‘sewage epidemiology’ or ‘wastewater-based epidemiology’.
While it is by no means new to examine waste water for clues on the health of a population, nevertheless, the article caught my attention. This was primarily because I’ve just spent an enjoyable week at the annual summer school by the CeTAmb LAB at the University of Brescia, in Italy. This year, the summer school looked at issues related to water, sanitation and waste management, primarily focused on developing countries. So very much about an integrated approach to the manner in which we address some of our key environmental and health issues, as outlined by Silvio, Daniele and Andrea.
On the final day, there were a number of really interesting projects outlined by the participants, that they are currently working on. These included sustainable waste management in Bolivia by Navarro Ferronato, as well as Domenico Vitiello’s agricultural project, for which by the way, he is seeking funding and partners. Certainly, two very worthwhile initiatives.
Also, this week at the University of Brescia, there was a workshop on Industria 4.0, facilitating the digitilisation of manufacturing industry. This very well attended event was hosted by the Laboratorio RISE which is a leading research centre in the field of utilising innovation and circular business models for resource management.
We only need to look at the reports of the hottest ever temperature of 54 degrees Celsius that was recorded in Iran at the end of June, to appreciate the need for more integrated and innovative efforts to be utilised to address the pressing environmental concerns that we face, globally.
