An MOU between BAU and the Ministry of Environment

Minister Mashnouk: “We count upon universities and researchers to fulfill the motto of: My Environment is My Home”

A Memorandum of Understanding between Beirut Arab University represented by its president Prof. Amr Galal El Adawi and the Ministry of Environment represented by its minister Mr. Mohamad Mashnouk was signed on March 10, 2015 at Jamal Abdel Nasser Hall – Beirut Campus for a three-year, subject to renewal, which aims at qualifying specialists and experts in various environmental specializations and engage them in both public and private ecological efforts.
The MOU stipulates that the Ministry will secure all relevant information to enable students to carry out assigned academic tasks, while providing spaces for training and application at the Ministry. The University, on the other hand, will provide the academic frameworks that ensure the fulfillment of the MOU’s goals, through staff-members, supervision, monitoring, laboratories and academic references. The implementation of the articles of the MOU will be entrusted at the University to Prof. Dr. Hania Nakkash, Dean of Postgraduate Studies and Research.
On the occasion, Prof. Nakkash expressed her hopes to attain a better environment, pointing out that the goals of the MOU seek to support the Ministry in raising awareness of the dangers threatening the environment and enhancing research at the University.
Prof. El Adawi highlighted the efforts exerted by the University in providing options to decision-making circles, by offering the intellectual output of its researchers, staff-members, and postgraduate students, with the aim of enhancing ecological awareness.
Prof. El Adawi also pointed out the University’s great attention to the environment that can be observed in the current state of academic research at the various faculties, the activities of the Research Center for Environment and Development in Bekaa, and the diverse studies concerned with the protection of natural resources and the preservation of the environment, in addition to the cooperation with numerous relevant organizations. 
In his word, Minister Mohamed Mashnouk hoped that the current prevalent acceptance of violations would change, since it has become a part of the Lebanese mentality. He further stressed on the fact that we are living the worst state of ecological aggravation. He refused the change of towns and villages into dumping grounds, drawing attention to the fact that there are already 760 haphazard dumps in Lebanon. 
Mashnouk reiterated that if we do not voluntarily change our behavior of violating the environment, we will never attain any results. He also said that we all count upon universities and researchers to fulfill the motto of “My Environment is My Home”. In his point of view, studies and universities are required to preserve the environment, indicating that the researcher’s role is to set standards and criteria for the elimination of pollution.
The ceremony closed with the President granting the Minister an honorary shield in appreciation of the latter’s diverse contributions to the preservation of the environment. The signing ceremony was followed by a workshop entitled “The Importance of the Collaboration between the Ministry of the Environment and Researchers to Preserve the Environment in Lebanon”. The workshop witnessed a number of interventions by representatives of the Ministry projects, which highlighted various topics such as the powers of the Ministry, means to treat hard wastes and regaining energy. It also explored issues relevant to the ecological impact, renewable energy and nature reserves.