By David A. Wise
For WisBusiness.com
MILWAUKEE — A week-long China-U.S. water symposium that brought more than 25 government officials and environmental experts from China wrapped up in Milwaukee today with a luncheon and rounds of appreciation.
The week-long symposium consisted of exchanges in the areas of academics, water quality science and public policy. In addition to lectures and discussions, the symposium included visits to the Björklunden campus of Lawrence University, the Green Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant, the Fox River, an Appleton Coated, LLC paper mill, and the Holsum-Elm Dairy farm in Hilbert, in addition to the UW-Madison and UW-Milwaukee campuses.
“Like most of these kinds of thing, it was probably too much,” New North executive director Jerry Murphy told WisPolitics. “But at the same time I think they got a really, really good sense of the value proposition for Wisconsin water quality expertise.”
The exchange with China and the New North began a year ago, Murphy said, and has included two tours of delegates to America and two trips of American delegates to China
The trip was organized by New North, in cooperation with Marquette University, the UW Madison Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy, Lawrence University, the Environment & Public Health Network for Chinese Students and Scholars, UW campuses in Green Bay, Madison, Milwaukee and Oshkosh and state agencies including DNR, Commerce and the Public Service Commission.
This morning, the group toured the UW-Milwaukee’s Great Lakes WATER Institute and were given a ride on the institute’s research vessel to the Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin. During lunch, the group appropriately toasted to water before exchanging gifts. The Chinese delegation presented their hosts with a plaque, while each of the delgates received a gift bag that included a scenic art print and four DVDs that included a movie, conference materials, and pictures from the trip.
Murphy said this stage has been relationship building, but the next step is to align the resources and expertise of the New North to tackle a specific water problem in China, which suffers from significant water pollution problems.
In turn, Murphy said, the New North and Wisconsin will benefit through the involvement of local business in implementing solutions to that problem.
.
Murphy said the Asian culture is focused on relationships first, business second.
“The relationship is the absolute essential first piece to this thing,” Murphy said.
Xiaojun Lu, a UW-Madison microbiology doctoral candidate who is president of the Environment & Public Health Network for Chinese Students and Scholars and the one who initiated the international exchange, said the symposium has exceeded his expectations.
Lu said there has been active discussion between delegates and their American hosts both during the instructive and social events over the past week.
He said the highlights were the tours the delegation took, as they gave the delegates tangible ideas they can bring back to China.
Lu said he envisions many areas in which the two countries can work together, such as cooperation between the universities in Wisconsin and China on research and development involving water issues.
