KARACHI, May 3: “Training programmes like these give an opportunity to the participants not only to become familiar with the similar issues of other parts of the world, but also help in understanding and interacting with people from various geopolitical backgrounds,” said Kim van der Leeuw and Hans de Moel, the participant of the training programme held at Karachi University (KU) on Thursday.

The project, Sustainable Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Climate Change, organised in Pakistan, was the second session of the Euro-Asian research programme (Clima) aimed at climate change management. Though the overall project had been supported by the European Union's Asia-Link Programme, Italian Ministry for Environment and Universitia Ca Foscaria, Venezia, the programme at KU was organised by the Area Study Centre for Europe, the Centre of Excellence in Marine Biology and the Institute of Environmental Studies of the university.

The training session was attended by 20 people – four from Italy, two from Netherlands, eight from China, two from France and four from Pakistan.

The 15-day training (April 23 to May 5) had not only given the researchers/scientists a fair idea of the coastal and climate change situation of the country, but also helped a few of them add certain Urdu words to their vocabulary.

"Having 20 participants from different fields (economic sciences, environmental sciences, social sciences etc) has helped us create a network among all of us regarding the environmental and climate change situation," said Emanuele Massetti, one of the trainees from Italy. While Simona Printon, also from Italy, said the workshops like those further strengthened one's belief in the common heritage of humankind, as environment concerned everyone.

However, Kim van der Leeuw and Hans de Moel (from the Netherlands) maintained that the workshop apart from developing an understanding about the particular problems that concerned this part of the region also unveiled various cultures and people of different nations.

The participants, nonetheless, suggested that it would have been somewhat better if all the lecturers had avoided repeating the basic facts over and over. They also thought that introducing climate and coastal problems of other countries from South Asia could have been much more informative.

Overall, the participants not only enjoyed the culture and food (particularly naans and samosas) but also convinced themselves that Pakistanis were no way near the image projected of them by the Western media.