On the afternoon of April 3rd, the award ceremony for the "Veolia Scholarship" of the 2021-2022 academic year at Tsinghua University's School of Environment, along with the signing ceremony for the fifth-phase project collaboration, took place in Conference Room 119, Sino-Italian Environment and Energy-efficient Building, Tsinghua University. Attendees included Mark Venhoek, CEO of Veolia Group in mainland China and Macao, Huang Xiaojun, Senior Vice President of Veolia China, and Jiang Yinghua, Vice President of Government Affairs and External Relations of Veolia China. Also present were Professor Liu Yi, Dean of the School of Environment, Associate Dean Yue Dongbei, and School Council Vice-Chiarman Xi Jinying who is also the host of the ceremony.

Speech by Liu Yi

Liu Yi extended congratulations to the award-winning students, encouraging them to continue their efforts and make even greater accomplishments. He highlighted the SOE’s achievements in recent years in terms of academic development and talent cultivation. He also reviewed the collaborative journey between the two sides, emphasizing that over the past two decades, the School of Environment and Veolia Group have engaged in extensive and profound cooperation in scientific research, talent development, and social services. He expressed the hope for further deepening of collaboration, particularly in nurturing outstanding talents in the field of sustainable development.

Speech by Mark Venhoek

In his address, Mark Venhoek congratulated the award-winning students and expressed Veolia Group's confidence in the future Chinese market amidst new global environmental challenges. He expressed great pleasure in contributing to the cause of environmental education, and believes that both parties will continue to make a contribution to in advancing global green and low-carbon development via deepened collaboration.

Speech by the representative of undergraduate winners Zhang Chunsheng

Speech by the representative of postgraduate winners Guo Kehui

The Veolia Scholarship, established with funding from the Veolia Group in 2010, has been awarded for 13 sessions to date. In the academic year 2021-2022, a total of 29 undergraduate and postgraduate students were honored with the Veolia Scholarship, with 11 receiving the Comprehensive Excellence Award and 18 receiving Individual Awards. Liu Yi and Mark Venhoek, along with Yue Dongbei and Huang Xiaojun, were designated as presenters for the Comprehensive Excellence and Individual Awards, respectively, and they joined in a group photo to commemorate the occasion. Representing the awardees, undergraduate student Zhang Chunsheng who enrolled in 2019 and Ph.D. student Guo Kehui who enrolled in 2020 delivered speeches. They expressed heartfelt gratitude to the School and the Veolia Group and shared insights into their academic and research pursuits. In addition, they conveyed their collective commitment to persist in research within the environmental domain to advance environmental causes.

Signing Ceremony

After the award ceremony, Liu Yi and Mark Venhoek respectively represented the School of Environment at Tsinghua University and Veolia Group to sign the fifth-phase project cooperation agreement. According to the agreement, Veolia Group will continue to support the establishment of the Veolia Scholarship from 2023 to 2025, aimed at rewarding outstanding undergraduate and postgraduate students at the School of Environment for their exceptional performance in areas such as scientific research innovation, social service, arts, and sports.

Group Photo of Attendees