Prof. Haifeng Jia visited the Department of Forestry and Natural Environment, IHU (former EMaTTech), in Greece from February 7-10th, 2019. He is a full Professor and the Head of the Center for Urban Runoff Control & Stream Restoration, School of Environment, Tsinghua University, China. His main focal areas of research include watershed/urban water environmental planning and management, water quality and hydrologic models, urban runoff control, LID- BMPs, sponge city, urban river restoration and environmental remote sensing and GIS.

During his visit potential collaborations and future proposals were discussed and formulated. In addition, during this visit, Prof. Haifeng Jia presented his current research to the graduate students of the Man & Water MSc program of (IHU) that runs under the auspices of the UNESCO Chair Con-E-Ect. Specifically, the title of his presentation was "Sponge city— A novel solution for urban healthy watershed" that is very relevant to the MSc program that has a course on "Urban Hydrology.” The MSc students really enjoyed the seminar and found very innovative the methods that Prof. Heifeng Jia has implemented in his projects in the cities of China. Overall his presentation of his research showcased the main potential collaborative opportunities between the UNESCO Chair Con-E-Ect and the Center for Urban Runoff Control & Stream Restoration.