The Open World Leadership Center, an agency of the U.S. Congress, will send a delegation of Russian water quality management professionals to Northern Kentucky from Friday, Sept. 27, to Saturday, Oct. 5. The delegation consists of five professionals and will be accompanied by a bicultural facilitator and an interpreter.
While in Northern Kentucky, the Open World program participants will be hosted by Rotary Club of Covington as well as ORSANCO, (Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission), Thomas More University and The Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
“ORSANCO is excited to share our Ohio River Basin Watershed Management knowledge and experience with the Open World Russian delegation,” said ORSANCO Executive Director Richard Harrison. “We are also eager to gain insight on their approach to Watershed Management.”
Thomas More University’s Biology Field Station.
Prior to their arrival in Northern Kentucky, members of the delegation completed an orientation in Washington, D.C. The Russian delegates had policy meetings with three members of Congress: Rep. John Yarmuth, Kentucky’s Third Congressional District; Rep. Thomas Massie, Kentucky’s Fourth Congressional District, who represents Northern Kentucky; and Rep. Bill Johnson, Ohio’s Sixth Congressional District.
While in Northern Kentucky, delegates will collaborate on best practices for watershed management and stay in the homes of local residents serving as hospitality hosts.
Organizations and facilities the delegation will visit include
• Thomas More University Biology Field Station, where Ohio River water will be sampled.
• SD1, which manages Northern Kentucky’s stormwater and wastewater
SD1’s Public Service Park (Kessler Photography)
• The Northern Kentucky Water District, which supplies safe drinking water to approximately 300,000 customers in Campbell and Kenton counties and portions of Boone, Grant and Pendleton counties
• The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Aquatic Research Facility and the Boone County Conservation District.
“This unique opportunity, provided by Rotary International, to exchange ideas, share best management practices and explore potential collaborations is extremely valuable to all of us here in the Greater Cincinnati area who work in the areas of watershed management,” said Chris Lorentz, Director of the Thomas More Biology Field Station. “Thomas More University and our Biology Field Station are extremely excited and grateful to be a part of this endeavor.”
The delegation will also experience and sample slices of Northern Kentucky culture, including a riverboat lunch cruise on the Ohio River, dinner at Thomas More University and a cocktail hour at the New Riff Distillery hosted by the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce.
“When any foreign delegation comes our region, the Northern Kentucky Chamber is always their first call,” said Debby Shipp, the Chamber’s vice president of Business Growth and International Trade. “As the leading business organization in our region, we welcome the opportunity to connect this international delegation with our region’s business leaders and stakeholders.”
