COLOGNE, Germany, June 20, 2018: BASUG, the Europe-based Diaspora organization with Special Consultative Status with the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in collaboration with the German development organization, Stiftung Umwelt und Entwicklung NRW (SUE) www.sue-nrw.de is going to organize a workshop on ‘Jute instead of plastic’ on Saturday, 23 June 2018 from 11 am to 4 pm at Bürgerzentrum Ehrenfeld, Venloer Straße 429, 50825 Cologne, Germany.

The main objectives of the workshop which is a part of the on-going Project, “Jute instead of plastic” among others are: to sensitize the international community to the advantages of jute, to discuss how this fibre can replace plastic without damaging the ecosystem and to share the key issues concerning plastic pollution.

Different stakeholders including development and civil society organisations, policy makers, climate activists and consumers will attend the program. The Ambassador of Bangladesh in Germany, Mr. Imtiaz Ahmed will attend the workshop as chief guest, while Member of State Assembly, North Rhine Westphalia, Ms Berivan Aymaz and Mayor of the City of Cologne, Dr. Ralf Heinen will be the Special Guests.

In the workshop, the keynote paper titled, “Jute against Plastic: Aspects and Prospects of Jute” will be presented by Dr. Enamul Hoque, Department of Environmental Sciences, Helmholtz Research Centre, Munich, while the Research Report on “Jute instead of plastic in NRW” will be presented by Mr AHM Abdul Hai, PhD Researcher, University of Bonn & Project Coordinator of BASUG Germany. Others speakers are Dr Syed Masum Ahmed Choudhury, Commercial Counselor, Bangladesh Embassy, Germany, Dr M M Islam, Senior Researcher, University of Bonn and General Secretary of BASUG Germany, Mr Bikash Chowdhury Barua, Chairman of BASUG, Mr Khurshid Hassan, Member, BASUG Germany and former Scientific Researcher and M.K. Ibrahim, Director Overseas, Jutetex, Bangladesh.

Different stakeholders including development and civil society organisations, policy makers, climate activists and consumers will attend the program. The Ambassador of Bangladesh in Germany, Mr. Imtiaz Ahmed will attend the workshop as chief guest, while Member of State Assembly, North Rhine Westphalia, Ms Berivan Aymaz and Mayor of the City of Cologne, Dr. Ralf Heinen will be the Special Guests.