A short-term lecture was held for the fourth-year students and a research result presentation was presented to the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Transport and Communications (UTC) in Vietnam, which is a partner university of Meijo University. This short-term lecture was included in the content of the exchange program when the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between Meijo University and UTC in 2019, and this is the third such lecture, following the first and second^*1 lectures that were held in February 2023. Dr. Nguyen Anh Duc^*2 from the Division of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering (doctoral course), Graduate School of Science and Technology, presented a report of the research results from his doctoral thesis titled “Performance evaluation and design method of recycled aggregate concrete for application to construction work in Vietnam”¹⁾. The doctoral thesis was donated to the UTC library so that it can be widely read by students of UTC and others.
*1 Meijo University News: https://www.meijo-u.ac.jp/news/detail_28487.html
*2 Dr. Nguyen Anh Duc received PhD (Engineering) degree on September 29, 2023.

The short-term lecture titled “Recycled Materials: Applications and Technologies in Japan,” with lectures on environmental considerations and resource recycling of construction materials in Japan was held at UTC. Globally, concrete is considered the second most consumed substance after water; therefore, the recycling of construction material resources is an important concern affecting the environment. Furthermore, the sustainability of the Earth cannot be achieved without solving environmental problems, such as waste management. Hence, this short-term lecture aims to present the current situation and problems in Japan arising out of the utilization of construction materials and to consider the effect of these materials on the environment. The content of this lecture is similar to that of the lecture course titled “Resource circulation” conducted in the third year (first semester) of the Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Faculty of Science and Technology in Meijo University (Lecture No. 1: Environmental Consideration and Resource Circulation of Construction Materials). Please refer to the course materials^*3 available in the link below.

The research result presentation was presented by Dr. Nguyen Anh Duc titled “Performance evaluation and design method of recycled aggregate concrete for application to construction work in Vietnam.”¹⁾ Since September 2019, this research has been a full-fledged collaboration between UTC and Meijo University, when he joined Meijo University as a research student and an MOU was signed between two universities on December 2019. On April 2020, he enrolled in a doctoral course and has continued his research since then. He was a graduate student of UTC and UTC Graduate School.

As the number of participants was approximately 60, the short-term lecture and research result presentation were conducted in close coordination with the teachers and participating students. It was clearly evident that the participants themselves regarded the issue of resource recycling as an important challenge for the sustainable development of their respective countries.
• September 11, 2023 (Monday)13: 00–14: 30, Short-term lecture
At present, Vietnam is experiencing a remarkable economic development as well as a construction boom. Simultaneously, a huge amount of construction wastes is being generated and much of this waste is disposed of as landfill. The lecture introduced the current status of resource recycling of construction materials in Japan, with a view to establish and develop resource recycling methods in Vietnam considering the following aspects: 1) safety and quality assurance, 2) environmental risk reduction, and 3) cost-effectiveness.
• September 11, 2023 (Monday) 14: 30–15: 15, Research result presentation
In 2022, Vietnam was ranked third in the world in terms of cement production, whereas the recycling rate of construction waste was <60%. This study was conducted to investigate the application of recycled aggregate concrete using a mixture of low-quality recycled and normal aggregates from the perspective of resource recycling. Results indicated that with appropriate performance evaluation and design methods, the outcomes of this study can be applied to structural concrete in accordance with the performance requirements of the relevant Vietnamese standards.

Reference
1) Nguyen Anh Duc: Performance evaluation and design method of recycled aggregate concrete for application to construction work in Vietnam, 2023 PhD thesis, Meijo University.