Tunes from a Danish local radio station provide a soundtrack for a slide show of red terraced fields and deep river valleys from the upper reaches of the Yangtze. An eclectic mix, but for a globetrotter like project leader Lars Skov Andersen, mixing the familiar with the foreign has become a part of everyday life.

Andersen, now 63, has seen his share of foreign locations. Since 1993, he has lived primarily in Asia working on projects on two of the world’s great rivers: the Yangtze and the Mekong.

Outside Asia, he has also contributed to projects on the Volga, the Nile and the Zambezi rivers.
For the past two years he has called Wuhan in southern China home. This time the river is the Yangtze, and the project is the EU-funded River Basin Management Programme.

But no matter where in the world Andersen has found himself, the common thread running through his entire career has been water.

Use more water“Water is fascinating,” Andersen says. “It is essential for life, but it is also a challenge to get people to use it correctly. In Europe, we believe that we need to conserve water. The same doesn’t always hold true in Asia. In most places it is necessary, but in remote rural areas you actually need to convince people that for health and hygiene reasons they need to use more and clean water.”

Andersen, a geologist by trade, joined COWI’s water department in 1986 and helped to build the company’s soil and groundwater department. His first trips for COWI took him to Burkina Faso, Sudan, Jordan and the newly opened German and Spanish offices.

Next came extended periods abroad in Vietnam and China interspersed with short stays in Russia, the Ukraine and Zambia.

Thrives on challengesWhile you can count on Andersen’s work having something to do with water, you can never count on it being routine. He describes himself as someone who loves a challenge and gets a thrill out of setting projects in motion.

“One of the big challenges here in China is leading the mindset of officials away from relying on engineering solutions and encouraging them to use administrative and environmental methods instead. Denmark is a small country, but, even so, our high standard of water management may have influenced China's national agenda for the water sector.”

The result, according to Andersen, may be seen in the Water Ministry’s next Five-Year Plan, which is expected to give high priority to management and protection of the water environment and groundwater resources.

The final return homeAndersen’s current stay in China, he says, is probably the last long-term position abroad. Awaiting him back in Denmark is a refurbished farmhouse in the countryside – the perfect place to retire to and reflect over a long career.

“My biggest accomplishment has probably been the capacity building in Vietnam and China. After four major prestige projects, I do consider myself a valid member of the small group of foreigners, who know most about water in those two countries.”

By Christina Tækker
Published: 19.05.2010