Final Event of the FOUNTAIN Project in Colombo

The final event of the FOUNTAIN Project, an Erasmus+ grant in which the University of Peradeniya (Department of Civil Engineering), is a partner, was held from 25th to 29th March 2026 in Colombo.

The main conference took place at gapHQ, Colombo, from 25th to 27th March, in collaboration with the 3rd International Conference on University–Industry Collaborations for Sustainable Development (ICSD2026). The Chief Guest at the opening ceremony was Senior Professor K. L. Wasantha Kumara, Vice Chairman of the University Grants Commission. Two keynote addresses were delivered during the conference: the first by Professor Emeritus Clarence W. De Silva of the University of British Columbia, Canada, and the second by Professor Irene Lill of the Tallinn University of Technology, Estonia.

Following the conference, the FOUNTAIN team engaged in a social visit to the city of Galle on 28th March, and subsequently visited the University of Ruhuna on 29th March.

The main event organization was led by the University of Peradeniya, headed by Professor Emeritus Ranjith Dissanayake and Professor Chaminda S. Bandara from the Department of Civil Engineering, along with Dr. Pradeep Gajanayake (University of Sri Jayewardenepura) and Ms. Monasha Karunadasa (Project Research Assistant), with generous support from gapHQ.

The FOUNTAIN Project is coordinated by the University of Ruhuna, under the leadership of Senior Professor Guttila Jayasinghe. The Sri Lankan partners, the Rajarata University, the Sabaragamuwa University, and the Horizon Campus, the Thailand partners, the Naresuan University and the Chiang Mai University, and the European partners, the Mid Sweden University (Sweden), Tallinn University of Technology (Estonia) and the Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania) contributed to the success of the event.