As before, the aim of the summer school was to bring together young e-waste researchers from around the world, looking at solving the e-waste problem from different disciplinary perspectives. Among the main objectives of the summer school were to link the researchers to experts from industry, academia and policy makers and also to develop a sustainable, multidisciplinary network of young scholars who will function as multipliers in their respective academic and geographic areas. On both these counts, and more, the summer school was a success and achieved its objectives.

The summer school was hosted by Philips Consumer Lifestyle in Eindhoven, Holland and Umicore Precious Metals Refining in Hoboken , Belgium. The 19 participants were a highly motivated, diverse and truly international group, and between them represented 18 countries of origin or place of study. The issues discussed during the ten days ranged from environmental justice to toxic hazards in electronics to recycling technology.

The program included expert lectures, workshops and study tours, in addition to a group work assignment for all participants. The summer school culminated with the presentation of the group task by students – a case study set in Ghana looking at three specific aspects – Transboundary movements of e-waste; The development of a Business Case for better recycling in a developing country, and; Producing a “Media Story” on e-waste on both topics. The entire session was broadcast over WebEx, and had viewers from around the world, including StEP members, summer school alumni as well as others interested in the work of the Summer School students.