Tag Archive for: Sign

STRI Group & WANDA CTI sign strategic alliance

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STRI Group & WANDA CTI sign strategic alliance: STRI Group, the world’s leading multidisciplinary service provider to the sports and environments sectors has signed a strategic alliance agreement with Wanda’s Cultural Tourism Planning & Design Institute (CTI), the subsidiary company of Wanda Cultural Industry Group, who is China’s largest cultural enterprise.

The cooperation is an exciting step forward for the Chinese football industry, as both parties, recognized as leaders in their respective fields will create international quality football facilities throughout China.

STRI Group & WANDA CTI sign strategic alliance

STRI Group & WANDA CTI sign strategic alliance

Building on the regional success already realized in China by STRI and Wanda, the cooperation will firstly set new industry standards for football surfaces then see the development of an elite R&D facility and design hub, supported by a new education offering. STRI will support Wanda as their local design and project management company as they roll out ambitious plans for multiple football venues throughout the country.

The R&D center will invite select industry stakeholders to have their products and systems positioned for validation and demonstration purposes, showcasing the very best in football pitch infrastructure and ongoing maintenance. STRI’s design capabilities will be supported locally by their construction partner Tizan Turf Science. Andrew Brooker, Company Director at STRI Group said ‘The cooperation is an exciting step forward for the development of new stadium and training venues in China, enabling facilities to compete on an international level’ Andrew went on to say ‘STRI Group are very pleased to have formed the cooperation with Wanda, who are now the world’s leading commercial real estate and sports company’.

The parties intend to engage architects and engineers to collaborate on the exciting projects already identified as future developments, bringing in the very best multidisciplinary teams to deliver world class venues.

Wanda CTI are excited for the future of Chinese football venues. They are very happy to have partnered with STRI Group, a global leader in the sports infrastructure industry. They are also very pleased that STRI’s multidisciplinary teams can bring environmentally sustainable design ethics to the collaboration.

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Bionema sign MoU with Scientia Colombia

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Bionema sign MoU with Scientia Colombia: Scientia Colombia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with world-leading biopesticide technology developer Bionema, to collaborate on making more environmentally sustainable biological controls available in the fight against pests and diseases in less developed countries.

Leading biopesticide technology company Bionema attended the AgriTech 2020 mission to Colombia, organised by the UK Prosperity Fund.

Bionema sign MoU with Scientia Colombia

Bionema sign MoU with Scientia Colombia

During the visit, Bionema explored the opportunity to collaborate in a new geographical territory. This resulted in a welcome partnership with Scientia Colombia, which offers biological solutions for integrated pest management in Agriculture.

The two companies signed an MoU during a networking event organised by The British Embassy in Colombia and AgriTech 2020 at Sonesta Hotel, Pereira that will add value in a multitude of ways, with benefits to both parties.  Specifically, its aims are to:

  • Set up a Good Experimental Facilities (GEP) for testing the plant protection products (PPPs).
  • Commercialise new biopesticide products for high value crops in Colombia.
  • Transfer knowledge in the field of biopesticides, and
  • Provide training to end users in high value crops.

International collaborations between biopesticide companies in different geographical territories are particularly valuable, considering limitations placed on the movement of live organisms in many parts of the world, and the fact that the organisms in biopesticides may act differently in different environments.

The new experimental facility will be able to demonstrate the efficacy of Bionema’s range of biopesticide products – already proven effective and available in Europe – in the South American climate and against native forms of target pests in the region.

Dr Minshad Ansari, Founder and CEO of Bionema, said “I am very confident that our proven technology will lead to commercialisation of new products and service in Colombia, to combat some of the difficult pest and disease which are causing millions of damage to exports products – the warm temperatures will favour these organisms, and I think we can expect to see some great results in the near future.”

Referring to the commercialisation of products for high value crops in Colombia, Dr Ansari added “This is a great opportunity for Bionema to enter a new market, and to help growers in South America to use more eco-friendly products that provide benefits for them as well as the country.”

With the ecological consequences of food production and agricultural practices coming under increased scrutiny, there is growing public and government support for natural alternatives to the harsh chemical pesticides that have been used for decades to control pests and diseases. Biopesticides are one alternative – these products utilize the natural enemies of plant pests, effectively using nature to control the unnatural population growth brought about by modern intensive farming practices. They are very effective at controlling insect pests, while being non-toxic to humans and the environment, residue-free and highly compatible with other control methods and IPM programmes.

Milton Najar, CEO of Scientia Colombia said: “Partnership between Scientia Colombia and Bionema can develop and commercialise next generation of biopesticide formulations to tackle rising pest and disease problem in high value crops in Colombia. Milton also highlighted the need of eco-friendly solution which benefits producers and consumers”.

Colin Martin-Reynolds CMG, UK Ambassador to Colombia, said “The UK offers world-class technology and innovative solutions that can support Colombia in realising the incredible potential of its agricultural sector. This is a tremendous, concrete result for our second AgriTech Mission, which will bring mutual prosperity both for Colombia and the UK.’’

Debbie Tully, Agri-Food at the Knowledge Transfer Network said “It is great to see this new collaboration resulting from the AgriTech mission to Colombia that KTN played a key part in organising. We look forward to seeing many more UK and Colombian partners connecting as a result of the mission and following the positive impact these collaborations have.”

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Calls to sign Parks Protector Pledge

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Calls to sign Parks Protector Pledge: Green space charity Fields in Trust has issued a General Election manifesto and is calling on candidates to sign a six-point Parks Protector Pledge, promising to champion and protect local parks and green spaces which are much loved by their constituents.

The manifesto sets out the role that elected representatives can play in delivering the health, wellbeing, environmental and community benefits that parks and green spaces provide; yet not everyone gets an equal share. Fields in Trust’s Green Space Index reveals 2.6 million people across Great Britain live more than a ten-minute walk from a local park or green space.

Calls to sign Parks Protector Pledge

The Green Space Index shows that, although Britain has a total of 216,160 hectares of publicly accessible local parks and green spaces, less than 6% of this space is legally protected with Fields in Trust. With public sector cuts leading to pressure on parks and green spaces, candidates are asked to endorse legal protection of green spaces and help prevent more being sold off or developed.

The charity is highlighting the urgent need to secure and maintain parks and green spaces that we currently have and is calling for all candidates in the General Election to sign a pledge, if they are elected, that they will champion the important public service parks and green spaces provide locally, and advocate for policies that safeguard parks and green spaces across the country. Electors are invited to quiz candidates on their approach to parks and green spaces and encourage them to sign the pledge at www.fieldsintrust.org/pledge

Fields in Trust Chief Executive, Helen Griffiths, said: “There is overwhelming evidence that parks and green spaces contribute health and wellbeing benefits to our communities. We are calling on election candidates to advocate for policies which protect and support parks and endorse local efforts to help maintain and improve the green spaces in their constituencies.
“There is an urgent need to ensure the current level of park and green space provision is maintained and review what more can be done to legally protect vulnerable spaces for future generations to enjoy, because once lost, they are lost forever.”

Fields in Trust’s research demonstrates clear health and wellbeing advantages, including a saving of £111 million each year to the NHS from regular use of parks and green spaces; the charity is concerned that many people who don’t have a park or green space nearby could miss out on these benefits. It is also likely that future loss of parks and green spaces will disproportionately impact the most disadvantaged and underrepresented communities.

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Okehampton GC Sign Sherriff Deal

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Okehampton GC Sign Sherriff Deal: Devon’s Okehampton Golf Club have signed a new deal which sees Sherriff Amenity as its preferred supplier of products for a period of three years.

Okehampton Golf Club features an 18 hole parkland course, sheltered by the highest tors of Dartmoor, on the northern edge of Devon’s magnificent National Park. It is a challenging course and can be deceptive if the wind is blowing – especially on the 12th hole where the West Okement River awaits to the left and behind the green.

Okehampton GC Sign Sherriff Deal

Stuart Entwistle has been the course manager at Okehampton for just over four years and is pleased with the progress he has made in that time.

“I used to work at a large club but was quite restricted in trying new methods and products. However, once I came here I had a free reign to trial a number of new products. I personally feel there has been a big improvement to the course. My main goal to start with was to be able to offer golf all-year round and we have already achieved that.”

Stuart initially focused his attentions on the tees and after a recommendation from Sherriff Amenity’s David Chammings, he turned to Evolution Xtra 24.4.4 granular fertiliser for the summer and then Evolution Controlled 18.0.32 in the winter.

“I would say that the majority of our members have said that the biggest improvement here has been on the tees,” said Stuart. “When I first arrived the tees just looked tired and weak so they needed immediate attention. I went with an initial application of the Evolution Xtra 24.4.4 at a rate of 30g/m² in the middle of March. It gave me a great initial hit and I applied it twice more in that first year.

“This really worked in getting them in a better condition and for the second year we went with two more applications of the 24.4.4 but then for winter we went with the six month release fertiliser – Evolution Controlled, which was the perfect feed to see us through. The growth was steady and strong – exactly what we needed.

Okehampton GC Sign Sherriff Deal

“The other good thing about Evolution Controlled is that it is chloride free so it has a low scorching index. Therefore, I can put it down and not worry about the scorch, which was one of my concerns at first because we don’t have any irrigation on the tees.”

For the greens at Okehampton, Stuart claims that he just wouldn’t be without Sherriff Amenity’s GoGreen Energy – a concentrated bio-stimulant, formulated to assist plant health and relieve stress symptoms.

“GoGreen Energy works really well for us – we go through the summer with it at four weekly intervals at the full rate of 60 l/ha. Before we started using the product, the greens were starting to yellow and were a bit stressed but now they are a beautiful green colour and it has really helped with root depth.

“We have tried a number of similar products in the past but GoGreen is the one we have consistently stuck with. I honestly believe that if we didn’t use it for one summer then we would notice the difference.

“It’s a nice low nitrogen product, contains simple sugars, a bit of chelated iron, has a bit of seaweed in it and is a complete trace element package – but not too much of one thing and that’s what we want. It just gives you a nice steady pattern.”

For further information, please contact Sherriff Amenity on 01638 721 888 or visit www.sherriffamenity.com

For more news and insightful views, you can follow Sherriff Amenity on Twitter @SherriffAmenity.

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Norfolk FA Sign Up Replay

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Norfolk FA Sign Up Replay: The Football Development Centre at Flegg High Ormiston Academy in Norfolk, known as the FDC @ Flegg, is one of three facilities run by Norfolk County FA. Elliot Pride, the FDC @ Flegg Development Officer oversees the full size 3G pitch at the site, managing everything from accounts, bookings and even getting hands on with maintaining the pitch. Assisting Elliot in keeping the surface looking and playing at its best are synthetic specialists Replay Maintenance.

“I’ve been here since we opened the facility 18 months ago and in that time, we’ve made great strides in getting the local community involved with football” explains Elliot. Term-time the pitch is used in school hours by the pupils, then at evenings, weekends and during school holidays Norfolk FA take over offering pay & play, walking football, County 5IVES and a range of pitch hire slots. “We’re lucky to be supported by a number of local clubs who use the pitch for training and matches. The pitch see’s roughly 25-30 hours of play per week, with that figure increasing year on year.”

Norfolk FA Sign Up Replay

A County Partner to Norfolk FA, Replay have been involved with the maintenance of the FDC’s since the original facility opened in Norwich eight years ago. “We were pleased with the work and results achieved with Replay there, when the installer-provided maintenance expired on the Flegg pitch we decided to formulate a contract with them to maintain all three centres.” The service agreement see’s Replay conducting six Revive® visits per year to remove contaminates and de-compact and rotate the infill which is then regraded and dressed back into the surface. This results in enhanced porosity and improved playing characteristics.

“Communication with Replay is great. I have a calendar showing the planned visits for the coming year which gives me plenty of notice to liaise with the school to ensure the pitch is free. On visit days, the operators are normally here by the time I arrive at 8am, getting on with the job and are normally away by midday. Following the visit, we then get a report detailing the work conducted, infill levels etc. We also receive weekly emails to submit our hours of play which then generates an ‘actual hours’ figure, from which we can work out how many hours of in-house maintenance we need to conduct.”

Final word from Elliot, “It’s great to have Replay in conducting a deeper clean every couple of months, topping up the brushing and debris collecting we do ourselves. Although the surface is relatively new, it’s important to consider that they only have a limited lifespan so working hard now to keep the pitch in good condition, should help to keep it safe and playable for years to come.”

For more information, visit: www.replaymaintenance.co.uk

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