A coordinated action plan to tackle plastic pollution in the Danube and Tisza rivers
Venue: Budapest University of Technology and Economics “K” building, 1st floor, Banquet Hall/Díszterem (1111 Budapest, Műegyetem rkp. 3.) and Kisköre, Hungary
Organisers: Hungarian Association of Environmental Enterprises, Naturefilm.eu and IO-BAS
Programme
8 November 2022
| Time | Programme | Speaker | |
| 9.30 – 10.00 | Registration, welcome coffee | ||
| Opening session | |||
| 10.00 – 10.05 | Welcome and introduction | Moderator: Zsófia Tomaj, sustainability expert |  |
| 10.05 – 10.20 | Keynote speech (video message) | Csaba Kőrösi, President of United Nations General Assembly (video message) | |
| 10.20 – 10.30 | Transboundary pollution control in the Danube River Basin – success and challenges of the ICPDR | Dr. Ádám Kovács, Technical Expert, Pollution Control – ICPDR |  |
| 10.30 – 10.40 | Introducing EUSDR goals | Dr. Viktor Oroszi, Hungarian National Coordinator of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region – Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade |  |
| Session 1: Performance and key results of the project | |||
| 10.40 – 11.00 | Tid(y)Up – Key findings and outputs of the project (River cleanup handguide, river cleanup actions, Waste reduction toolkit and roundtables) | Attila Dávid Molnár President of Naturefilm.hu Society, Founder of Plastic Cup |  |
| 11.00 – 11.20 | Coffee break | ||
| Session 2: Microplastic contamination assesment | |||
| 11.20 – 11.35 | Transnational microplastic contamination assessment of existing methodologies and measurements along the river and forming reflective recommendations | Gudrun Obersteiner Senior Lecturer, University of Life Sciences and Natural Resources, Vienna |  |
| 11.35 – 11.50 | Dr. Gábor Bordós Senior Researcher, EUROFINS Wessling Hungary Ltd. |  | |
| 11.50 – 12.05 | Introducing key findings of the International Legislative Analysis – best practices and recommendations (Survey) | Gergely Hankó managing director, Hungarian Association of Environmental Enterprises |  |
| 12.05 – 12.20 | Q&A | ||
| 12.20 – 13.20 | — Lunchbreak & networking— | ||
| Session 3: River cleanup and recycling experiences | |||
| 13.20 – 13.35 | Marine plastics facilitating hitch-hiker species: Studies from an offshore Atlantic Island (online) | João Canning-Clode Senior Researcher at Coastal Systems and Ocean, MARE – Madeira |  |
| 13.35 – 13.50 | Citizen science, public awareness | Thomas de Groote, Founder, River Cleanup |  |
| 13.50 – 14.05 | Cleanup and recycle experiences (online) | Bernard Merkx, Managing Director, Green Wave Plastic and Co-founder of Waste Free Oceans Foundation |  |
| 14.05 – 14.10 | Q&A | ||
| 14.10 – 14.25 | —-Coffee break—- | ||
| Transnational Forum about the rights of the rivers – roundtable discussion – | |||
| 14.25 – 15.45 | Participants:– Péter Gergő KATONA, Global Water Partnership Hungary / Head of team at Middle Tisza Water Directorate– Nesho Chipev PhD Professor Emeritus, Institute of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Research – BAS– Dr. Sándor Fülöp – President of EMLA– Dr. Prof. Gyula Bándi – Deputy Commissioner for Future Generations, AJBH |    | |
| 15.45 – 15.50 | Closing remarks | ||
| 15.50 – 18.30 | Movie screening & networking event (with finger food and drinks) | Q&A – Attila Dávid Molnár | |
9 November 2022
| Time | Programme | Speaker | |
| 7.00 | Meeting at the University (BME), departure to Kisköre by shuttle buses | ||
| 9.15 – 9.30 | Arriving to Kisköre, coffee break at Lépcső Bisztró Tisza-tó, Kisköre 3384(GPS coordinates: 47.492566152238844, 20.519712273177905) | ||
| 9.30 – 10.00 | Tour at the River Guard Center (Google map:Folyómentő Központ, Abádszalók, 5241 (GPS Coordinates: 47.49421226483266, 20.517922640353284) | Guide: Attila Dávid Molnár | |
| 10.00 – 12.00 | Tour at the Floating Exhibition (FLEX) | ||
| 12.00 – 13.00 | — Lunchbreak — at Kisköre Ring-a-tó Szolgáltató és Rendezvényház (Address: Tisza II ltp., 3384) | ||
| 13.00 | End of public programme – departure by shuttle bus to Budapest | ||
| 13.00-16.00 | Closed Project Partner meeting | All Project Partners | |
Despite the advanced waste management and ambitious recycling objectives of the EU, studies indicate the presence of macroplastic and microplastic pollution in rivers of Europe.
The Tid(y)Up project is focusing on the improvement of water quality and reduction of plastic pollution in one of Europe’s most heavily contaminated rivers, the Tisza, and investigates plastic pollution and its effect on the Danube and the Black Sea. Currently there are no standard methods and consistent data available on plastic pollution of rivers in the Danube Basin that would help harmonized actions of water management authorities and allow cooperation with other sectors.
The Tid(y)Up project is a cross-border cooperation project along the Tisza and Danube rivers, involving 6 countries, 10 partners and 11 associated partners to improve the status of rivers. With the help of scientific experts, the project aims to develop a standard monitoring protocol to effectively and accurately assess macro- and microplastic pollution in river water. Using existing research methods and good practices, Tid(y)Up will also implement concrete river clean-up interventions in the Danube river basin, with a particular focus on awareness raising, dissemination, communication and dissemination of project results to EU experts and decision-makers.
As a closing chord of the project a two-day event will be organised on 8-9 November 2022 in Budapest and Kisköre, HUNGARY.
We are pleased to invite you to participate at this event, where the most commited professionals will gather to share their experience and knowledge about the problem of river contamination and pollution assessment methodology.
About the programme:
Together with our renowned guest speakers we are going to introduce the key results of the Tid(y)Up project, while at the transnational roundtable we will focus on the most important further actions needed to be implemented in the close future.
Beyond the conference, roundtable and networking event, we are inviting you to a unique experience on the second day: during a site visit to Plastic Cup’s River Guard Center in Kisköre we are introducing best riverine waste management practices in Hungary on site, and then to top off the Tid(y)Up project consortium’s work, we are going to guide you through the project’s brand new Floating Exhibition venue docked on Tisza river, to present a new way of transnational awareness raising for river saving.
We are awaiting professionals from water authorities, universities, R&D institutions, environmental- and nature protection NGOs, national and international touristic agencys, international organisations, companies from the water management sector interested in river saving and riverine waste management.
