Although the word „coronavirus” was the biggest concern in 2020, the „environment” deserves even greater attention. According to one UN study, 1.5 million people died from the epidemic within the pandemic’s year, while 9 million died from contaminated water and air. That’s a six-fold higher figure. I drew attention to this aspect at the opening of the 6th IAHR Europe Congress, which took place under the theme of „Hydro-environment research and engineering. No frames, no borders.”
This is the sixth European meeting of this global institution, but the first time in Poland. At the opening of the arrangements, in 2019, we agreed to the simultaneous presence of several hundred delegates in Warsaw. However, the first quarter of 2020 has already shown that this will not be possible. Therefore, the organizers of this meeting – Professors Tomasz Okruszko and Paweł Rowiński – wanted to make spectators feel welcome despite their physical distances. I think it’s safe to say that we’ve done the job!
REVIEWS
What are organisers and participants saying?
The conference was organized in a non-standard, innovative way and required a non-standard way of conducting. Mr. Maciej had perfectly settled into this role, by introducing a fantastic, creative atmosphere, while at the same time allowing the participants to feel completely relaxed. For that, I take off my hat, because the Congress - in the opinion of many people from all over the world - was a great success.
Hydrologist and Hydrodynamics, Vice-president of the Polish Academy of Sciences; Co-Organizer
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