Although the word “coronavirus” was the biggest concern in 2020, our environment still deserved 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 that it happened in Poland. At the beginning of the arrangements in 2019, we agreed to the presence of several hundred delegates in Warsaw. However, the first quarter of 2020 showed that this will not be possible. Therefore, the organizers of the meeting – Professors Tomasz Okruszko and Paweł Rowiński – wanted to make spectators feel welcome despite the physical distances. I think it’s safe to say that we really did the job well!