Atlantic & Arctic Lighthouse Weekly Hour S03E05 with BIOEAST
The year 2024 has been especially tough for European farmers, with severe droughts, destructive summer fires, and recent floods causing over €10 billion in damages across Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic. In the BIOEAST region, where freshwater is crucial for agriculture and industry, these events highlight the urgent need for innovative water management solutions.
The BIOEAST Initiative has been addressing this since the Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030” – Danube Lighthouse launched. A new approach for Water-Soil-Climate Nexus was developed by experts from Slovakia’s Ministry of Agriculture, promoting local water retention and small water cycles to restore ecosystems and strengthen climate resilience.
This approach has been adopted by the international BIOEAST Thematic Working Group on Freshwater-Based Bioeconomy (TWG Fresh Water BBE) as a new framework for the long term research and innovation strategy . It will be discussed in our policy-expert debate, offering sustainable solutions for water management and supporting the growth of the circular bioeconomy across Europe.
Agenda (all times in CET)
- 14:00 – 14:05 – Introduction, Valerie de Liedekerke, BlueMissionAA / AIR Centre
- 14:05 – 14:10 – The BIOEAST initiative, Barna Kovacs, Ph.D., Secretary-General of BIOEAST Initiative
- 14:10 – 14:13 – Thematic SRIA Overview, Marie Kubankova, Ph.D., Leader of the BIOEAST TWG FreshWater BBE
- 14:13 – 14:18 – Water-Soil-Climate Nexus – Martin Kovacs, Founder of Climate Club | Former Deputy Minister, Slovak Ministry of Agriculture
- 14:18 – 14:21 – Pilot Implementation – Michal Kravčík, Ph.D., Co-Founder & Initiative Lead at WATERHOLISTIC
- 14:21 – 14:25 – Aquaculture – Béla Halasi-Kovacs, Director / SCIAP Research and Development Consulting Ltd.
- 14:25 – 14:30 – Water Board Mission – Ana Gavrilovic, Professor, Head of the Postgraduate professional study of Fisheries, University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture
- 14:30 – 14:40 – The Water4All objectives – Ariane Blum, Water4All EU Partnership Coordinator
- 14:40 – 14:45 – Danube4All Danube Restoration Plan – Allison O’Reilly, Project Manager, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna (BOKU)
- 14:45 – 15:00 – Q&A moderated by Valerie de Liedekerke, BlueMissionAA / AIR Centre