Challenges of water management in Europe: flood, drought, monitoring

The research activities of the Silesian Water Center address the most pressing global and local issues related to environmental, social, political, and legal changes affecting aquatic environments and water management in the era of climate change. In addition to scientific research, the Silesian Water Center team's priorities include outreach and opinion-forming activities.

The organization of the aforementioned Conference, the eighth annual and second international event, is part of this effort. This conference is a response to the growing challenges posed by global climate change and the resulting socio-political consequences. Participants in the scientific sessions will include researchers from various research institutions in Poland and abroad, as well as representatives of the socio- economic environment. International centers will be represented by, among others: by Vytautas Magnus University in Kaunas, Lithuania, Clement of Ohrid University in Sofia, Bulgaria, and the University of Trieste, Italy, members of the T4E alliance. An integral part of the conference will be an international student poster session and two open debates with the participation of Polish and foreign specialists and journalists from local and national media.

The conference refers to the International Day for Disaster Reduction, celebrated worldwide on October 13, whose main theme this year is "Fund Resilience, Not Disasters".

Topics of scientific sessions

1. The most important challenges of water management in Europe and the world.
2. Solving problems depending on the specific hydrogeological characteristics of the river, based on the example of large (Oder, Niemen) and small anthropogenic rivers and reservoirs (Rawa, Upper Silesian Anthropogenic Lake District).
3. Linking natural, ecosystem and toxicological problems with the socio-political situation in Europe and the world.
4. Current problems against the background of historical changes taking place in the Anthropocene.
5. Presentation of monitoring tools in the context of minimizing the effects of disasters (patrol monitoring, remote sensing, historical sources).
6. Presentation of the latest research achievements of the Silesian Water Center team.

Topics of open debates

Environmental, socio-political, and legal aspects of water-related disasters: droughts, floods, and catastrophes (case: the Odra River), their effects, procedures, and solutions.