Participation of the PABSEC International Secretariat in the “Marine Litter in the Danube and the Black Sea region: concrete proposals from the regions” online conference, 4 November 2021
Mr. Miltiadis Makrygiannis, PABSEC Deputy Secretary General attended the virtual conference titled “Marine Litter in the Danube and the Black Sea region: concrete proposals from the regions” that took place on 4 November 2021.
The conference hosted by MEP Carmen AVRAM, SEArica Vice-Chair responsible for the Danube and the Black Sea, and co-organised by the Balkan and the Black Sea Commission of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR BBSC) and the International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS).
The meeting had the form of a moderated exchange with key regional, political, and private stakeholders from the Danube and Black Sea regions in an attempt to promote inter-basin and knowledge exchange by presenting key takeaways and best practices from other sea basins of Europe.
The aim of the event was to discuss and come up with tailored and concrete proposals to tackle marine litter in the region.
Stakeholders from the wider Black Sea region and beyond had the opportunity to share their experience and exchange ideas with representatives from the European institutions and encourage multilateral cooperation in the framework of different EU initiatives and programmes implemented in the area.
According to the organizers, the conference’s aim was to provide a dialogue platform amongst EU, regional and national policy-makers and key stakeholders, to encourage a debate that will allow for a better understanding of the challenges, as faced by stakeholders on the ground, and the different opportunities that derive from the various EU policies, strategies and initiatives in this diverse but fragile regions.
Among the panelists who participated was Mr. Ivan ZAVADSKY, Executive Secretary of the International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River (ICPDR), Ms. Irina MAKARENKO, Pollution Monitoring and Assessment Officer, Permanent Secretariat, Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution (Black Sea Commission), Professor Dr. Baris SALIHOGLU, Black Sea CONNECT Project Coordinator, Middle East Technical University - Institute of Marine Sciences (METU-IMS) (Turkey), Professor Ioannis KALAVROUZIOTIS, President of the Regional Council of Research & Innovation of the Region of Western Greece, CPMR Balkan and Black Sea Commission Member Region, Professor Dr Taner ALBAYRAK, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences Department of Maritime Business Management, Piri Reis University (Turkey), Ms. Zita PELS, Regional Minister from Noord-Holland (The Netherlands), Member of the CPMR North Sea Commission, and more.