General Capacity building workshop in Constanta: training on state-of-the-art methodologies for monitoring plastic pollution
The EUROqCHARM field workshop on macro- and microplastics sampling and analysis through harmonized methodologies was held from July 9th to 14th 2023 in Constanta, Romania. The workshop was organized by Dr. Elena Stoica (NIMRD), the leader of WP4 - Capacity building.
The geographical focus of the workshop was the Black Sea region and was attended by participants from Romania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Turkey and Ukraine in addition to participants and experts from Germany, Italy, Norway, Spain and The Netherlands. Participants were connected to institutions within education and academia, NGOs and public authorities. The 5-days event included in person and online lectures, lab exercises and demonstrations, fieldwork, and round table discussions.
The participants to the workshop received training on state-of-the-art methodologies for monitoring plastic pollution in different environmental matrices. Identifying the most sound and reliable methodologies for plastic pollution monitoring has been one of the goals of the EUROqCHARM project and the findings are now disseminated for use across European countries and beyond.
The workshop attracted the attention of the media and an interview with EUROqCHARM researchers was broadcasted by the national Romanian radio channel.
Both organizers and participants agreed that the workshop was a success and that capacity building and transfer through knowledge exchange is the only way to sustainable progress.