From September 11th to 13th, 2024, the RECETOX center once again hosted an International Training focused on the monitoring, management, and more effective use of data on persistent organic pollutants (POPs). More than fifty experts from government, non-profit, and academic sectors participated, representing a total of nine countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kazakhstan, North Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, and Georgia. The seminar is part of two projects aimed at enhancing the implementation of the Stockholm Convention through the updating of National Implementation Plans (NIPs).
The training organized by RECETOX responds to the need to strengthen professional capacities and acquaint both the current and new generation with the topic of POPs monitoring. It focuses on conventional and new methods of sampling POPs from the environment, as well as other steps, such as how to derive the numerical value of the concentration of the target chemical substance from the sample.
The training also deals with data management, their interpretation, and introduces new available tools and approaches (globally or within the EU). Its goal is to provide information on how to handle POPs data and the process of their FAIRification, share experiences with data management among participants, and gain practical experience with passive water sampling.
Last but not least, the training aims to build synergies between existing monitoring networks and deepen cooperation between the environmental and health sectors. The training also includes a visit to the RECETOX biobank and laboratories.
The Stockholm Convention on POPs is a globally binding international treaty that focuses on protecting health and the environment from the negative impacts of POPs. It provides a framework based on the precautionary principle and is designed to eliminate the production, use, import, and export of POPs listed in the Convention, leading to their safe handling and disposal. For unintentionally produced POPs, it aims to eliminate or reduce their releases. Each party must develop and regularly update a National Implementation Plan (NIP) to fulfill its obligations under the Convention.
RECETOX has long supported the implementation of the Stockholm Convention in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Caucasus, and Central Asia, whether through the MONET EUROPE monitoring networks or regular summer schools focused on strengthening expertise in monitoring. The implementation of “chemical” projects funded by the GEF is not only an important contribution of RECETOX to the global protection of the environment from chemicals but also an essential part of efforts to build capacities in relevant countries.
From November 5–7, 2024, we participated in the annual meeting of the European consortium ACTRIS. This event serves as a key platform for regular partner meetings, fostering collaboration, sharing the latest updates and experiences, and discussing critical topics related to the development and operation of the ACTRIS research infrastructure.
The BioSense Institute, located in Novi Sad, Serbia, hosted the third official TEAMING Club Conference. The aim of three-day-event was to learn more about each-others research focus, as well as about available research infrastructure at each Centre of Excellence and to boost future collaborations
