In 2024, the International Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI) was held in Brisbane, Australia. ICRI is held biennially and serves as a professional forum for the global research infrastructure community. The conference provided a space for policymakers, research institution leaders, facility operators, and users to meet and discuss. The debates focused primarily on current trends and challenges facing research infrastructures worldwide.
At the beginning of December, the ICRI (International Conference on Research Infrastructures) conference was organized in Brisbane, Australia. Organised biennially, ICRI is the major professional forum for the global research infrastructure community. ICRI 2024 brought together 420 delegates from 50 countries - policymakers, research institution leaders, facility operator, users and researchers, to discuss pressing topics of interest, trends and challenges facing research infrastructures around the world. EIRENE Coordinator, prof. Jana Klánová joined ICRI and actively participated as a speaker or co-organisor in several sessions.
On Monday morning, Jana Klanová presented EIRENE and its activities within the session on Leveraging Research Infrastructures for Addressing Climate Change Risks organized by the IRISC consortium and led by EGI Foundation and Luke.
In the afternoon, Jana Klánová participated at the side event titled "Human Exposure Assessment for the Evaluation and Prevention of Chemical Risks" organized by the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences (QAEHS). This event focused on the integration of existing research infrastructures into activities that investigate the impact of chemical exposure on health and the factors influencing it. The goal was to discuss the establishment of a Pacific Regional infrastructure network, leveraging existing networks from Europe and North America, to contribute to global efforts in creating a comprehensive human biomonitoring system. Jana Klanova presented the experiences of building such a network in Europe and also the cooperation which is being developed with US partners.
On Wednesday, Jana was among five panelists of the breakout session chaired by Gary Miller. The session "Using Research Infrastructures to Investigate and Document the Impacts of the Environment on Human Health" focused at examining the complex interplay between environmental factors, social determinants, climate change, and human health, focusing on the vital role of global collaboration in research infrastructures (RIs). Jana presented the current activities and experiences of RECETOX RI and EIRENE and opened several topics and cooperation possibilities how to address global health challenges related to environmental and social factors.
The conference program was very dense and full of bi- and multilateral meetings with partners, government representatives and potential collaborators. We strongly believe that the five-day program of very-well organized conference in Brisbane will support the future development of EIRENE and stimulate the cooperation with potential partners from Australia, but also from ASEAN and other regions.
In January 2025, a new international project called DTRIP4H was launched, involving the RECETOX center. The RECETOX center will focus on creating a case study aimed at improving the assessment of exposure to airborne dust in Brno. Initial testing will take place on a small scale in the Lužánky park area. Students from the sports gymnasium will assist scientists with data collection.
On February 6, 2025, the campus of the University of Nairobi hosted the ceremonial opening of an exhibition on RECETOX activities in Africa over the past 15 years, prepared by the Regional Centre for the Stockholm Convention (SCRC) in 2024.
