The Fourth Meeting of the Steering Committee in Chisinau

On February 16-17, 2026, within the framework of the CARE SEA project, the fourth meeting of the steering committee was held in Chisinau. The two-day event included a meeting of the Steering Committee, 2 educational seminars, 2 premiere screenings of films and working visits to the „Orheiul Vechi” and „Codrii Moldovei” nature reserves on combating plastic pollution in rivers and tributaries.

The progress of the project and future plans were discussed by representatives of partner universities from Greece, Georgia, Turkey, Moldova and Romania. There were 2 film premieres, one about the visited reserve “Orheiul Vechi”  and the second about the implementation of the project by the team from the Republic of Moldova and the drone filming in the “Prutul de Jos” biosphere reserve. The participants also had interesting presentations made by researchers from all the countries participating in the project, discussions about common environmental challenges in the Black Sea basin region and about ways to extend the project objectives, as well as about the dissemination and sustainability of the project results.

The training sessions presented practical examples, European standards for waste management and awareness initiatives. Over the two days, around 30 participants attended the events held both in Chisinau and in the reserves.

During the study visit, the participants visited the „Orheiul Vechi” and „Codrii Moldovei” Reserves, where they learned about the unique ecosystems of these reserves and discussed the effects of microplastic pollution on the natural environment.

The CARE SEA project is implemented within the EU Interreg NEXT Black Sea Basin program and unites partner universities and research institutes from the Black Sea region. At this event, during several very lucrative and interesting sessions, each of the partners presented the status of the research activities carried out so far in the project. On behalf of USPEE “Constantin Stere”, the entire project team, experts Dr. hab., prof. univ. Gheorghe Avornic, rector of USPEE “Constantin Stere”, Dr. Dmitri Dvornikov, Dr. Anatolie Tărâță, Dr. Elena Moșanu, Dr. Raisa Lozan and the electronics expert, Alexandru Micu, the project coordinator Dr., prof. univ.

Victoria Trofimov, project accountant Olga Bogataia and the project’s local communication specialist, PhD student Diana Duca, participated in the seminars during these two days and reported on the situation regarding the project implementation.

The meeting in Chisinau had a diverse agenda, during which multiple important topics of the CARE SEA project were discussed, including: analysis of past and future activities, preparation of the fourth project report, the organization of the next project team meeting in Romania in the Tulcea city, current issues of microplastic pollution in rivers and seas, as well as many other topics of common interest, especially in the context of the Republic of Moldova’s accession to the European Union.