On the occasion of World Water Day (March 22), a national multimedia presentation competition was held in Burgas under the motto “Let’s Protect the Waters of Bulgaria!”. 75 students from across the country participated. Following a preliminary selection from 193 submitted presentations, 60 projects were admitted to the national defense before a commission of expert ecologists and chemists, divided into two age groups: 6th-8th grade and 9th-12th grade.
Ruslan Zhelev and Boyana Atanasova, students from the municipal children’s complex in Burgas, presented the modern air and seawater monitoring system established and operating in the waters of Port Burgas. In preparation for the national competition, they received assistance from experts from the State Enterprise ‘Port Infrastructure’, who participated in the transnational project ‘Ecoport 8’, funded by the EU through the ‘South East Europe’ Programme 2007-2013. The monitoring system in Port Burgas was built with funds from the project and is one of the European points for controlling environmental parameters in ports. The system also covers 6 other countries, which are partners in the second phase of the ‘TEN Ecoport’ project.
The young ecologists received certificates and a personal invitation from the Director General of the State Enterprise ‘Port Infrastructure’ to be included as honorary members of the Bulgarian team in the ‘TEN Ecoport’ project. Ruslan and Boyana will participate in the work of the project team and in all events to be organized within the framework of the international project.
The goal of ‘TEN Ecoport’ is to promote the importance of controlling and managing environmental parameters in ports across Southeast Europe and to create a partnership network among responsible institutions, scientific structures, and all stakeholders involved in the maritime business. Within the framework of the project, public discussions, seminars, and conferences are planned to be held with the participation of partners from Greece, Italy, Romania, Albania, Croatia, and Montenegro. In 2013 and 2014, our country is set to host a series of seminars for the maritime business, an international forum, and other public events.