Local services
The Debrecen Environmental Protection Program, the city’s Green Codex, which was prepared jointly by university professors and city professionals, was presented.
The codex contains 50 measures that cover all areas of life, from the production and storage of green energy to Water for the Great Forest! – Through the continuation of the Civaqua program up to the distribution of rainwater collection barrels. The program is one of the first in the country to comply with the 5.0 National Environmental Protection Program adopted by the Parliament.
‘Debrecen’s environmental protection program has been completed, which defines a very serious and complex set of expectations and tasks for the period between 2023 and 2026. During the compilation of this program, we relied on the expertise of people who live here in this city, who are from Debrecen to the core, who know the pulse of this city, its everyday life, its problems, its challenges, its advantages and disadvantages,’ Mayor László Papp said at the presentation of the codex.
‘In December 2022, the Hungarian Parliament adopted the environmental protection program with a national outlook, which we definitely had to wait for when preparing this program, and work had to start in 2023 based on this,’ he pointed out.
He recalled that in 2023, together with the experts of the University of Debrecen, they had begun to think about how to create the content components of this new environmental protection program.
‘The program is of a framework nature, the implementation, compilation, implementation and realisation of which relies on the parameters of the European Union and the Government, so the environmental protection program adopted by the Parliament and its implementation will basically rely on European Union funds, government subsidies and, to a significant extent, city budget funds, ’ the city leader explained.
‘The task of the program is to provide guarantees and handholds so that the citizens of Debrecen can live their daily lives in such a way that they are aware of the fact that they are safe; from the point of view of environmental protection, we comply with all parameters thanks to the established guarantee systems, and Debrecen develops in such a way that it is at the same time sustainable, can guarantee environmentally conscious and safe conditions for the people living here,’ he added.
‘One of the biggest virtues of the program is that it includes the Environmental Control System. In 2024, the city budget will provide the resources necessary for its implementation, and not only for implementation but also for operation and continuous operation,’ he confirmed.
‘Accepting and identifying with the suggestions of the people of Debrecen regarding the city’s water management and water management, we formulated the proposal for the large water-consuming industrial companies settling in the city to review the technological solutions announced earlier to switch to more water-saving technological solutions. We will protect the interests of the people of Debrecen under all circumstances. The commitment of the environmental protection program and the city management is the clear guarantee that the development of the economy in Debrecen does not pose any threat to the life of the city; we will protect the interests of the city and fight for solutions that will bring important and reassuring solutions for the people of Debrecen,’ László Papp emphasised.
‘Debrecen is a special city where special people live! We respect traditions and look for innovative solutions, and what is perhaps our most important strength is that we can unite and cooperate for good causes and rely on local knowledge in all ages and circumstances,’ Deputy Mayor Ákos Balázs stressed.
He highlighted that they had built on this in 2019 when they created a new green policy and launched the Green Working Group and the Future of Debrecen movement. ‘Since then, a green community of action has emerged, an intellectual workshop that shapes the city! This community was added to the knowledge base of the University of Debrecen and its professors in the past year. The environmental protection program was prepared by the entire scientific community of the University of Debrecen. This is the most complex and therefore the best environmental protection program in Hungary today, because it proposes green and sustainable solutions in all areas of our lives, it was created by people from Debrecen for Debrecen, a Green Code that gives guidelines on how the people of Debrecen can have a good life!’ Ákos Balázs concluded his thoughts.
‘It is exemplary, and currently almost unique, that the city and the university have collaborated in the development of such a strategically important document,’ Prof. Dr. István Szűcs, editor of the Environmental Protection Program, teacher at the Faculty of Economics of the University of Debrecen, member of the Green Working Group pointed out. He emphasised that the program in Debrecen was aligned with the latest environmental protection program, and thanks to the code, the people of Debrecen could learn about the city’s environmental status.
‘These 50 measures perfectly determine the direction of the further work of the green areas department in the next three years, and the culmination of them is the application to be submitted for the title of Green Capital of Europe,’ certified nature conservation engineer, co-editor of the Environmental Protection Program, Orsolya Hamecz emphasised. Writing the environmental protection program was a real team effort. Nearly a hundred of us participated in it, from data provision to sophisticated scientific analyses, from creating graphs to selecting images. We are all dedicated people from Debrecen, so we are proud to have been part of its creation,’ she said.
Working groups and leaders of the Environmental Protection Program:
Theme group I: Urban environment cleanliness, waste and green space management
Supervisor: Associate Professor Dr. Andrea Bauerné – University of Debrecen, Faculty of Economics, Institute of Economics and World Economy, Non-independent Department of Environmental Economics
Theme group II. : Hydrography and municipal water management
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. László Stündl, Head of Institute, Dean – University of Debrecen,
Faculty of Agriculture, Food Science and Environmental Management, Institute of Food Technology
Theme group III.: Transport and energy
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Géza Husi, Head of Department Associate Professor, Dean – University of Debrecen, Faculty of Technology
Theme group IV: Air cleanliness, protection against noise and vibration
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Sándor Kéki, University Professor, Head of Department – University of Debrecen, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Technology, Institute of Chemistry, Department of Applied Chemistry
Theme group V.: Nature protection, biodiversity and attitude formation
Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Szabolcs Lengyel, Scientific Advisor, Doctor of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences
Theme group VI.: Preventing environmental hazards
Supervisor: Tibor Schwarcz, certified environmental researcher, environmental law specialist, Deputy Head of the Environmental Research Department of DMJV Mayor’s Office, Urban Development Department, Urban Management and Environmental Protection Department.
