Local services
The University of Debrecen and the local government introduced a new monitoring programme as part of the Green Codex, the environmental strategy presented last January.
The details of the “Green Watch” (Zöld Őrszem in Hungarian) Environmental Monitoring System were presented at a professional conference on Wednesday in Debrecen, in the conference room of ATOMKI, and its website was also presented, which can be accessed at https://zoldorszem.debrecen.hu.
In his welcome speech, Mayor László Papp first recalled the three concepts identified at the inaugural general meeting: safety, development and well-being. He said that safety is the most important and fundamental human need, without which important systems of relationships may suffer.
“Debrecen’s dynamic development brings with it many challenges, for which we are looking for and finding the right answers. Debrecen has been able to make use of all the opportunities that life has offered in the past 10 years, and we strive for economic development to take place in a sustainable way: let us see, know and be aware of the environmental parameters that surround us,” he said.
He recalled the 2023 public hearing in which he promised the people of Debrecen to establish the environmental monitoring system that had just been presented. Unique in the country, the “Green Watch” monitors the processes with continuous control, focusing on 5 areas: air, water, soil, noise and biodiversity.
Together with the university’s staff, 16 on-site (in Debrecen and Mikepércs) and 2 water monitoring bases work 24 hours a day and send the data. This means processing 20 million pieces of data annually.
The strategic basic document of the monitoring system was adopted in December 2023, and was implemented with more than 800 million forints from government and the city’s own resources. The goal remains authentic information, but this monitoring system is completely different from the monitoring system established by the authorities: it is much more extensive, and its goal is to keep the environment under observation and control for the safety and well-being of the citizens of Debrecen.
László Papp said that the three most important elements of this are appropriate regulation, a system that can properly analyse data, and the third is the “Green Watch”, which can provide data to ensure that the situation in Debrecen is appropriate and sustainable, so that we can live safely and sustainably alongside economic development.
“Debrecen sets an example of how to live a big city life while thinking responsibly,” he summarised.
Rector of the University of Debrecen, Zoltán Szilvássy spoke about the fact that industrial and economic development is a special problem that concerns everyone. He said, “We have to keep up with ourselves when ensuring a safe life. This also means guarantees, because in such a dynamic development process it is important whose opinion we accept. The University of Debrecen, the academic sphere, has serious credibility in natural science issues,” he summed up.
Source and photo credit:dehir.hu
