Project Description

On 01.09.2024 a new Horizon Europe project called iNNO SED „iNNOvative SEDiment management in the Danube River Basin“ was started, financed by the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program, grant No101157360 HORIZON-MISS-2023-OCEAN-01-02. The leading organization is the Technical University of Budapest, and GI-BAN is a project partner, along with a total of 24 partners from 16 countries. There are 22 associated partners and among them are IBEI-BAN and the Danube Region Basin Directorate. The financing for GI is BGN 450,000.

The Danube River Basin (DRB) faces significant challenges related to changing river sediment balance; these challenges are also identified in the Danube River Basin Management Plan 2021, topic "Hydromorphological changes". Sectors such as industry and agriculture require assessments of sediment quality in the BRD. However, the lack of standard sediment monitoring limits public understanding of the risks. In this regard, the iNNO SED project, using the achievements of key participants in the completed DanubeSediment and SIMONA projects, aims to establish a Lighthouse Knowledge Center for Danube sediments that will:

• Introduced innovative methods for monitoring and modeling sediment quantity and quality.

• Delivered innovative sediment management practices in the BRD and through collaboration with five associated regions and in other river basins.

• It informs the public, demonstrates the newly created measures and evaluates their socio-economic and environmental aspects.

Contact persons in GI-BAS: Assoc. Prof. Dr. Atanas Hikov (ahikov@geology.bas.bg); Prof. Dr. Irena Peytcheva (impeytcheva@gmail.com); Assistant Milena Vetseva (millena_vetseva@abv.bg).