Youth summer school Dniester 2019

One of the largest activities organized by the NGO Eco-Tiras within the HydroEcoNex project was carried out between the 4th and 15th July of 2019 – the youth summer school Dniester 2019, which aimed to raise youth awareness on the need of integrated management of water resources in the Dniester river basin. The school was held in a summer camp in Molovata Noua village, Moldova, which is located on the left bank of the Dniester River, upstream of the Dubasari dam. It is worth to mention that Eco-Tiras has annually organized the youth summer schools since 2007, with the financial support of various international environmental projects.

Seventy-seven youngsters from Moldova, Ukraine and Romania were selected as participants of the summer school. Another part, 35 students from the universities of Chisinau, Galati and Tiraspol cities, participated in the kayak expedition on the Dniester river from Naslavcea, the place of entry of the Dniester on the territory of Moldova, where the Dniester HPP 2 is located, until the neighborhood of Soroca city. For several days, under the guidance of geographer Nicolae Vizitiu, the expedition passed 70 km of river, combining the pleasure of admiring the nature with the useful things: during the resting stops the experts-participants of the expedition – Dr. Igor Subernetkii, scientific researcher of the Institute of Zoology, Moldova, scientific leader of the expedition, Evghenii Siminiuc, lecturer at the State University of Moldova, Galina Protiv, the National Ecological Center of Ukraine – has held lectures on various topics, such as hydrotechnical constructions on the Dniester and their impact on ecosystems, global warming and its negative effect, the aquatic fauna of the Dniester river, the assessment of the water quality based on the hydrochemical and hydrobiological indices, the current state of the upper sector of the Dniester river, located on the cross-border territory between Ukraine and Moldova. By hiking, the young people had the opportunity to learn about the peculiarities of landscape, terrestrial flora, and life of the inhabitants of the Dniester valley. To note that for this year expedition, Eco-Tiras purchased from HydroEcoNex budget kayaks and tents, which will be used for similar educational events in future.

Scientific researchers, teachers from higher education institutions, international project managers and, in general, well-known persons from Moldova, Ukraine and Romania were engaged as experts in the activity of the summer school, and among them Dr. Ilya Trombitkii, Tatiana Sineaeva, Dr. Roman Corobov, NGO Eco-Tiras, correspondent member of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova Elena Zubcov, Institute of Zoology, Moldova, prof. Antoaneta Ene, “Dunarea de Jos” University of Galati, Romania, Dr. Alexandru Goncearov, the Ukrainian Scientific Center of Ecology of the Sea, Dr. Olga Cazanteva, Institute of Zoology, Moldova, Dr. Serghei Filipenco, T.G.Sevcenco State University, Tiraspol, Moldova, Dr. Mark Tkaciuk, Higher Anthropological School, Moldova, Tatiana Kutonova and Bo Libert, Global Ecological Fund, Ukraine and Sweden, Keita Abdramane, NGO Fatima, Vladimir Ursu, NGO Rural Revival, Alexei Tulbure, Moldova, etc.

The summer school program included lessons, discussions, simulation exercises on holding the press conferences and public debates, trips, focused on the whole on the integrated use and protection of water resources and biodiversity in the Dniester, the influence of rivers on the Black Sea, international cooperation in management of transboundary waters, climate change, international and European institutions in the fields of environment and democratic development, but also natural and human history in the Dniester basin, interethnic tolerance.

The summer school ended with the Dniester Festival, an event attended by about 150 people, including representatives of central and local public authorities, international organizations (OSCE, UNECE, GEF), environmental NGOs and mass media. The extensive program of the event also included a boat trip, during which the festival guests had the opportunity to learn about the lower part of Dubasari reservoir.

The young people went home excited about that lived during 10 days on the Dniester bank, but also with the desire to return – in the end, the most active participants of the summer school Dniester 2019 received official invitations from Eco-Tiras to attend the summer school Dniester 2020.

Author: L.Biletchi