On March 11, 2022, the IERS / IRCEF team had an online meeting with Hungarian colleagues (representatives of PLASTIC CUP, the Hungarian Association of Environmental Enterprises) and with the participation of the US Embassy in Budapest.
The meeting was attended by:
- Alexander Bokotey, Nataliya Kulya (representatives of the Institute of Ecological and Religious Studies, IERS);
- Mykhailo Bilanych, Iryna Shyshkina (representatives of the Interreligious and Civil Environmental Forum of Eastern Europe, IRCEF);
- prof. Matthew Temple, Chairman of the IRCEF Climate Change Committee, Fulbright Fellow, geneticist, a Carmelite, lecturer at Nazareth College (Rochester, USA);
- Gergel Hanko (PLASTIC CUP project manager, executive director of the Hungarian Association of Environmental Enterprises);
- Annette Zelei (US Embassy in Budapest).
Participants were discussing areas of cooperation between institutions, focusing on waste management in the Upper Tisza Basin. In particular, Nataliya Kulya presented the main results, experience, and future plans of IERS in the field of waste management, and, in turn, Gergel Hanko shared the experience and results of PLASTIC CUP in Transcarpathia. Participants have agreed:
- to exchange working materials for environmental education and enlightenment of the local population on this issue;
- to strengthen the cooperation between institutions in order to preserve the nature of the Carpathians together;
- to strengthen the coordination of projects in order to involve as many local people as possible in the Carpathian nature conservation values.
Matthew Temple emphasized the importance of such meetings for environmental NGOs and noted that the activities of IERS / IRCEF greatly strengthen and complement the work of PLASTIC CUP in Transcarpathia.
Annette Zelei (US Embassy in Budapest) expressed her desire to support the activities of institutions in the field of environmental protection and words of support for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people in such a difficult time in the fight against the Russian aggressor.
The webinar was held in cooperation with the Interreligious Civil Conservation Forum of Eastern Europe (IRCEF) and the German Nature Conservation Union (NABU).
Informational Service of IRCEF