Serbia – study visit

During the visit in Slovakia, discussions were held on the topic of decarbonization from coal and solutions on its replacement for greener solutions, along with the social consequences stemming from it.

The first visit took place in the City office of Prievidza. Here the Head of Mayor’s Office, Alojz Vlčko prepared an overview presentation on the Just Transition in Upper Nitra and the issues they were facing in the process.

The next stop was Handlová, where a City office was visited as well. We met with the city officials, Jana Paulínyová, Press Officer, and Radoslav Iždinský, Deputy Mayor, who talked about the social consequences because of the closure of mines and the brain drain from the city. In Handlová, a Fish Farm was visited as well, presented by Stanislav Gurský, Director, where the mine water is used to breed African catfish.

The next day, the participants visited the Ministry of Environment of SR, where they were welcomed by Zuzana Kocunová, Director of the Air Protection Department, and Šimon Lacena, Director of Climate Change Mitigation Department. Here the current emissions and air quality situation was covered.

The last part of the visit took place in #SFPA, where the participants had the chance to talk to NGO representatives: our experts Veronika Oravcová and Nolan Theisen, and journalist Radovan Potočár from Energie-portal.sk