Systems of urban streams and their interaction with urban green infrastructure play a key role in urban innovation and the transformation of cities into environments that positively affect people’s health and well-being. This panel discusses the ways in which devastated waterways in our cities can be revitalized and, instead of treating the consequences, permanently eliminate the causes of their pollution. The gathered experts will analyze several different case studies, from carefully nurtured natural resources, such as the Gradac River near Valjevo, to examples where human negligence, greed and insufficient professional management of these valuable resources have brought the quality of urban streams to a state of great danger to human health, like the Cukarica tributary t the Topciderska river. Experts in this field will share examples of good European practices that simultaneously solve the problems of urban wastewater treatment by applying modern, efficient, affordable and environmentally friendly methodologies. Through the innovative European projects euPOLIS and HEART, in whose international scientific teams a large number of domestic and regional experts participate, these methods and technologies are available as a choice to domestic decision-makers as well. The goal of this conversation is to raise awareness of the benefits of innovative sustainable approaches to the revitalization of urban waterways that will motivate domestic experts and decision-makers to really make that important step forward for all of us.

Keynote: prof. Cedo Maksimovic, Imperial College London, UK

Professor Maksimovic will take us on a journey through mankind’s relationship with natural water flows in settlements, from early civilization, through uncontrolled urbanization and pollution, to channelization of urban streams and problems of flooding and inlet clogging, towards the more optimistic prospects and methods of renaturalization of urban streams and returning them to nature.

Guest Expert: Istvan Kenyeres, Biopolus, Hungary

Urban circularity, however, cannot exist without first achieving a sustainable water cycle, where residents have continuous access to safe clean water within the boundaries of their city. Istvan Kenyeres of Biopolus will share the MNR technology, a modular, expandable water treatment system for complex circular urban water treatment and management. By means of advanced metabolic engineering, energy, organic materials, and minerals can be derived from organic waste through biosolid fractionation. These solutions, along with optional space for community functions and urban food production are integrated in the concept of BioMakery.

Panelists:

Istvan Kenyeres, Founder, Biopolus  (Hungary)

Cedo Maksimovic, Professor Emeritus, Imperial College  London  (UK)

Bojan Milovanovic, President of GM Optimist, Gornji Milanovac

Vesna Sabanovic, Secretariat for Environmental Protection, City of Belgrade

Moderator:

Zaklina Zivkovic, Right to Water association