Through the prism of sustainable development and air quality improvement

8th Croatian Challenges in Meteorology conference

The 8th Challenges in Meteorology, a scientific-professional conference with international participation, was held in Zagreb on 28^th and 29^th  April 2022. The conference was organised by the Croatian Meteorological Society, the Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service, the Department of Geophysics, Faculty of Sciences, University in Zagreb and the Croatia Control. It attracted Croatian meteorological professionals, scientists and graduating degree students, as well as international participants.

The main topic of the conference was “The air we breathe, the air we forecast”. Air quality as an essential property of the atmosphere is constantly changing and depends on natural processes and human activities. At the same time, human activities, health and quality of life depend on air quality. The goals of the conference were to exchange the latest scientific results in the fields of meteorology, environmental protection and sustainable development; to strengthen communication with users of meteorological data and products, the general public and the media; to promote and popularize meteorology. The intention was to achieve closer interdisciplinary cooperation of meteorologists with users from all areas of social and economic activities viewed through the prism of sustainable development and air quality improvement.

During the two days of the conference, exceptionally high-quality research was presented through 49  lectures and 12 posters that match the quality of European and world research, results and their application. The conference program was divided into nine thematic sessions: Environment protection: air quality – observations and modelling; Climate change and adaptation – observations and modelling; Meteorological extremes and their impacts; Climatology and biometeorology; Agrometeorology; Applied meteorology; Weather forecasts.

• Download the book of abstracts here

There were five invited speakers:

• Astrid M.M. Manders (TNO, Netherlands)
• László Haszpra (University of Eötvös Loránd, Hungary)
• Jadranka Šepić (University of Split, Croatia)
• Winfried Schröder (University of Vechta, Germany) and
• Josipa Milovac (University of Cantabria, Spain).

The event was held in a hybrid concept with 103 participants in person and 56 participants online via Zoom. This kind of concept proved to be very useful because it enabled several participants to present their work remotely due to last-minute circumstances. Moreover, one presentation was pre-recorded and streamlined for both in-person and online participants. Two people oversaw the successful functioning of this concept – a member of the Organising committee covered the Zoom administration, while a venue expert helped with the sound transmissions between real and virtual worlds.

At the end of the first day, discussions  continued with dinner at a restaurant in Maksimir Park. In addition to excellent food and drink, the participants exchanged professional, work and private experiences. We do not doubt that some of these conversations will result in some new cooperation or joint projects. Although we managed to have successful computer meetings and lectures in the last two years, we lacked in person discussions and the opportunity to exchange ideas live because personal contact is irreplaceable. Therefore, this was a great occasion to revive memories of previous “Challenges in Meteorology” and to make some new ones.

Ivana Marinović,
member of the Organising committee of Challenges in Meteorology 8