The Black Sea is a highly sensitive, semi-enclosed marine ecosystem exposed to significant anthropogenic pres-sures, including pollution, climate change, and coastal development. The Black Sea Smart Marine Environmental Outcome System (BS-SEOS), supported by the INTERREG NEXT Black Sea Basin Programme, an innovative framework designed to improve monitoring and management of one of the world’s most sensitive marine ecosystems. The system integrates uncrewed surface vehicles equipped with multisensory instruments to collect high-resolution, real-time data on key environmental parameters, including temperature, pH, dissolved oxygen, and chlorophyll-a. These observations are processed through a structured data pipeline and analyzed using advanced AI models to predict ecological risks such as hypoxia and harmful algal blooms. By enabling continuous, transnational data sharing and early warning capabilities, BS-SEOS supports informed decision-making and proactive environmental management. The project enhances regional cooperation, strengthens ecosystem resilience, and contributes to sustainable development and long-term protection of the Black Sea.
Shengjin Beach in the Lezhë region of Albania is a vital tourist destination, yet recent years have seen growing concerns over its bathing water quality. This study assesses the microbiological quality of Shengjin's coastal waters during the 2023 bathing season, identifying pollution sources and evaluating multi-year trends. Water samples from five stations were analyzed for Escherichia coli and intestinal enterococci using ISO standards (ISO 7899-1 and ISO 9308-3). Quality was classified under EU Directive 2006/7/EC, ranging from A (excellent) to D (poor). Results showed a stark decline: zero stations achieved Category A, while 60% fell into Category D (poor), 20% into Category C (sufficient), and 20% into Category B (good). This contrasts sharply with 2022, when 100% of stations were rated "excellent." The primary drivers of this deterioration are untreated urban wastewater discharges and peak-season tourism. These findings highlight an urgent need for upgraded wastewater infrastructure, stricter environmental regulations, and sustainable tourism management to protect public health and restore coastal water quality.
In Georgia, in the Chiatura municipality, one of the main problems is the activation of natural disasters (landslides, mudflows, rockfalls, floods, winds, erosion, etc.), which, along with natural factors, is facilitated by anthropogenic impacts. Of the above processes, landslides and erosion are the most characteristic and the biggest problem for the Chiatura municipality, the formation and activation of which is associated with both naturally formed complex geological, morphological and climatic conditions, and human activity, including large-scale mining and quarrying activities. Within the framework of the project, a large-scale (1:25,000 or 1:10,000) geological hazard zoning map will be created, which will be one of the main results of the project and will have both scientific and applicable meaning significance. It will then be used in the municipality for a sharp mitigation of the geoecological situation and as a basic basis for the targeted development of the territory. Before creating the geological hazard zoning map, an inventory map was developed in the ArcMap program, which reflects the spatial distribution of natural geological processes. This map is one of the important bases for compiling the geological hazard zoning map. It shows natural geological processes that have occurred in the past or have recently developed, and this information was reflected on the basis of processing historical fund materials and field geological surveys. In addition, the intensity of erosion processes was assessed based on field-scientific surveys and the results obtained.
Wastewater surveillance (WS) has emerged as an important population-based surveillance tool for early pathogen detection to inform timely public health action. Despite global guidance to initiate WS programming in Asia, the priorities and needs in Asia remain poorly understood. To address this gap, we conducted a cross-sectional assessment of WS efforts in Asia. An institutional survey recorded 89 separate projects among 45 institutions in 19 countries in Asia. Financing for WS was equally split between domestic and external resources. Most projects were research-oriented, with one-fifth embedded within national surveillance systems. Influents from urban wastewater treatment plants were the most common sampling sources identified, with either monthly or weekly sampling frequencies. Most efforts were single-pathogen focused, with SARS-CoV-2, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) bacteria, enterovirus, influenza and poliovirus being the top five pathogens assessed. Despite challenges including limited funding and government support, there has been substantial recent progress on the adoption of WS across Asia. Opportunities to enhance sustainability and scale will depend upon efforts to document public health use cases, support national planning and budgeting, develop tailored protocols and regional guidance, and advance innovative multi-pathogen approaches that leverage innovations including pathogen genomics to advance cost-efficient WS systems for public health impact.
In the region of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti, arsenic ore mining, processing and production of arsenic-containing compounds have been going on for the last 8 decades. In the villages of Uravi and Tsana, a large amount of toxic waste left over from the production of arsenic from the Soviet period is stored in the territory of the Samtochemical factory. Currently, both deposits are conserved, but the problem is arsenic-containing waste and soil contamination of the areas surrounding the former factories. The purpose of the research is to create a map of the arsenic contamination of the region's soils to identify the vulnerable points of contamination, where phytoremediation biotechnology will be implemented for soil reclamation. Soil sampling points were selected from polluted, agricultural, recreational and background sites at 0-5 and 5-20 cm soil depth. The total form of arsenic was determined in the collected soil samples. The level of arsenic contamination of the soils in the areas surrounding the arsenic processing enterprises of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region has been identified. Analyzes were carried out using modern methods and equipment that correspond to European standards. It was obtained according to the following: the soils of Uravi-2 in Ambrolauri municipality and Tsana-1 in Lentekhi municipality are the most contaminated with arsenic; 30 at-risk soil sampling facilities were identified, where the hazard index (HQs >1) due to high arsenic concentrations; Based on the received data, a map of arsenic contamination of the soils of Racha-Lechkhumi and Kvemo Svaneti region was drawn up in the GIS system.
