The Medal of the Senate of the Republic of Poland was collected from the hands of the Speaker of the Senate of the Republic of Poland Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska by the Rector of the University of Gdańsk, prof. Piotr Stepnowski. The medal was established to honour individuals, organisations, institutions and other entities for special merits to the Senate of the Republic of Poland and Poland itself, for contributions to social, cultural, scientific, or economic development.
The presentation of the medal, which is an expression of the highest recognition of the Senate of the Republic of Poland, took place at the end of the day's meeting of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and the Climate and Environment Committee. Recall that on 2 September 2024, during the meeting, the Rector, prof. Piotr Stepnowski , spoke about the pollution of the Baltic Sea, its causes, the scale of the threat and the prospects for improving the situation. He reminded the meeting that Poland must implement the recommendations of the Helsinki Commission by, among other things, reducing nutrient loads or paying attention to new types of pollution such as pharmaceuticals or microplastics. This requires continuous investment in water and wastewater management throughout the country, rationalisation of the use of fertilisers in agricultural production and investment in upgrading industrial installations (read more here).
The Commission has also developed a position, based on substantive recommendations prepared by a team of scientists from the University of Gdańsk under the direction of the Rector.
'The topic of the scientific research that I and my colleagues undertake is the tracking of chemical pollution, including in the Baltic Sea environment. In preparing recommendations for the Senators, we also drew on the knowledge and experience of scientists who deal with issues of Baltic protection on a daily basis,' said prof. Piotr Stepnowski. 'We must constantly remind ourselves that we are in fact standing on the threshold of an ecological catastrophe, if we do not intensify our actions - life in the Baltic will die out faster and faster. That is why every avenue, every forum where we can present the situation and propose changes, is so important.'
The meeting of the Senate committees was also attended by the Rector of the Maritime University in Gdynia, prof. dr hab. inż. kpt. ż.w. Adam Weintrit, who spoke, among other things, about the spatial development plan for Polish maritime areas and environmental research conducted by this university. He too received a medal from the Senate of the Republic of Poland.
We would also like to remind you that both Rectors, as well as the Director of the Institute of Oceanology of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IOPAN), prof. Jan Marcin Węsławski , and the Director of the Maritime Fisheries Institute - National Research Institute (PIB), dr Piotr Margoński, after the committee's deliberations, signed a letter of intent from the scientific entities that are the owners of the six research vessels initiating the activities of the Scientific Baltic Fleet.
