The Department of Geodesy hosted scientists from around the world as part of the PLAN-B project | Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the Gdańsk University of Technology

At the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, a meeting was held as part of the Plan-B project, "The Path towards addressing adverse impacts of Light and Noise pollution on terrestrial Biodiversity and ecosystems" which is funded by the EU program “Horizon Europe”.

The main topic of the discussions was the impact of light pollution on ecosystems and biodiversity in Gdańsk.

The four-year, multidisciplinary research outlined in the project, coordinated by the Ghent University, began in January. At the Gdańsk University of Technology, the project will be carried out by the Faculty of Architecture and the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering. The project leaders at the Gdańsk University of Technology are Ph.D. Eng. Arch. Karolina M. Zielińska-Dąbkowska (FoA) and Ph.D. Eng. Paweł Tysiąc (FoCaEE).

"At the Gdańsk University of Technology, we will focus on assessing existing methods of preventing and mitigating light and noise pollution to protect biodiversity and ecosystems. Based on identified gaps and needs, our international team will develop innovative regulatory, social, environmental, planning, and technological solutions," - said Ph.D. Eng. Paweł Tysiąc. - "These strategies will be applied and tested in selected pilot locations in different geographical environments to assess their effectiveness. The result of these actions will be the development of guidelines for preventing and mitigating light and noise pollution, intended to support both governments and practitioners in implementing these strategies on a broader scale."

As part of the project implementation, cooperation is planned with partners from Europe and around the world (such as Brazil), key networks (e.g. Biodiversa+), and with the team implementing the sister project Horizon Europe Aquaplan, focusing on biological diversity and aquatic ecosystems. From Poland, apart from the Gdańsk University of Technology, the City of Gdańsk is also participating in the project.

The Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering had the pleasure of hosting, among others:

• Professor Dan E. Nilsson (Lund University)
  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=e5NHpi8AAAAJ&hl=sv
• Dr Reinhard Kleinke (German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research (iDiv))
  https://www.idiv.de/en/profile/1308.html
• Professor Mike Wood (University of Salford)
  https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=LGAQGg4AAAAJ&hl=en
• Dr. David H Fletcher (United Kingdom Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)
  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ygpCuMEAAAAJ&hl=en
• Professor Timothy Van Renterghem (Ghent University)
  https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=_GLWV7IAAAAJ