Europe's biggest environmental conference this year to kick off in Tallinn Tuesday

  • 2017-10-24
  • LETA/TBT Staff

TALLINN - An environmental conference taking place in the Tallinn University from Tuesday to Thursday is to bring together more than 500 scientists, experts and interested parties across Europe to discuss how nature-based solutions (NBS) can be integrated into urban areas and everyday life.

A more hopful urban environment was also one of the central topics discussed at a July meeting of European Union environment ministers in Tallinn. "All of the countries who participated in the meeting had an interest in making their cities more than just inhabitable. In order for the interest to become actions, one has to dare to dream and have the sense to act. Nature-based solutions should mainly help to solve the biggest problems keeping urban residents from an enjoyable living environment -- for instance, floods as a result of rainfall, air pollution, problems in waste management, etc.," said Estonian Environment Minister Siim Kiisler who will open Wednesday's conference day.

The first day of the conference is dedicated to Estonia and how residents have implemented nature-based solutions to improve their living environment.

Speakers at the conference are leading scientists, politicians and entrepreneurs around the world.

On Wednesday and Thursday the conference will be broadcast on the webpage of the public broadcaster ERR.

The conference is organized by the Ministry of the Environment, the Tallinn University and the European Commission, and it is part of the official program of Estonia's EU presidency.