Partnership Meeting IIII (Mojmirovce)

At the evening of 27th, we arrived to Hotel Castel in Mojmirovce, the hotel made us very suprised. Because it has been very unusual with it’s baroque architecture, large rooms and high ceilings. It gave me the impresion that I live in 1700’s. It was a nice experience for me.

First day of the meeting, we carried out a visit to hydro plants of Slovakia, Gabcikova plant is also impressed us very much. Our guides was so anthesuastic to inform us about the plant and water issues in Slovakia. We have also found opputunity to observe operation of one turbine. After then, we went to “Boat Locks”. This was the first time I have seen such mechanism which let boats proceed through the navigation channels from one side to others, we remember the genius of Da Vinci’s one more time.

Second day, we had very fruitful meeting, reaching agreement for all remaining tasks, benchmark report, conference, articles etc. 

Finally, we are leaving Slovakia with nice impressions and memories of beautiful Danub River. 

I would like to thank Zuzana and her team form warm welcoming and hospitality. 

Barış Özçelik

Now we are at nearly the end of this project.We visited two different countries for this meeting.First we came to Wien from İstanbul.Then went to Bratislava and stayed one day –near the home of presedent .During our trawell the interesting thing was; i asked how can we go our final destination mojmorovce and nobody knows the village.İt was wery difficult to spell the name of the village.The hotel that we stayed in Mojmorovce was memorable.İt was very historical and mystic place .Visiting the hydroelectric power plant was wery interesting and benefical for me. Connecting cities wiht water channels –even Bratislava to Nederland-is wery good idea and efficient project. 

Things on my mind after slovakia:

• Artistic hotel
• Windy hydro plant
• Miss my three month old baby.

See you in Turkey!

Serdar Öksüz

Slovakia meeting was good for the project progress. it was benefitical for final to the some of project tasks. We can say that project almost finished. And we think that the result will be satisfying. 

First day we visited a hydro power plant in Slovakia. We saw turbines in operation. We talked about country reports and banchmark reports which are prepared for each partner's contrubution. The Project continues non-stop and still so much work to do. Next stop will be held in Izmir on betweeen 28th-30th June 2012. Until then have successful days for everyone. See you soon. 

 Firat-Gyuner

The 4th transnational meeting in Slovakia consisted on completing the agenda set out at the previous meeting in Portugal. Each group had to provide feedback on each part of the benchmark report allocated to them. All partners met in a pleasant hotel in Mojmirovce, a town near Nitra. On day one of the meeting our hostess, Zuzana accompanied us on a technical visit to Hydropower plant Gabcikovo, on the Danube. This turned out be very impressive. Mr. Holcik – chief of the Slovak Dam Counsel, gave us a very complete guide of how everything worked. We were even taken to visit the innards of the dam to see the huge turbines in operation. At the end of the day we enjoyed a delightful Slovakian meal in the hotel. 

On day two all partners met in the conference room of the hotel to carry out the previously established tasks. Some minor issues arose regarding some of the conflicting values in the reports, however these were expected and easily corrected. We also discussed the final format of the benchmark report and the next – and final – transnational meeting in Iznir, Turkey. To conclude, this last meeting was as successful as the others, perhaps even more so, since we are all familiar with each other now and work is made easier. We are already regretting the fact that the meetings are coming to an end, however this meeting has allowed to discuss possible future projects.

Stephen Thomas

Guilherme Vieira

We arrived in Slovakia (Bratislava) on a very early flight from London (6.20 am from Stansted). This meant we were up at 3am in the morning…. We arrived in Bratislava and took a taxi to the Main Bus Station to get our bus to Nitra (1.15 h) and from there another taxi to the Hotel as there were no local buses at that time. We arrived just around lunch in Manorhouse Mojmírovce (http://www.vic.sk). After lunch we settled in and caught up on some sleep.

This day was planned to be for arrival of all participants. The next day (29th Feb) was spent on a technical visit to a hydropower plant (720MW) in Gabcikova, which supplies 10% of Slovakias electricity. A former director of the plant, Mr Holcik, did the plant tour and his knowledge was just immense. He knew every little details surrounding the plant from the geography, political context and of course all the technical information. The initial environmental concerns dissipated over the years and actually the dam and the hydropower plant had several positive environmental effects:

• Protection of the area against floods, which caused big damages in the past - Regulation of the water level of Danube, which means year-round navigability of the river;
• Stabilisation of the stream improved environmental parameters: improved quality of potable water and it stopped falling groundwater level (which improves conditions for agriculture and stops desiccation of floodplain forests, as a result of closing up meanders).
• Stabilisation of the bottom and stream of the Danube

As this day also started very early (6.30 am) everyone was tired when we came back. The hotel facilities provided the necessary balance to the day and we checked out the swimming pool, sauna and local shopping amenities. The next day was our partnership meeting where we discussed the Country Reports, Benchmark Reports and also made important decisions to the submission of articles to Ege’s Energy Symposium in June etc. The late afternoon was spent on cultural visit to Nitra, the next largest town. On Friday we will have yet another early start at 6am to make our way to Nitra, then by bus to Bratislava and then London. We would like to thank our Slovakian partner for the hospitality and the well-arranged technical visit. By now we have seem so many great examples of how to use natural resources in the different partner countries so that an overall picture emerges to use them more wisely and responsibly.

Dirk Bischof

It was my first time in Slovakıa. It is very beatiful country. It is clean and has natural beauty.First of all thanks for organization for Slovak team.The hotel was very interesting and traditional. The meeting was beneficial and the atpmoshere was friendly. Visiting of Hydro power plant was good idea. It was amazing to visit this area. Thank for everything to Slovak team specially Zuzana 

Yıldırım Özkaya