Dr. Samuel Jonson Sutanto

In January, I traveled to Novi Sad, Serbia, to attend the 8th Antares Annual Workshop alongside my WUR colleagues. The workshop was held at the BioSense Research Institute. After dealing with delayed flights, I finally arrived in Novi Sad on Tuesday at midnight. The workshop began the following day at 10 AM with a welcome speech by Dr. Marko Panić, followed by presentations from both WUR and BioSense. In the evening, we participated in a panel discussion with local citizens of Novi Sad and later attended a networking dinner with project partners.

On the second day, Thursday, we visited Zeleni Hit, a farm that has contributed to the project. My presentation took place on Friday, the final day of the workshop, where I spoke about hydrometeorological droughts and their impact on agriculture. Unfortunately, the last panel discussion was canceled due to demonstrations in Novi Sad. I stayed in the city over the weekend.

The following Monday, I visited Novi Sad University for the Clear Climate project. The atmosphere in the city felt unusual, as the university was nearly empty due to large-scale demonstrations across Serbia. Each time I entered the university building, I had to check in and out with students stationed at the main entrance. In principle, educational meetings were not allowed during this period. I spent my time working and having lunch with a PhD student from Novi Sad who is involved in the Clear Climate project. I returned to the Netherlands on Friday, and fortunately, the journey was smooth without any delays. I plan to return to Serbia in April for my next secondment and hope the situation will have improved by then.