A SIMONA Working Groups 6 and 7 and Steering Committee Meeting was held in Sofia (Bulgaria) on 21. -22.10.2019. The meeting was initiated by the Project Management of DTP2-093-2.1 SIMONA project and organized by the GI-BAS SIMONA team. The event took place at the Joint Innovation Centre of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences in Sofia, Bulgaria and continued at the Geological Institute, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

The status of SIMONA tasks, Sampling and Laboratory protocols were discussed. Suggestions were made for preparing the Sampling protocol with a core part for the bottom and suspended sediment and Floodplain sediment sampling and laboratory analyses as annexes to the protocols. It was pointed out that the suspended sediments are more cost- and time-consuming. The proposal was welcomed for adding some metals (Cu, Zn, As, Ni, Cr) to the list of monitored HSs and the Laboratory protocol.

The meeting continued with a discussion on the status of sampling points selection criteria. They were reviewed and a priority stage was assigned to each one. Work plan, partners, sampling points and options for cooperation between partners were presented for South Danube Test Area (SDTA) and a preliminary sampling point design was agreed between the partners.

On WP7 specific objectives, issues, timing, lecturers, training sites were discussed and the next steps were outlined.