The Centre for Environmental Research and Impact Studies (CCMESI) is a research unit of the University of Bucharest, founded on 1 March 1993 by the late Professor Valer Trufas and Professor Maria Patroescu. Over three decades, CCMESI has grown into one of Romania’s leading environmental research centres, with a team of more than 30 researchers and doctoral students working across two connected thematic areas.
Our work
Environmental science covers green infrastructure and nature-based solutions, urban ecosystem services, environmental governance, environmental impact assessment, climate adaptation in cities, urban microclimate and blue-green infrastructure, citizen science, and social equity in urban planning. Current projects include CARMINE (Horizon Europe), UNSEAL and GREEN-INC (DUT Partnership), ScienceUs (Horizon Europe WIDERA), CitizenPlanning, and ReSURCe.
Biodiversity covers large-carnivore ecology and human-wildlife coexistence, saproxylic beetles and old-growth forests, systematic conservation planning, invasive species management, Natura 2000 governance, and next-generation biodiversity monitoring (sensors, eDNA, AI, citizen science). Current projects include Harmonia, IntraBear, LIFE ROsalia, BEAGLE, RECOVER (Romanian Centre of Excellence), and COMPLIAS.
Our research in numbers
Since 2010, CCMESI researchers have produced more than 220 peer-reviewed articles, 25 book chapters, and 22 books, published in journals including Science, Nature Communications, Nature Ecology and Evolution, Conservation Biology, Ecology Letters, Biological Conservation, Journal of Environmental Management, Landscape and Urban Planning, and PLOS ONE. Our team has coordinated or contributed to projects funded by the European Commission (Horizon Europe, LIFE, DUT Partnership), Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development and Innovation Funding, and the Romanian Ministry of Environment, Waters and Forests.
Our mission and objectives
CCMESI advances the scientific understanding of how ecosystems, landscapes, and human societies interact under pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss, and rapid urbanisation, and translates that understanding into usable knowledge for governance, planning, and conservation practice.
Our current objectives are:
- Advance the science of human-nature coexistence. Generate evidence on how large carnivores, saproxylic species, pollinators, freshwater fauna, and alien species share landscapes with people, and use that evidence to reshape national debates on wildlife management and Romania’s obligations under EU nature legislation.
- Build next-generation biodiversity monitoring. Deploy automated sensors, environmental DNA, artificial intelligence, and citizen science to produce FAIR-compliant, Essential Biodiversity Variable-ready data, aligned with the EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030, the Nature Restoration Regulation, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
- Make cities work for nature and for people, equitably. Investigate the design, governance, and distributional outcomes of urban green and blue infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and inclusive climate actions, so that climate adaptation in European cities strengthens rather than weakens social equity.
- Strengthen environmental governance through network and policy science. Combine social network analysis, systematic conservation planning, and environmental impact assessment research to map the actors, rules, and evidence gaps that shape Natura 2000 management, EIA practice, and climate adaptation, and to identify levers for more effective decision-making.
- Co-produce knowledge and train the next generation. Run living labs, participatory workshops, and citizen-science initiatives with residents, practitioners, and authorities; and supervise bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral students across three University of Bucharest programmes, hosting international visiting scholars with an emphasis on methodological rigour, field craft, and open science.
Teaching
CCMESI works closely with students from the Environmental Science Programme at the Faculty of Geography, the Environment Assessment Master’s Programme, and the Master’s Programme in Environmental Policy and Sustainable Development, all at the University of Bucharest. Our researchers supervise bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral students and regularly host international visiting scholars.
Contact and public information
For collaboration enquiries and visitor information, see Contact. For public information required under Romanian law, please visit the University of Bucharest website.