Overview

Welcome to the official website of the 21st International Conference "Man and Working Environment". The topic of this year’s conference is Safety Engineering & Management – Science, Industry, Education (SEMSIE 2025). The Conference will be held on 25 and 26 September 2025 at hotel “Sunce” in Sokobanja, Serbia. SEMSIE 2025 aims to gather scientists, researchers, and professionals for the purpose of exchanging their knowledge and research results in the field of occupational and environmental safety and sustainable development, i.e. to provide an interdisciplinary platform for discussing innovations and trends covering the themes of the Conference. In light of current safety risks and threats to the environment, work digitization and automation, as well as the development of new approaches to safety issues, special attention will be paid to the review of Serbia’s priority lines of action and the possibilities of international cooperation in this area.

Scope and objectives

The concept of safety and protection is viewed as directly related to scientific advancements, to their application in industry and economy, and especially to educational policy and its implementation in various segments of the formal and non-formal education system. Creating a safe and healthy environment entails not only education, training, and improvement in the context of lifelong learning, but also creation of a climate that encourages learning, participation, human resource development, and safety-related leadership. 
Digital workplaces, the growth of automation and robotization, the diversification of business, work from home, self-employment, and remote and seasonal jobs on the one hand, and violence, harassment, conflicts, drug abuse, stress, and other psychosocial risks affecting the quality of mental and physical well-being on the other hand, pose new risks and impose new requirements in terms of workplace safety and health. 
Global issues such as energy, food security, demographic growth, climate change, natural disasters, poverty, etc., have only served to emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary, multidisciplinary, and transdisciplinary research. Changes in the education system should be viewed as a future-oriented process that needs to cover all segments of the education system, particularly the area of professional education of occupational, environmental, and fire safety engineers. 
From this background, SEMSIE 2025 aims to initiate multidisciplinary research into various issues and problems of occupational and environmental safety, critical thinking about and re-evaluation of existing practices in industry and education, and the projection of innovative safety approaches in occupational and environmental engineering and management. 
The need for and significance of a conference dedicated to these topics are evident, given that Cluster 4 – Green Agenda and Sustainable Connectivity, which also includes Chapter 27 – Environment and Climate Change, was opened at the Intergovernmental Conference on the Accession of the Republic of Serbia to the European Union in Brussels. In addition to the new European Union's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, it is also important to mention the amendments and additions to Serbia's legal and strategic documents related to workplace safety and health, natural disasters, and emergencies.

ROUND TABLE

OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY ENGINEER – FROM AN IDENTITY CRISIS TO A RECOGNIZED PROFESSION

Introductory speaker: Prof. Dr. Vesna Nikolić

Focus areas:

Initiative for the Development
of Qualification Standards - Purpose and Rationale 
(dr Vesna Nikolić) 

Occupational Safety Engineer: Competencies, Required Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities 
(Dragoslav Tomović) 

Education and Continuing Professional Development 
(dr Aleksandra Ilić Petković) 

Certification and Licensing 
(dr Momir Praščević) 

Employment - Regional Regulations and Practices 
(dr Darko Palačić)

More...

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Prof. Dr. Andreja Žgajnar Gotvajn

University of Ljubljana, 
Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology

Andreja Žgajnar Gotvajn, PhD, is a full professor of Environmental Engineering at the University of Ljubljana, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology. She completed a BSc in Chemical Engineering in 1993 and a PhD in Chemistry in 1998, both at the University of Ljubljana. Currently serving as Dean of the Faculty, Deputy-Head of the Chair of Chemical Process, Environmental and Biochemical Engineering, and Head of the doctoral programme board in Environmental Protection, she has held academic positions ranging from Teaching and Research Assistant to Full Professor. Her research encompasses biodegradation, bioremediation, advanced oxidation processes, wastewater treatment, solid waste management, and ecotoxicity of emerging pollutants, among other areas. She has led or participated in numerous national and international projects, such as PLANTERASTICS, and undertaken extensive visiting research and teaching assignments throughout Europe and the United States. Prof. Žgajnar Gotvajn teaches at undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral levels, offering courses on environmental engineering, bioremediation technologies, industrial ecology, and related subjects. An active member of several professional bodies, including the European Water Association and the Slovenian Chemical Society, she also sits on the Council for Environmental Protection at the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Her ongoing work involves managing doctoral study programmes at the University of Ljubljana, guest-editing a special issue on micropollutant removal, and organising workshops and summer schools to foster international collaboration. Through these endeavours, she continues to advance environmental engineering education and research, while contributing to the broader academic community at national and global levels.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Prof. Dr. Simona Ilie 

Politehnica University of Timisoara, 
Romania

Simona Ilie is a Lecturer at Politehnica University of Timisoara, Romania. Her PhD is in Electric engineering, with a focus on solar energy, at the same university. She has a MSc degree in Engineering and Competitiveness Management from Politehnica University of Timisoara from 2011, a MSc degree in „Entrepreneurship and business creation” from ISCTE University in Lisbon, Portugal, since 2011 and also her BSc degree is on management systems on electric engineering field. Her scientific work is related to solar energy, photovoltaics, fresnel lens, optimization and design of photovoltaic power plants and on molecular physics, electrical engineering and electrotechnics.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Dr. Joana Duarte

University of Porto, Faculty of Engineering

Dr. Joana Duarte is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Engineering of the University of Porto, where she also earned her PhD in Occupational Safety and Health. She holds a double Master’s degree in Mining Engineering and Occupational Safety and Hygiene Engineering. Her research focuses on prevention through design in the extractive industry. Dr. Duarte manages the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Safety and is an active member of SPOSHO’s technical committee on occupational safety. Since 2019, she has also served on the Board of Directors of the Associação Ibero-Americana de Engenharia de Segurança no Trabalho. She has supervised over 15 graduate dissertations across engineering disciplines, including Mining, Occupational Safety, and Environmental Engineering.