A retired professor from Wrocław University of Science and Technology and the Institute of Meteorology and Water Management (IMGW) in Warsaw. An expert in regional policy and water management, he has authored over 150 scientific articles. He initiated the Odra 2006 Program.

From 1990 to 1992, he served as the Chairman of the Długołęka Commune Council, from 1992 to 1998 as the Voivode of Wrocław, from 1993 to 1997 as the Chairman of the Voivodeship Assembly, and from 1998 to 2001 as an Advisor to the Prime Minister. In 2000-2001 and 2008-2010, he was the Chairman of the International Commission for the Protection of the Oder against Pollution. From 2004 to 2005, he was a member of the Government Interministerial Team preparing the National Development Plan for 2007-2013. He served as the President of the Wrocław Regional Development Agency from 1998 to 2016. From 2003 to 2006, he was the Chairman of the National Health Fund Council. From 2001 to 2006, he held the position of the Project Coordination Office Director for the World Bank Flood Impact Mitigation Project in Wrocław. From 2008 to 2016, he was the director of the Flood Protection Project in the Oder Basin, and later in the Oder and Vistula Basins, co-financed by the World Bank and the CEB. From 2016 to 2020, he worked as an expert on new projects. He is a member of the presidium of the Spatial Planning Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences (PAN).