Related EU Projects

The aim of this study was to examine the barriers and opportunities in the retrofitting of sustainable urban drainage systems (SuDS) to appraise their effectiveness in the mitigation of flood risk. The study has investigated the feasibility of the implementation of SUDS. Specifically, it has examined a range of multiple benefits from retrofitting SuDS such as: the enhancement of air quality; and the identification of a number of potential barriers, including the lack of trust in such systems. However, the study suggests that further research is required to identify the monetary and non-monetary benefits of SuDS as part of an integrated approach of flood risk management.

Oladunjoye, O., Proverbs, D. and Collins, B. (2017). The Barriers and Opportunities to the Retrofit of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) Towards Improving Flood Risk Mitigation in Urban Areas in the UK. In: International Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS). [online] Leeds. Available at:

Link

[Accessed 14 Feb. 2018].

The project showed how sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) can contribute to the overall catchment dynamics of cities such as Glasgow, which ultimately relieved stress on the current predominantly combined sewer system. The project aim was to come up with SUDS demonstration areas (case studies) that were representative of different sustainable drainage techniques and different types of areas available for development and regeneration.

The project has achieved the following objectives:

1. Identified variables that determined the suitability of a given site for the implementation of SUDS;
2. Identified suitable SUDS sites within Glasgow;
3. Classified qualitatively and quantitatively sites suitable for different SUDS technologies;
4. Developed a general outline for a SUDS decision support key and a SUDS decision support matrix;
5. Identified representative SUDS technologies for representative sites that were used for demonstration purposes;
6. Provided a detailed design and management guidelines, and a brief cost–benefit analysis for representative sites and representative SUDS techniques to be used for information and education purposes;
7. Assessed the soil contamination and the associated impact on environmental health.

The preliminary designs of SUDS helped to understand the challenges of holistic catchment management, diffuse pollution, and the linking scales in catchment management. It was forecasted that the implementation of SUDS would help to relieve the local sewer system. Subsequently it would also allow for more regeneration activities to take place.

Scholz, M., Corrigan, N. and Yazdi, S. (2006). The Glasgow sustainable urban drainage system management project: Case studies (Belvidere hospital and Celtic FC stadium areas).

[online] Available at: http://usir.salford.ac.uk/20752/1/SCHOLZ.pdf [Accessed 14 Feb. 2018].

NWRM Final Report

The BeWater project, supported by the European Commission’s 7th Framework Programme, offered a unique opportunity to contribute to adaptation policy design and practices with experience-based knowledge. Four research institutes located in the cardinal points of the Mediterranean region partnered with expert organisations and members of the local communities to elaborate local adaptive water management plans. Innovative approaches were developed within the project to facilitate a truly science-society collaborative process to increase societal resilience to climate variability and change at the river basin scale.

The BeWater project provided innovative tools to facilitate the adaptation of river basins to global change via an active engagement of the local societies. The BeWater approach developed within the project focussed on creating a shared definition of what challenges needed to be targeted in the basin and then developing, assessing and prioritising a range of potential water management options to address these points along with pathways for their implementation. Four Mediterranean basins were part of the project, namely Pedieos (Cyprus), Vipava (Slovenia), Rmel (Tunisia) and Tordera (Catalonia, Spain). While each basin experienced the process slightly differently, all shared the common aim of introducing adaptation principles into water management at the river basin scale with stakeholder participation all along the process.

Adaptive management poses challenging questions that need to be tackled through methods and practices that have a solid theoretical framework but are still to be integrated into ordinary management procedures and policy design. Knowledge sharing and mutual learning between scientists, experts, decision-makers and local society have provided the needed basis for a truly participatory approach, offering a solid ground for capacity building, awareness raising and the development of concrete proposals in the form of adaptation plans for the four river basins. The process of co-production has proven to be able to deliver results with a high degree of social acceptance, political relevance and technical interest to tackle the uncertainties and complex nature of global change.

Throughout the design of the adaptation plans, common aspects, together with barriers and facilitators of their future implementation were observed. A handbook which provides guidelines on policy and practical considerations from the process was developed. The project may be considered as a strong reference for developing a participatory approach when designing river basin adaptation plans in other river basins, in Mediterranean countries and beyond.

Adaptation Plans:

Vipava River Basin Adaptation Plan

Tordera River Basin Adaptation Plan

Rmel River Basin Adaptation Plan

Pedieos River Basin Adaptation Plan

Handbook:

Developing Participatory Adaptation Plans for River Basins - a handbook

Policy Briefs:

Planning for climate change: Society as a key player in river basin adaptation

Policy recommendations for the EU level: Supporting participation in adaptive river basin management

Policy recommendations for the EU level: Recommendations for water management authorities within Europe and beyond

From planning to implementation: Recommendations for actions supporting adaptation in the Pedieos River Basin

From planning to implementation: Recommendations for actions supporting adaptation in the Vipava River Basin

From planning to implementation: Recommendations for implementation in the Rmel River Basin

From planning to implementation: Recommendations for action supporting adaptation in the Tordera River Basin

Deliverables – Reports:

D2.3 Guideline report on the BeWater approach outlining principles, methodology, concepts and protocols of the project

D3.1 Data integration in the Aquaknow platform

D4.1 - Compilation of best practice examples and experiences of adaptation plans

D4.2 Four draft adaptation plans, one for eachCSRB

D4.3. Four River Basin Adaptation Plans

D5.2 Project Website

D6.1 EU/AU Policy Instruments Review

D6.2. 1 st detailed cross-cutting Policy Sectors analysis -water and climate

D6.3 2nd Detailed Cross-cutting Policy Sectors Analysis - Water and Climate

D6.4 3rd detailed cross-cutting Policy Sectors analysis -water and climate

D.7.1 Study on national support mechanisms to international water management research

Dissemination material:

BeWater Brochure 2016

Publication in IMPACT Magazine

The innovative IMAGINES project has developed activities to support the operations of the Copernicus Global Land Service (CGLS), and prepared the use of the Sentinels missions’ data in an operational context.

The main objectives of IMAGINES were to:

(i) improve the retrieval of basic biophysical variables (Terrestrial Essential Climate Variables), mainly Leaf Area Index (LAI), Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) and surface albedo, by merging the information coming from different sensors (PROBA-V and Landsat-8) in view to prepare the use of Sentinel missions’ data;

(ii) develop qualified software able to process multi-sensor data at the global scale on a fully automatic basis;

(iii) complement and contribute to existing or future agricultural services by providing new data streams relying upon an original method to assess the above-ground biomass, based on the assimilation of satellite products in a Land Data Assimilation System (LDAS) in order to monitor the crop/fodder biomass production together with the carbon and water fluxes;

(iv) demonstrate the added value of this contribution for a community of users acting at global, European, national, and regional scales.

Moreover, IMAGINES has favoured the emergence of new downstream activities dedicated to the monitoring of crop and fodder production that are key for the implementation of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, the food security policy, and could contribute to the Global Agricultural Geo-Monitoring Initiative (GEOGLAM) coordinated by the intergovernmental Group on Earth Observations (GEO).

IMAGINES has delivered the following deliverables:

(i) operational processing lines interoperable with the existing CGLS infrastructure and able to run automatically at the global scale to generate global biophysical products disseminated by the CGLS

(ii) regional high resolution biophysical variables derived from multi-sensor satellite data

(iii) agricultural indicators, including the above-ground biomass, carbon and water fluxes, and drought indices resulting in the assimilation of the biophysical variables in the LDAS

(iv) maps of crop group and crop types updated along the season

(v) in situ measurements collected during 64 field campaigns over 23 different sites from 2013 to June 2016, resulting in 40 high resolution ground-based maps of LAI, FAPAR and FCover (http://www.fp7-imagines.eu/pages/services-and-products/ground-data.php) used, in the CGLS, for the validation of moderate resolution biophysical products.

Better satellite technology helps read the ground more effectively - http://cordis.europa.eu/result/rcn/198785_en.html

As well as being detrimental to life in an aquatic ecosystem, increases in hypoxia also affect the wider environment. Under hypoxic conditions, substantial losses in biodiversity, ecosystem function, and services such as fisheries, aquaculture and tourism can occur and additional greenhouse gases may be released from the ocean seafloor. The EU-funded HYPOX project took the first steps towards implementation of a global observation system for better understanding oxygen changes in aquatic systems. Researchers monitored oxygen depletion and associated processes in target areas, which differed in oxygen status and sensitivity to change. They included the deep Arctic Ocean, the semi-enclosed waters of the Black and Baltic Seas, fjords, and lagoons and land-locked lakes.

In order to maximise the knowledge generated by HYPOX, partners deployed a variety of reliable long-term sensors on different platforms for in situ monitoring of oxygen depletion and associated parameters. Targeted field campaigns were conducted to investigate the environmental impacts of hypoxia. These impacts included the effect of hypoxia on the distribution of seafloor organisms as well as on biological and chemical processes involved in the large-scale cycling of elements. The consortium also adopted and refined numerical tools for predicting hypoxia and for separating natural variability from man-made changes. Existing long-term monitoring data was also analysed to better understand the history of a water body's oxygenation status. Core samples were taken from the seabed of the Black Sea, as well as lagoons and lakes. These enabled scientists to examine the past, since a record of earlier biological and chemical conditions are preserved in the sediment. Project results and modelling expertise will serve as a basis for accurate forecasts of oxygen depletion. This in turn will contribute to the planning of appropriately tailored climate change adaptation methods. Studies of previously eutrophied systems, such as the Swiss lakes, show how a reduction in nutrients from human activities can help alleviate the problem of oxygen depletion. HYPOX has provided European policy and decision makers with the necessary knowledge of oxygen depletion in aquatic systems. This enables them to develop effective sustainable development strategies and negotiate internationally binding treaties.

Final report:

http://cordis.europa.eu/docs/results/226/226213/final1-hypox-m19-36-final-report-120803-200dpi.pdf

Data portal:

http://hypox.pangaea.de/front_content.php?idcat=414

The objective of the project SWOS is to develop a monitoring and information service focussing on wetland ecosystems. Globally, wetlands are the ecosystems with the highest rate of loss. This is alarming, considering their significance as biodiversity hotspots and ecosystems with a central role in the water cycle, including improving water quality and reducing water scarcity, in climate regulation and the economic benefit gained from using their services.
A key limitation to their more effective conservation, sustainable management and restoration is the missing knowledge underpinning the consideration of wetlands in the implementation of key policy areas. Under the Biodiversity Strategy, Member States in Europe have committed to the mapping and assessment of ecosystem services (MAES); this provides a key instrument for an improved integration of wetlands in European policy.

SWOS is taking full advantage of the new and freely available data from the Sentinel satellites and integrating results from the ESA Globwetland and other projects. Production of maps and indicators, based on historical and current observations allows the assessment of biodiversity and monitoring of dynamic changes in an unmatched temporal and spatial resolution.

The SWOS Portal provides a unique entry point to locate, access and connect existing information. The SWOS Software toolbox GEOclassifier is an easy to use software toolbox to prepare maps and calculate indicators. With its Portal and toolbox SWOS contributes to establishing a Global Wetland Observing System (GWOS) (requested by Ramsar) by delivering the initial infrastructure.

User organisations working at all levels from local to global belong to the SWOS project team and build, together with external user organisations, the key user group of SWOS. User needs were captured through user requirements questionnaires and follow-up discussions and translated into technical requirements for the definition of SWOS products (maps and indicators).
The services that SWOS provides facilitate local and EU monitoring tasks and support international reporting obligations. SWOS positions Europe in a leading role within GEO, in particular via the new GEO-Wetlands initiative. SWOS took a leading role from the beginning and is the main contributor.
The Service Cases, developed in SWOS, put the SWOS into practice, test and validate the service and demonstrate how to use and benefit from it. The direct involvement of users ensures the usability and acceptance of the service, including harmonization with related activities, which provides a long-term impact.

Newsletter 1: http://swos-service.eu/2016/10/04/newsletter-1/

Newsletter 2: http://swos-service.eu/2017/02/07/swos-newsletter-2-improving-wetlands-monitoring-assessment/

Newsletter 3: http://swos-service.eu/2017/09/27/swos-newsletter-3/

Newsletter 4: http://swos-service.eu/2018/04/05/swos-newsletter-4/

Guidelines for the delimitation of wetland ecosystems: http://swos-service.eu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/SWOS_Wetlands-delimitation-guidelines_FINAL_v1.1.pdf

The wetland ecosystems in MAES nomenclature: http://swos-service.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SWOS_MAES-wetland-component-v1.2.pdf

MAES Service Case: Wetland ecosystem condition mapping: http://swos-service.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/MAES_WetlandEcosystemCondition_v1.01.pdf

Water2REturn proposes a full-scale demonstration process for integrated nutrients recovery from wastewater from the slaughterhouse industry using biochemical and physical technologies and a positive balance in energy footprint. The project will not only produce a nitrates and phosphate concentrate available for use as organic fertiliser in agriculture, but its novelty rests on the use of an innovative fermentative process designed for sludge valorisation which results in a hydrolysed sludge (with a multiplied Biomethane Potential) and biostimultants products, with low development costs and high added value in plant nutrition and agriculture.
This process is complemented by proven technologies such as biological aeration systems, membrane technologies, anaerobic processes for bio-methane production and algal technologies, all combined in a zero-waste-emission and an integrated monitoring control tool that will improve the quality of data on nutrient flows. The project will close the loop by demonstrating the benefits associated with nutrients recycling through the implementation of different business models for each final product. This will be done with a systemic and replicable approach that considers economic, governance and social acceptance aspects through the whole chain of water and targets essentially two market demands: 1) Demand for more efficient and sustainable production methods in the meat industry; and 2) Demand for new recycled products as a nutrient source for agriculture.
As a summary, Water2REturn project adopts a Circular Economy approach where nutrients present in wastewaters from the meat industry can be recycled and injected back into the agricultural system as new raw materials. The project foster synergies between the food and sustainable agriculture industries and propose innovative business models for the resulting products that will open new market opportunities for the European industries and SMEs in two key economic sectors.

Demonstrator implementation at real scale – Development of a demonstrative application for slaughterhouse wastewater treatment and large-scale nutrient recovery in a real case study, the slaughterhouse “Matadero del Sur” in Salteras (Spain).

Fertilisers and biostimulants manufacturing – Manufacturing of organic-source fertilisers and biostimulants in production lines built up within Water2Return project timeframe.  They will be manufactured in Spain and tested in Slovenia, Romania, Lithuania and Spain.

Reduction of the environmental adverse effects of nutrient emissions and wastewater discharge – Nutrients recovery rates of 90-95% (N and P) and reduction of wastewater discharged to the environment by 90%, thus decreasing water bodies pollution and other related environmental problems.  Moreover, the treated water obtained can be further used, reducing operational costs of the slaughterhouse.

Reduction of landfilled waste – Reduction of waste diverted to landfills by 80%.  After removing the organic elements from the slaughterhouse wastewater, the remaining inorganic fraction (less than 20% of the wastewater composition) will by the only residual element taken to landfill

Energy self-sufficiency of slaughterhouses wastewater treatment plants – Biogas upgrading and valorisation will allow achieving self-sufficiency rates and saving of up to 25% in the slaughterhouse, with the consequence reduction of CO₂ and greenhouse gas emissions.

Promotion of a wide and fast market uptake of Water2Return processes and products – Targeted business plans will be implemented with the aim of creating new business opportunities and green jobs around nutrient recovery and recycling technologies, especially for SMEs in the EU.  The acceptance of the final commercial outcomes by final users will be enhance3d through capacity building and awareness raising.