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With a little help from bees, an EU-funded project has explored how cities can adopt more transformative thinking and actions, including social innovation, to reduce negative environmental impacts and promote the wellbeing of their inhabitants.
Every day, we buy, use and dispose of products that end up as landfill. Unfortunately, the resources required to make new products won't be available in large amounts forever. Through the EU-funded ResCoM project, four well-known companies have already analysed the extent to which they could adopt a circular approach.
Bauxite residue - the by-product from the extraction of aluminium from bauxite ore - has the consistency of thick, red mud. Disposing of this waste poses a serious problem for industry, as does the risk of spills. But red mud can also be a source of critical metals. The REDMUD project intends to turn residues into low-carbon building materials - and to train researchers along the way.
The NEW-MINE project will identify and develop enhanced landfill-mining technology to transform landfill waste into high-added-value products, such as fuel and building materials.
The water-energy-food nexus presents a unique opportunity for the agriculture industry. An EU-funded consortium of research teams saw this opportunity and introduced a new approach to matching water demand with available energy offer to save water without affecting crop production so that the competitiveness of irrigated agriculture is improved.
It's a hub. It's a community. It's marketplace. Oppla, an online platform dedicated to natural capital, ecosystem services and nature-based solutions, was launched in September 2016 by two EU-funded research projects. It has been growing rapidly, and if everything goes to plan, it may soon be going global.
As temperatures rise, water scarcity and quality in the Mediterranean basin are growing concerns. An EU-funded team has developed clever, safe aquifer management solutions for a market that is set to expand as rainfall becomes less predictable.
Hemp has been a source for materials, fibres and textiles for millennia. Now, an EU-funded project has used cutting-edge genomic approaches to boost hemp production, improve quality and advance scientific understanding of the crop. The research has led to new varieties and processes, providing a sustainable alternative to synthetic fibres and a wide range of other bio-based products.
The EU-funded LONGPOP project will train young researchers in the skills needed to fully exploit big data. With a focus on social change, the researchers will be able to apply the knowledge and techniques learnt to helping welfare systems prepare for the years ahead.
EU-funded researchers have been recognised for their ground-breaking work on recovering and reusing waste material in nuclear fusion reactors. They developed and demonstrated new membrane technologies capable of decontaminating waste and extracting valuable tritium for re-use.
