Seit mehreren Jahrzehnten ist die Umweltberichterstattung ein wichtiges Instrument für Unternehmen, um über die Auswirkungen ihres Handelns zu informieren. Die Entwicklung der letzten Jahre hat dazu geführt, dass die Umweltberichterstattung zu einem integrativen Bestandteil der Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung geworden ist. Ein wichtiger Schritt in dieser Entwicklung war die Gründung der Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), die seit 2000 Richtlinien zur Nachhaltigkeitsberichterstattung für herausgibt. Gleichzeitig greifen eine Vielzahl von Unternehmen auf die GRI-Richtlinien zurück, was diese zu einem der besten Standards in diesem Bereich werden lässt. Nach den GRI-Richtlinien veröffentlichte Berichte sind in einer speziellen Datenbank des corporate register gesammelt. Vor diesem Hintergrund untersucht das Projekt im Allgemeinen den Stand der Berichterstattung nach GRI-Richtlinien, mit einem Schwerpunkt auf die Umweltleistung der Unternehmen. Im Besonderen wird der Umfang der Berichterstattung im Vergleich zu den von der GRI vorgeschlagenen Indikatoren (In welchem Umfang berichten die Unternehmen die vorgeschlagenen Indikatoren?) sowie deren Erfüllungsgrad betrachtet (In welchem Maße halten sich berichtende Unternehmen an die Vorgaben zur Berichterstattung der einzelnen Indikatoren?).
The final goal of the EUROWET project is to integrate the substantial multidisciplinary European research in wetlands to help attain the sustainable management of the water cycle. This will be achieved by the translation of state-of-the art science developed at both national and European levels, into practical guidance for end-users. This will be achieved by a comprehensive review, expert assessment and a focussed dissemination strategy. There is considerable scientific knowledge and technical experience gained in diverse aspects of wetland science and management including hydrology, biogeochemistry, ecology restoration, socio-economic and policy analysis. However the results of research and management experience are still too fragmentary and not sufficiently orientated to problem-solving or simply inadequately framed to be effectively transferred to, or used by, stakeholders and policy-makers. Simultaneously the general outcome of the scientific research has been increased awareness of the significance of wetlands in delivering goods and services important for human welfare including quality of life, biodiversity conservation and maintenance or enhancement of environment quality. Despite this wetlands continue to be degraded and lost throughout Europe without adequate consideration of the wider benefits to be achieved from this management. The new Water Framework Directive (WFD) promotes a unique opportunity to redress this problem by means of the holistic, integrated approach to water management. There is currently in preparation horizontal guidance on Wetlands as part of the Common Implementation Strategy (CIS) process. There is however work still to be done on providing more specific scientific and technical guidance on the effective implementation of the Directive with respect to wetlands. This is particularly the case in relation to Integrated River Management, the CIS cluster within which wetlands are being considered in the WFD.
Von den Triazol-Fungiziden und dem Imidazol-Fungizid Prochloraz ist bekannt, dass sie in Ratten u.a. hepatotoxisch wirken. Am Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung wird zurzeit untersucht, inwieweit die Behandlung von Ratten mit Fungizid-Gemischen, bestehend aus den o.g. Verbindungen, zu einer additiven bzw. synergistischen hepatotoxischen Wirkung führen kann. Die im Rahmen dieses Projektes geplanten Experimente sollen zeigen, ob die Kombination der o.g. Fungizide additive oder synergistische Veränderungen im Transkriptom, Proteom und/oder Metabolom der Humanleberzelllinie HepaRG hervorrufen kann und ob die Zellen die Auswirkungen in Ratten richtig widerspiegeln. 1) Die HepaRG-Zellen mit Triazolen und Prochloraz einzeln und kombiniert in verschiedenen nicht-zytotoxischen Konzentrationen inkubieren; 2) nach jeder Inkubation RNA und Proteine aus den Zellen für die weiterführenden Analysen isolieren; 3) in Kooperation mit dem Bundesinstitut für Risikobewertung quantitative RT-PCR- sowie low-density-PCR-Array-Analysen durchführen; 4) in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Center for Biotechnology der Universität Bielefeld das Transkriptom, Proteom und Metabolom der behandelten Zellen analysieren.
The adoption of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive 91/271/EEC imposes the sewage sludge to be subsequently treated so it is expected by 2005 to increase twofold in comparison whit 1992. However, classical incineration to treat this vast amount of sludge must be no longer accepted from an environmental point of view. In addition, the Sewage Sludge Directive 86/278/EEC regulates the uses and properties of stabilised sludge for being either recycled or disposed. Both directives drive specific actions in two complementary ways. Firstly, a deep knowledge of current sludge treatment, such as mesophilic, thermophilic or autothermophilic processes, must be promoted to solve that problem in the UE ambit, taking in account the particular considerations of each treatment facility. In second place, the development of new processes must be supported to open new alternatives that could valorise that waste.The proposal aims at developing strategies for the disposal and reuse of waste sludge. The scope envisages to develop several processes for reducing both amount and toxicity of sludge, with simultaneous transformation into green energy vectors such as methane or hydrogen. In outline, mesophilic and mainly thermophilic and autothermophilic conditions will be deeply explored as classical alternatives for sludge stabilisation, assuring sanitary conditions of the treated sludge. Also, valuable materials will be obtained from sludge, such as activated carbons, which will be used in conventional adsorption processes and in innovative advanced oxidation processes.The main outcomes expected at the end of the projects are guidelines for technology selection in agreement with the geographic, economic and technical characteristics of the sewage plants, demonstration of the feasibility of new applications for the sewage sludge, manufacturing of activated carbon from sludge sewage as innovative recycling of sludge waste, and a deep understanding of the methods involved. Prime Contractor: Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona, Spain.
The scientific evidence base to support credible risk assessment for the design of appropriate microbial standards for bathing waters is insufficient. This is particularly true for Mediterranean waters, for new member states and for effects associated with exposure to toxic algal products. This is a pressing problem as Directive 76/160/EEC is currently in the process of amendment by the EU. It is therefore intended to address three questions, namely: a. What is the nature and level of the risk and how does exposure affect risk? b. What level of protection is afforded by the threshold values in Directive 76/160/EEC and CEC (2004)? c. How do the risks vary between fresh and marine waters and does the 1:2 ratio of the faecal indicator threshold values in coastal waters vs freshwaters ensure a comparable level of protection? In the first 12 months, this proposal will (i) complete a literature review and meta-analysis of current epidemiological data derived principally from UK and German studies, (ii) define data gaps restricting the application of credible health-evidence-based policy to bathing water standards outside these regions and (iii) design and agree a suitable research protocol for filling these data gaps. The second twelve months of research (from month 13 to 24) will (iv) implement this protocol and the project will deliver (v) a scientific report of the findings and detailed policy interpretation before the project end, i.e. 36 months following commencement. Prime Contractor: University Wales, University College Aberystwyth; Aberystwyth; Aberystwyth.
The project aims at supporting the implementation of the proposed Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the management of waste from the extractive industries 2003/0107. The Directive was prepared following several major accidents with a serious impact on the environment, and it has the purpose of ensuring a safer management of the mining waste facilities, so that such accidents will not occur in the future. This project addresses particularly Article 9, which provides for the classification of waste facilities with respect to the possible consequences of an accident, and respectively the Annex II: Characterisation of mining waste and Annex III: Criteria for the classification of waste facilities. The activities of the project are divided into four major work packages as follows: - Preparation of a Methodology for the Characterisation of Mining Waste - Elaboration of a Risk Assessment Methodology for the Classification of Mining Waste Facilities, including Old/Abandoned Mining Waste Facilities - Review of Techniques for the Prevention and Abatement of Pollution Generated by Mining Wastes - Development of a Decision Support Tool for Minimising the Impact of the Mining Industry on the Environment. The Consortium co-ordinated by BIUTEC, Austria, includes universities, research institutes, NGOs and implementing authorities from 8 European countries, both Members of the EU and accession countries. The experts team is highly qualified and has many years of experience and research in this area, so that the best outputs can be obtained. The project will build on the results of other projects carried out in this field, and will relate closely to on-going projects, so that there is no overlap in our activities. In order to provide an effective tool for the potential beneficiaries, the project team will consult with representatives of the stakeholders before the final versions of the outputs are publicly made available on the project web-site.
Objectives: The EU Air Quality Directives include air pollutant dispersion models as instruments of environmental politics. The quality of the models needs to be guaranteed. One part of the control process is the validation, a comparison of the modelled results with especially designed and acquired, trustworthy reference data sets from field and wind tunnel experiments. Activities: Air pollutants and meteorological parameters are measured continuously by in situ stations at different sites within Goettinger street in Hanover and its vicinity. Apart from these long-term measurements three intensive measurement campaigns are planned with additional tracer experiments. In August 2001 and August 2002 tracer experiments have been executed. A line source consisting of 8 pipe sections with a total length of about 96 m has been installed on the median of Goettinger Strasse. A mixture of the tracer gas SF6 and air, monitored by flow controllers, has been released from openings regularely spaced along the pipes. The source has been operated with a sufficient overpressure to avoid a feedback of external pressure fluctuations on the source strength and distribution. At 12 positions within the street canyon and on the roof of a nearby building, air samples have been collected simultaneously for at least 5 hours. Every 30 minutes a sampling bag has been started to be filled by the sampling equipment at each position. Afterwards, the 30 minutes averaged samples have been analysed on SF6 in the laboratory. Results: The experimental layout had been tested in August 2001. With minor reservations it also passed the second measurement campaign in August 2002 successful. The results of both campaigns exist now. As far as they have been scrutinized they show plausible distributions of the concentrations in the street area such as the typical windward-leeward-effect for street canyons. The influence of traffic induced turbulence and advection of the concentration field along the street by the traffic seems to be significant because the concentration field is shifted according to the direction of the motion of the traffic. Further measurements will be carried out in October 2002 and March 2003 to test and to corroborate that hypothesis and to complete the validation data set.
Many current water-related RTD projects have already established operational links with practitioners, in several catchments / river basins, which allow the needs of policymakers to be taken into account. However, experience has shown that this interrelationship is not as efficient as it could / should be. Often, RTD results are not easily available to policy oriented implementer (policymakers) and, vice versa, research scientists may lack insight in the needs of policymakers. This project proposes a number of concrete actions to bridge these gaps in communication by developing and implementing a science-policy interface, focusing on setting up a mechanism to enhance the use of RTD results in the Water Framework Directive (WFD) implementation. As a first action, existing science-policy links will be investigated. RTD and LIFE projects that are of direct relevance for the implementation of the WFD will be identified and analysed. The results of these projects will be extracted, translated and synthesised in a way that can efficiently feed the WFD implementation. Secondly, an information system (WISE-RTD Web Portal) will be further developed to cater for an efficient and easy to use tool for dissemination as well as retrieval of RTD results. The Web Portal will be tested in 4 selected river basins to better tune the product to the needs of WFD stakeholders, policymakers and scientists. In parallel, the Web Portal will be disseminated to WFD stakeholders. This dissemination will focus on how to better access and use the RTD results and practical experiences. As third action, this science-policy interfacing of WFD related topics will be extended to non-EU countries taking into account their specific needs. An assessment of recent practices and needs of non-EU countries, together with an in-depth analysis of the operational needs in two Mediterranean pilot river basins, will allow to prepare recommendations for an efficient transfer of knowledge. Prime Contactor; Hydroscan NV; Leuven; Belgium.
The project 'RIVERTWIN' aims in adjusting, testing and implementing an integrated regional model for the strategic planning of water resources management in twinned river basins under contrasting ecological, social and economic conditions. The regional model will take into account the impacts of demographic trends, economic and technological development, the effects of global climate and land use changes on the availability and quality of water bodies in humid temperate, subhumid tropical as well as semiarid regions. The existing integration framework will be first tested in a European river basin with high data availability and data density. The Transferability of the model to other regions with different economic level, ecological standards and with low data availability will be jointly tested by the project team and river basin organisations in two river basins in Westafrica and Uzbekistan. Here, the problem of adequate human resources and the uncertainties of input data for the implementation of computer based decision suppport tools will be addressed. Capacity building through training of end users supports the transfer of the research results into application. In cooperation with stakeholders and potential users integrated scenarios of economic growth, land use and climate change will be developed and the model will be used to assess the implications for water management under the respective scenario assumptions. The twinning of river basins will promote mutual transfer of know-how and technology between European and Third countries. Based on the results, river basin management plans can be prepared. Through its holistic basin wide approach, the project contributes to the EU water directive, the Millennium Goals defined by the WSSD and the EU water initiative for Africa and Newly Independent States.
LEnSE is a research project that responds to the growing need in Europe for assessing a building's sustainability performance. The project draws on the existing knowledge available in Europe on building assessment methodologies. LEnSE aims to develop a truly holistic methodology that addresses the overall, integrating concept of sustainability. The main objective of LEnSE is to develop a methodology for the assessment of the sustainability performance of existing, new and renovated buildings, which is broadly accepted by the European stakeholders involved in sustainable construction. This methodology will allow for future labelling of buildings, in analogy with the Energy Performance Directive. The work should result in increased awareness of the European stakeholders and will allow adequate policy implementation on sustainable construction. The project consists of three main themes. The first theme is the identification and scope of the issues which need to be included in a sustainability assessment. This has to be wide enough to be acceptable and limited enough to be practicable. A broad consensus on these issues will be reached through strategic consultation of the relevant stakeholders. The second theme is the actual development of the assessment methodology. The content of the assessment will be developed for a limited, but representative range of key issues. Guidelines on how to address local variations will be provided. This work will be validated by the development of a prototype tool and tested on case study buildings. The key stakeholders on the European and national level will be highly involved in the development of the methodology, to guarantee a wide acceptance and implementation of the project results. These consultations will include national meetings with stakeholders and trans-national expert workshops. Thematic -stepping stone- publications, will serve as strategic reference and discussion documents for the stakeholder consultation rounds. Prime Contractor: Centre Scientifique et Technique de la Construction; Bruxelles; Belgium.
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