Other language confidence: 0.9730967662068383
The project SWITCH-ON addresses water concerns to thoroughly explore and exploit the significant and currently untapped potential of open data. Water information is highly sought after by many kinds of end-users, both within government and business as well as within civil society. Water touches virtually all societal and environmental domains and the knowledge domain is largely multidisciplinary. New water information and knowledge can thus lead to more efficient use of environmental services and better handling of environmental problems, including those induced by climate and environmental change. SWITCH-ON will show the benefits achieved through the whole process chain by re-purposing (re-using under different context) open data products into more dedicated and refined water products, which have high value and a broad impact on society. The vision is to improve public services, and to foster business opportunities and growth, by establishing new forms of water research and facilitating the development of new products and services based on principles of sharing. The SWITCH-ON objectives are to use open data for implementing: 1) an innovative spatial information platform with open data tailored for direct water assessments, 2) an entirely new form of collaborative research for water-related sciences, 3) fourteen new operational products and services dedicated to appointed end-users, 4) new business and knowledge to inform individual and collective decisions in line with the Europe's smart growth and environmental objectives. While focusing on water, the project is expected to inspire a much broader environmental and societal knowledge domain and many different end-users. The SWITCH-ON project will be one trigger in a contemporary global movement to better address environmental and societal challenges through openness and collaboration.
Water Public Innovation Procurement Policies (WaterPiPP) is about exploring new public innovation procurement methodologies and testing it in water sector in the context where European innovation potential in the water sector is blocked by a number of bottlenecks and barriers. Public procurement represents around 19% of the EU's GDP, an important lead market for innovators in particular in the water and climate change sectors. Innovation procurement of products and services can (i) be used to deliver societal objectives requiring new solutions that are not available on the market or are too expensive (ii) solve problems related to the commercialization of innovative solution (iii) improve quality and efficiency of public services with a better value for money. The complementarity of the consortium partners (public organisations, procurers, knowledge institutes and facilitators) supported by a Liaison Committee (composed of the key actors of the procurement innovation chain), shows high potential of bringing together the Demand and the Supply sides in order to create a critical mass for innovative solutions. Methods and tools accompanying by awareness rising for Innovation Oriented Public Procurement for the water sector will be delivered. Thanks to workshops and the creation of the Water Innovation Procurers Forum (WIPF), WaterPiPP partners will guide and support local and regional authorities, water utilities, innovation and procurement agencies in the preparation of pilot collaborative innovation tests. WaterPiPP will last three years : the first phase will gather information to produce knowledge on IOPP transferability to the water sector, the second will focus on pilot cases where different IOPP (PCP/PPI) will be tested at least by 5 procurers.
Objective: Space heating accounts for more than 50Prozent of the energy consumption of public & residential buildings, and reduction of this energy demand is a key strategy in the move to low energy/low carbon buildings. The careful management of air flow within a building forms part of this strategy through the control of inlet fresh air and exhaust air, maximising air re-circulation, and minimising the amount of fresh air which is often drawn in through a heat exchanger. However, there is a high risk that the air quality is reduced. Continued exposure to environments with poor air quality is a major public health concern in developed and developing countries. It is estimated that the pollutants responsible for poor air quality cause nearly 2.5 million premature deaths per year world-wide. Significantly, around 1.5 million of these deaths are due to polluted indoor air, and it is suggested that poor indoor air quality may pose a significant health risk to more than half of the world's population. Perhaps surprisingly, remedial action to improve air quality is often easy to implement. Relatively simple measures such as increased air flow through ventilation systems, or a greater proportion of fresh air to re-circulating air are sufficient to improve air quality. Low-energy air purification and detoxification technologies are available which will reduce the concentration of specific pollutants. Similarly, filtration systems (e.g. electrostatic filters) can be switched in to reduce the level of the particulate matter in the air (the principle pollutant responsible for poor health). The INTASENSE concept is to integrate a number of micro- and nano-sensing technologies onto a common detection platform with shared air-handling and pre-conditioning infrastructure to produce a low-cost miniaturised system that can comprehensively measure air quality, and identify the nature and form of pollutants. INTASENSE is a 3-year project which brings together 8 organisations from 5 countries.
Objective: The project will examine the health impacts of greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction policies in urban settings in Europe, China and India, using case studies of 3-4 large urban centres and three smaller urban centres. Sets of realistic interventions will be proposed, tailored to local needs, to meet published abatement goals for GHG Emissions for 2020, 2030 and 2050. Mitigation actions will be defined in four main sectors: power generation/industry, household energy, transport and food and agriculture. The chief pathways by which such measures influence health will be described, and models developed to quantify changes in health-related 'exposures' and health behaviours. Models will include ones relating to outdoor air pollution, indoor air quality and temperature, physical activity, dietary intake, road injury risks and selected other exposures. Integrated quantitative models of health impacts will be based on life table methods encompassing both mortality and morbidity outcomes modelled over 20 year time horizons. Where possible, exposure-response relationships will be based on review evidence published by the Comparative Risk Assessment initiative or systematic reviews. Uncertainties in model estimates will be characterized using a mathematical framework to quantify the influence of uncertainties in both model structure and parameter estimates. Particular attention will be given to economic assessments, both in terms of behavioural choices/uptake of various forms of mitigation measure (with new surveys to address evidence gaps), and in terms of health benefits and costs calculated from societal, health service and household perspectives. A decision analysis framework will be developed to compare different mitigation options. Experts and user groups will be consulted to define the mitigation questions to be examined, and the results will be discussed in consultative workshops scheduled for the final months of the project.
Objective: The science of complex systems distinguishes linear from non-linear dynamics. Simpler systems can often be satisfactory described by linear models, but complex systems require non-linear models that can capture more of the characteristics of such systems, such as thresholds, feedback loops, avalanche effects, and irreversibility. Linear systems can be validated by aligning models to the past and using the model to predict the future. Non-linear systems, however, are often time-asymmetric - they can be explained with the wisdom of hindsight, but are not always predictable. For example, systems may respond sharply to minor perturbations, and the quality of this response is a measure of the system resilience. In practice, non-linear dynamics are significant both at the micro-scale of small history and at the macro-scale of deep time. The brilliant young scientist, for example, may experience a series of epiphanies that change his/her understanding and behaviour in an unpredictable and irreversible way. The scientific community as a whole may experience an innovation-cascade that has a similar effect on a much larger scale. Current models of climate change and carbon emission assume the immediate past is a reasonable guide to the future. They struggle to represent the complex causal structures and time-asymmetries of many socio-natural systems. COMPLEX will integrate the quasi-classic models of meso-scale processes with our best understanding of fine-grained space-time patterns and the system-flips that are likely to occur in the long interval between now and 2050. We believe the sub-national region is the key point of entry for studying climate change and its cause-effect interrelations. It is small enough to be sensitive to local factors, large enough to interact with supra-national agencies and stable enough to be historically and culturally distinctive. In addition to undertaking case studies in Norway, Sweden, Netherlands, Spain and Italy, We will develop a suite of modelling tools and decision-support systems to inform national and supra-national policy and support communities across Europe working to make the transition to a low-carbon economy.
Objective: The project will construct a theoretical framework for the analysis of resource efficiency, with detailed comparison of the trends and policies at EU and Member State (MS) level, cross-country econometric analysis to derive resource-reduction cost curves, and an analysis of business barriers to resource efficiency; thereby developing an enhanced understanding of the drivers of inefficient resource use. This will lead to an exploration of new concepts and paradigms that can bring about a radical increase in resource efficiency, and a vision for a resource-efficient economy in the EU, with suggestions also for new more resource-efficient business models for firms, and ideas for a global governance regime that can promote resource-efficient economies among the EU's trading partners and more widely will be explored. From its new vision for a resource-efficient Europe, the project will propose new policy mixes, business models and mechanisms of global governance through which resource-efficient economies may be promoted. This will lead in turn to intensive work on creating, modelling and visualising scenarios for the emergence of resource-efficient economies, through linking quantitative economic and ecological models, and simulating the policies and policy mixes derived in the earlier work, supplemented with appropriate LCA analysis for selected products and sectors, to ensure that the policies and business models in the scenarios lead to adequate absolute decoupling of economic activity from resource use and environmental degradation. The scenarios and associated policy analysis will be given an integrated interpretation across economic, ecological and social dimensions. The project will be explicitly geared to support policy efforts and initiatives on resource efficiency in the European Commission, and will involve a wide range of stakeholders from business, the policy world, and NGOs. The results will be widely disseminated in a variety of innovative ways.
The agriculture sector is vital for food, feed and bio-fuel production, but at the same time it is a major cause of environmental pollution and natural resource depletion. Sustainable solutions are demanded that will enable agriculture to produce more with less : become more productive and less harmful to the environment and human health. ECO-ZEO aims at the development of a new pool of Green crop protection products delivering a wide range of beneficial effects including reduced water consumption, increased crop yield, lower chemical input, crop protection and tolerance to abiotic stress and healthier conditions to workers in agriculture and agrochemical sectors. The ECO-ZEO products will rely on the innovative application of Zeolite 4A to the surface of leaves and fruits, adapted strategies for sustainable crop protection (such as chromatic masking, behavior interference and biocontrol), novel use of sustainable active ingredients and pigments, and?new configurations of additives for enhanced performance of the coating. The developed crop protection solutions will be lab- and field trialed for four crops: apple, tomato, table grape and orange. The best performing solutions will be validated through demonstration with European farmers. Sustainability, eco-efficiency and Life-cycle analyses will be performed throughout the project. Achieving both environmental and economic sustainability is one of the main added values of ECO-ZEO. ECO-ZEO will be achieved by means of a new innovation process in agricultural green products based on the alliance of Academia, Agro-Biotech SMEs and Industry. Firm plans for the full-scale exploitation of the developed products and technology will ensure this alliance will translate into market presence. The participation of SMEs is further enhanced by the allocation of 40,8% of EC Contribution to SMEs.
Objective: The objective of the project is to provide the EU with conceptual tools and applicable ideas to make sustainable development an operational paradigm framing EU policy making in the globalization process. Broadening the utilitarian, state-centred, and market failure approach often mobilised in globalisation analysis, we develop a reflexive framework within which time and irreversibility, institutional path-dependency and multiple actors, with heterogeneous knowledge, beliefs, preferences, technology and power, interfere in the process of policy making. In this procedural approach, the policy making process itself will be scrutinised and integrated as a key determinant of the policy outcome itself. Within this renewed framework, globalization core challenges will be intersected with sustainable development conceptual challenges, which will be tackled specifically before nurturing back EU policy-making in the globalization process. The ultimate test case for collective action according to recent statement by Nick Stern - namely the governance of climate change and the bottom billion interlinked issue - will be used as an application case study throughout the project. The project's main outputs are threefold: firstly, identify methodological tools to fulfil the empirical deficit in the measure of world citizens heterogeneous preferences across a range of sustainable development issues; second, develop conceptual tools to better understand sustainable development implications on EU social contracts and policy making processes; third, propose building blocks for a renewed dialogue on global governance within the EU and outside as if sustainable development really mattered to paraphrase Dani Rodrick.
The European project initiative TRUST will produce knowledge and guidance to support TRansitions to Urban Water Services of Tomorrow, enabling communities to achieve sustainable, low-carbon water futures without compromising service quality. We deliver this ambition through close collaboration with problem owners in ten participating pilot city regions under changing and challenging conditions in Europe and Africa. Our work provides research driven innovations in governance, modelling concepts, technologies, decision support tools, and novel approaches to integrated water, energy, and infrastructure asset management. An extended understanding of the performance of contemporary urban water services will allow detailed exploration of transition pathways. Urban water cycle analysis will include use of an innovative systems metabolism model, derivation of key performance indicators, risk assessment, as well as broad stakeholder involvement and an analysis of public perceptions and governance modes. A number of emerging technologies in water supply, waste and storm water treatment and disposal, in water demand management and in the exploitation of alternative water sources will be analysed in terms of their cost-effectiveness, performance, safety and sustainability. Cross-cutting issues include innovations in urban asset management and water-energy nexus strengthening. The most promising interventions will be demonstrated and legitimised in the urban water systems of the ten participating pilot city regions. TRUST outcomes will be incorporated into planning guidelines and decision support tools, will be subject to life-cycle assessment, and be shaped by regulatory considerations as well as potential environmental, economic and social impacts. Outputs from the project will catalyse transformation change in both the form and management of urban water services and give utilities increased confidence to specify innovative solutions to a range of pressing challenges.
Objective: The concept of the project is based on the development of innovative nanostructured UV-Visible photocatalysts for water treatment and detoxification by using doped TiO2 nanomaterials with visible light response. The project aims at an efficient and viable water detoxification technology exploiting solar energy and recent advances in nano-engineered titania photocatalysts and nanofiltration membranes for the destruction of extremely hazardous compounds in water. To this aim, the UV-vis responding titania nanostructured photocatalysts will be stabilized on nanotubular membranes of controlled pore size and retention efficiency as well as on carbon nanotubes exploiting their high surface area and unique electron transport properties to achieve photocatalytically active nanofiltration membranes. This will be the crucial component for the fabrication of innovative continuous flow photocatalytic-disinfection-membrane reactors for the implementation of a sustainable and cost effective water treatment technology based on nanoengineered materials. Comparative evaluation of the UV-visible and solar light efficiency of the modified titania photocatalysts for water detoxification will be performed on specific target pollutants focused mainly on cyanobacterial toxin MC-LR and endocrine disrupting compounds (EDC) in water supplies as well as classical water pollutants such us phenols, pesticides and azo-dyes. Particular efforts will be devoted on the analysis and quantification of degradation products. The final goal is the scale up of the photocatalytic reactor technology and its application in lakes, tanks and continuous flow systems for public water distribution.
| Organisation | Count |
|---|---|
| Bund | 492 |
| Europa | 492 |
| Global | 4 |
| Land | 4 |
| Wissenschaft | 190 |
| Zivilgesellschaft | 1 |
| Type | Count |
|---|---|
| Förderprogramm | 492 |
| License | Count |
|---|---|
| Offen | 492 |
| Language | Count |
|---|---|
| Deutsch | 29 |
| Englisch | 491 |
| Resource type | Count |
|---|---|
| Keine | 368 |
| Webseite | 124 |
| Topic | Count |
|---|---|
| Boden | 426 |
| Lebewesen und Lebensräume | 476 |
| Luft | 378 |
| Mensch und Umwelt | 492 |
| Wasser | 384 |
| Weitere | 492 |