ExpectedOutcome:In line with the European Green Deal and its zero pollution ambition and Climate Pact, the successful proposal should support circular bio-based systems reversing climate change, restoring biodiversity and protecting soil and water quality along the supply chain of biological feedstock and industrial value chains, within Europe and globally, as well as deliver innovative “zero-pollution” bio-based biotechnology solutions and advanced bioremediation methods for environmental protection.
Project results should contribute to all of the following outcomes:
Improved bioremediation and revitalization strategies for contaminated environments, including soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater using recent advances in biotechnology;New approaches for efficient bioremediation and resource recycling;Provide science-based evidence and bio-based solutions enabling a better assessment of pollution threats from pollutants’ remobilisation to soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater;Reduce the main negative impacts of pollution in terms of loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services;Validated newly developed and effective bioremediation methods i...
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ExpectedOutcome:In line with the European Green Deal and its zero pollution ambition and Climate Pact, the successful proposal should support circular bio-based systems reversing climate change, restoring biodiversity and protecting soil and water quality along the supply chain of biological feedstock and industrial value chains, within Europe and globally, as well as deliver innovative “zero-pollution” bio-based biotechnology solutions and advanced bioremediation methods for environmental protection.
Project results should contribute to all of the following outcomes:
Improved bioremediation and revitalization strategies for contaminated environments, including soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater using recent advances in biotechnology;New approaches for efficient bioremediation and resource recycling;Provide science-based evidence and bio-based solutions enabling a better assessment of pollution threats from pollutants’ remobilisation to soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater;Reduce the main negative impacts of pollution in terms of loss of biodiversity and ecosystem services;Validated newly developed and effective bioremediation methods in different environmental conditions, also based on microbiome exploitation potential; Improved overall environmental performance (soil and sediment health, water quality, reduction of emissions, etc.);Improved environmental footprint and lower toxicity of processes, products and services by means of biotechnologies;Advanced assessment of effective methods of bioremediation with improved environmental, economic and social sustainability.
Scope:Environmental pollution has been a major concern over the past few decades influencing the quality of life. Contamination of soils, sediments and water remains a major ecological problem. This pollution contains dangerous and persistent toxic substances that have adverse effects on human health and the environment. Pollutants resulting from human activity are detrimental to ecosystems at different functional levels, representing an important economic burden for society.
Remediation strategies, such as chemical and physical approaches, are not enough to mitigate pollution problems. Bioremediation using microbes is a sustainable, eco-friendly and socially acceptable alternative to conventional remediation approaches and helps improve the environment. It plays a significant role in monitoring “Zero-pollution”. Many microbes with bioremediation potential have been isolated and characterised but, in many cases, cannot completely degrade the targeted environmental pollutant or are ineffective in situations with complex contamination such as mixed waste.
The topic aims at improving bioremediation and revitalization strategies for soils, sediments, surface water and groundwater while respecting the EU legislation and regulations applicable in this area, including the use of naturally occurring and optimised organisms.
Proposals should:
Identify and analyse optimised proteins, microorganisms, microbiomes, plants, and animals (specifically fish and molluscs/bivalves including mussels) for sediment, watershed and wastewater remediation and revitalization (e.g. novel enzymes to degrade xenobiotic small molecules such as toxins, antibiotics and microplastics, selective uptake of non-degradable metal toxins, bioadsortion);Identify and characterise plant platforms, microorganisms and microbiomes that can be optimised for efficient remediation of a range of contaminated environments (e.g. enzymes optimised for efficient bioconversion and/or biosequestration of environmental contaminants, biological tools/systems for land-based bioremediation, phytoremediation for contaminated industrial sites);Identify and characterise plants transformed with pathways and metabolisms that enable the uptake of targeted contaminants and that have clearly visible ‘markers’ for public surveillance (for example, colours that clearly mark the plant as being genetically modified, so as to prevent people from eating these plants);Develop strategies for efficient metabolic pathways of naturally-occurring species to be re-introduced into the environment;Develop sustainable and cost-effective technologies for bioremediation of water resources used for water production and effective in situations with mixed waste (e.g. nature-based solutions)[1], [2]; and/or develop sustainable and cost-effective technologies for bioremediation of soil resources, including those effective in situations with mixed waste;Enable new microbial approaches, such as combinations of synthetic auxotrophies, that increase the safety and reduce the risk of deploying optimised microbes in the field;Develop and analyse the ability of defined consortia of bacteria, fungi algae and/or other organisms to most productively revitalise soil, sediment and water sources (for example, by researching functioning of ecosystems in the hyporheic zone, which plays a crucial role in the purification of bank filtered water and thus in ensuring a safe supply of drinking water in several countries);Identify and assess (with quantification) the key environmental, economic, social and safety benefits of bioremediation and revitalization strategies for soils, sediments, surface water and groundwater compared to standard physicochemical remediation approaches;Where relevant, proposals should seek synergies and capitalise on the results of past and ongoing research projects [3], [4] For this topic, it is not mandatory to integrate the gender dimension (sex and gender analysis) into research and innovation
Specific Topic Conditions:Activities are expected to achieve TRL 4-5 by the end of the project – see General Annex B.
[1]The EU and nature-based solutions (link)
[2]What nature-based solutions can do for us (link)
[3]Horizon 2020 call CE-BIOTEC-04-2018: New biotechnologies for environmental remediation (RIA)
[4]Horizon 2020 call CE-BIOTEC-08-2020 : New biotechnologies to remediate harmful contaminants (RIA)
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