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The aim of HELIX is to exploit novel tools and methods (remote sensing/GIS-based spatial methods, omics-based approaches, biomarkers of exposure, exposure devices and models, statistical tools for combined exposures, novel study designs, and burden of disease methodologies), to characterise early-life exposure to a wide range of environmental hazards, and integrate and link these with data on major child health outcomes (growth and obesity, neurodevelopment, immune system), thus developing an Early-Life Exposome approach. HELIX uses six existing, prospective birth cohort studies as the only realistic and feasible way to obtain the comprehensive, longitudinal, human data needed to build this early-life exposome. These cohorts have already collected large amounts of data as part of national and EU-funded projects. Results will be integrated with data from European cohorts (greater than 300,000 subjects) and registers, to estimate health impacts at the large European scale. HELIX will make a major contribution to the integrated exposure concept by developing an exposome toolkit and database that will: 1) measure a wide range of major chemical and physical environmental hazards in food, consumer products, water, air, noise, and the built environment, in pre and postnatal periods; 2) integrate data on individual, temporal, and toxicokinetic variability, and on multiple exposures, which will greatly reduce uncertainty in exposure estimates; 3) determine molecular profiles and biological pathways associated with multiple exposures using omics tools; 4) provide exposure-response estimates and thresholds for multiple exposures and child health; and 5) estimate the burden of childhood disease in Europe due to multiple environmental exposures. This integration of the chemical, physical and molecular environment during critical early-life periods will lead to major improvements in health risk and impact assessments and thus to improved prevention strategies for vulnerable populations.
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.
The MIDAS project addresses fundamental environmental issues relating to the exploitation of deep-sea mineral and energy resources; specifically polymetallic sulphides, manganese nodules, cobalt-rich ferromanganese crusts, methane hydrates and the potential mining of rare earth elements. These new industries will have significant impacts on deep-sea ecosystems, in some cases extending over hundreds of thousands of square kilometres. Scientific knowledge is needed urgently to develop guidelines for industry ensuring wealth creation and Best Environmental Practice. MIDAS will assess the nature and scales of the potential impacts including 1) physical destruction of the seabed by mining, the creation of mine tailings and the potential for catastrophic slope failures from methane hydrate exploitation, 2) the potential effects of particle-laden plumes in the water column, and 3) the possible toxic chemicals that might be released by the mining process. Knowledge of the impacts will be used to address the key biological unknowns, such as connectivity between populations, impacts of the loss of biological diversity on ecosystem functioning, and how quickly the ecosystems will recover. The information derived will be used to guide recommendations for best practice, iterating with MIDAS industry partners and the wider stakeholder community to ensure that solutions are practical and cost-effective. We will engage with European and international regulatory organisations to take these recommendations forward into legislation in a timely fashion. A major element of MIDAS will be to develop methods and technologies for 1) preparing baseline assessments of biodiversity, and 2) monitoring activities remotely in the deep sea during and after exploitation (including ecosystem recovery). The MIDAS partnership represents a unique combination of scientists, industry, social scientists, legal experts, NGOs and SMEs.
Water and water-related services are major components of the human wellbeing, and as such are major factors of socio-economic development in Europe; yet freshwater systems are under threat by a variety of stressors (organic and inorganic pollution, geomorphological alterations, land cover change, water abstraction, invasive species and pathogens. Some stressors, such as water scarcity, can be a stressor on its own because of its structural character, and drive the effects of other stressors. The relevance of water scarcity as a stressor is more important in semi-arid regions, such as the Mediterranean basin, which are characterized by highly variable river flows and the occurrence of low flows. This has resulted in increases in frequency and magnitude of extreme flow events. Furthermore, in other European regions such as eastern Germany, western Poland and England, water demand exceeds water availability and water scarcity has become an important management issue. Water scarcity is most commonly associated with inappropriate water management, with resulting river flow reductions. It has become one of the most important drivers of change in freshwater ecosystems. Conjoint occurrence of a myriad of stressors (chemical, geomorphological, biological) under water scarcity will produce novel and unfamiliar synergies and most likely very pronounced effects. Within this context, GLOBAQUA has assembled a multidisciplinary team of leading scientists in the fields of hydrology, chemistry, ecology, ecotoxicology, economy, sociology, engineering and modeling in order to study the interaction of multiple stressors within the frame of strong pressure on water resources. The aim is to achieve a better understanding how current management practices and policies could be improved by identifying the main drawbacks and alternatives.
Objective: Cost assessments of damages of natural hazards supply crucial information to policy development in the fields of natural hazard management and adaptation planning to climate change. There exists significant diversity in methodological approaches and terminology in cost assessments of different natural hazards and in different impacted sectors. ConHaz provides insight into cost assessment methods, which is needed for an integrated planning and overall budgeting, and to prioritise policies. To strengthen the role of cost assessments in natural hazard management and adaptation planning, existing approaches and best practices as well as knowledge gaps are identified. ConHaz has three key objectives. The first objective is to compile state-of-the-art methods and terminology as used in European case studies, taking a comprehensive perspective on the costs of natural that includes droughts, floods, storms, and alpine hazards. ConHaz also considers various impacted economic sectors such as housing, industry and transport, and non-economic sectors such as health and nature. It will consider single and multi-hazards, leading to direct, indirect and intangible costs. ConHaz moreover looks at costs and benefits of risk-prevention and emergency response policies. The second objective of ConHaz is to evaluate the compiled methods. The analysis addresses theoretical issues, such as the principal assumptions that underlie economic valuation of damage types, as well as practical issues, such as the qualifications needed for data collection and quality assurance. ConHaz also looks at the reliability of the end result by considering the accuracy of cost predictions and best-practice-methods of validation. A central issue of the evaluation is to compare available methods with end-user needs. The third objective of ConHaz is to synthesize the results and give recommendations according to current best practice as well as to resulting research needs.
Massive economic and population growth and urbanisation are expected to lead to a tripling of anthropogenic emissions in southern West Africa (SWA) between 2000 and 2030, the impacts of which on human health, ecosystems, food security and the regional climate are largely unknown. An assessment of these impacts is complicated by (a) a superposition with effects of global climate change, (b) the strong dependence of SWA on the sensitive West African monsoon, (c) incomplete scientific understanding of interactions between emissions, clouds, radiation, precipitation and regional circulations and (d) by a lack of observations to advance our understanding and improve predictions. The DACCIWA project will conduct extensive fieldwork in SWA to collect high-quality observations, spanning the entire process chain from surface-based natural and anthropogenic emissions to impacts on health, ecosystems and climate. Combining the resulting benchmark dataset with a wide range of modelling activities will allow (a) to assess all relevant physical and chemical processes, (b) to improve the monitoring of climate and compositional parameters from space and (c) to develop the next generation of weather and climate models capable of representing coupled cloud-aerosol interactions, which will ultimately lead to reduced uncertainties in climate predictions. SWA with its rich mix of emissions and diverse clouds is ideal for such a study and many findings and technical developments will be applicable to other monsoon regions. Using a targeted dissemination strategy, DACCIWA will deliver a comprehensive scientific assessment and actively guide sustainable future planning and policy-making for West Africa and beyond. The interdisciplinary and experienced DACCIWA team will build on the scientific and logistical foundations established by AMMA (EU FP6) and collaborate closely with operational centres, international programs (e.g. WCRP, IGBP), policy-makers and users to maximise impact.
WP T3 Effect-directed analysis (EDA) - WP T4 Effect-based tools (EBT) - P T5 Ecological Assessment Tools (EA) - Leitung Task T5.1: Using in situ biomarkers and bioassays in a weight of evidence approach (WOE) for the detection of pollutant mixture effects on individual and population levels - WP C1 Danube River Basin case study - Leitung: Effect based screening. Reliable methods for a harmonized European environmental risk assessment have still to be improved. For this purpose, required regulatory measures by the competent authorities are more difficult, or often impossible. A consistent risk assessment is in need for solutions in the fields of prioritisation of present pollutants, abatement of future emerging toxicants, ecotoxicological data for these substances and tools for further management approaches. The 7th EU RTD Framework Programme project SOLUTIONS (Solutions for present and emerging pollutants in land and water resource management) started recently to address these particular topics with a consortium of 39 partners and under the coordination of the Helmholtz Centre of Environmental Research in Leipzig (Germany). Within the Water Framework Directive (WFD) a huge amount of data on the chemical and ecological status of surface water and ground water were collected and are more and more available. This includes property and emission data of substances liable to registration according to the European Chemical Directive REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals), agricultural plant protection products and pharmaceuticals as well as naturally occurring substances. Furthermore, a large number of effects on water organisms driven by pollutants are proofed due to monitoring activities. The main challenge is the linkage of the occurrence of chemicals with the ecological status of surface waters represented by effects on organism and population level. On the one hand the identification of major stressors in aquatic systems is needed. On the other hand knowledge about the molecular mode of action of these chemicals at the sites of action, level of cells and organs, and resulting impacts for organisms and populations is of elementary importance. For this purpose, world leading groups in trace analysis of emerging contaminants, transformation product identification and prediction, effect-based tools (EBTs; endocrine disruption, mutagenicity, adaptive stress response, in vitro and in vivo models, high-throughput microbial gene profiling, toxicogenomics), effect-directed analysis (EDA), exposure modelling, trait-based approaches and ecological modelling, risk assessment of mixtures, abatement options and science-policy interaction will contribute to this project. These efforts will result in tools which facilitate the necessary management approaches for the protection of European waters in according to the terms of the WFD. (abridged text)
RECREATE ist ein Forschungsnetzwerk mit dem Zweck, die europäische Forschungspolitik zu unterstützen, indem es ex ante Bewertungen von EU-finanzierter Forschung durchführt. Es sammelt strategische Informationen bezüglich mittel- und langfristiger Forschungs- und Innovationstrends in den Bereichen Klimawandel, Ressourceneffizienz und Rohstoffe. Neben der Untersuchung von Forschungs- und Innovationsprogrammen wird das Projekt auch Politik-, Technologie- und Marktentwicklungen analysieren. Im Fokus der Analyse stehen dabei Länder der EU und relevante Drittstaaten. RECREATE tritt mit dem Ziel an, Fragmentierungen in der EU-Forschungslandschaft zu überwinden. Das bedeutet konkret, dass RECREATE eine Forschungsagenda für das neue EU-Rahmenprogramm für Forschung und Innovation 'Horizon 2020' formuliert, die den Herausforderungen der Ressourceneffizienz und des Klimawandels sowie die einer nachhaltigen Rohstoff-Versorgung unter Beachtung der planetarischen Leitplanken gerecht wird. RECREATE untersucht dabei insbesondere Synergien und Zielkonflikte von Forschungsprogrammen. RECREATE ist entlang der folgenden Aufgaben organisiert: 1. Entwicklung, Einführung und Pflege eines Netzwerks von relevanten Akteuren aus Industrie, Wissenschaft und Politik zur Unterstützung von Forschung und Innovation 2. Entwicklung und Abbildung von Kennzahlen sowie einer Scoreboard-Struktur zur Folgenabschätzung ausgewählter Forschungs- und Innovations-Kooperationen in ökologischer und sozioökonomischer Hinsicht 3. Sammlung von strategischen mittel- und langfristigen Forschungs- und Innovationstrends sowie Analyse von Technologie- und Politik-Trends als Basis für zukunftsorientierte Forschung 4. Erstellung quantitativer und qualitativer Kurzberichte zu Forschungs- und Innovations-Trends und strategischen Optionen für relevante Akteure in Forschung und Politik der EU. RECREATE beginnt im Juli 2013 und ist eine fünfjährige Koordinierungs- und Unterstützungsmaßnahme, die durch die Europäische Kommission finanziert wird. Es besteht aus einem Verbund von 15 Projektpartnern, die jeweils Hauptakteure in den Bereichen Klimawandel, Ressourceneffizienz und Rohstoffe sind. Das Wuppertal Institut wird das Arbeitspaket zu Indikatoren für Folgenabschätzungen leiten und ist darüber hinaus in die anderen Arbeitspakete involviert.
The EU population is increasingly exposed to new physical and chemical agents in the environment, some of which may be detrimental to public health. Of these, electromagnetic fields (EMF) are one of the most ubiquitous, with new EMF technologies and novel applications being actively developed and commercialised. To address pertinent questions on EMF and health, GERoNiMO proposes an integrated approach building upon existing European resources (epidemiological studies, exposure assessment techniques, mechanistic and animal models, expert networks), using, where appropriate, novel methods, to better understand potential mechanisms underlying possible health effects of EMF, to characterise population levels of exposure, and to further the state of knowledge on EMF and health. GERoNiMO will focus on radiofrequency fields (RF) - as understanding of possible health effects is insufficient and a large proportion of the general population is exposed, with commercial applications continuing to grow - and intermediate frequencies (IF) - as applications are increasing and information on potential health effects is sparse. GERoNiMO will address all aspects of the call by meeting the following four main objectives: i) evaluate possible health effects (cognitive and behavioural development, cancer risk, and reproductive effects) of exposure to RF and IF in children and adults; ii) better understand mechanisms of biological effects (behavioural and reproductive effects, cancer, ageing, and Alzheimer's disease) related to RF and IF; iii) collect better data on population exposure and improve health risk assessment for RF and IF; and iv) underpin policy development in Europe on RF and IF (including non-technological means of reducing exposure and best practices in risk communication to support EU policy makers). GERoNiMO represents a unique and timely opportunity for the development of a truly integrated approach to research into EMF and health in Europe.
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