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Objective: NACLIM aims at investigating and quantifying the predictability of the climate in the North Atlantic/European sector related to North Atlantic/Arctic sea surface temperature (SST) and sea ice variability and change on seasonal to decadal time scales. SST and sea-ice forcing have a crucial impact on weather and climate in Europe. Rather than running climate forecasts ourselves, we will analyse the multi-model decadal prediction experiments currently performed as part of the fifth Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP5) and critically assess the quality of predictions of the near-future state of key oceanic and atmospheric quantities relevant to the SST and sea-ice distribution and the related climate. Long-term observations of relevant ocean parameters will be carried out, necessary to assess the forecast skill of the model-based prediction results. We will identify those observations that are key to the quality of the prediction and in turn optimize the present observing system. We will quantify the impact of North Atlantic/European climate change on high trophic levels of the oceanic ecosystem as well as on urban societies.
This project aims to provide improved process understanding, new knowledge, methods, new and improved numerical tools, resulting in decision support systems serving decision-making at protection of coasts against flooding and erosion. Project resultys will contribute to improve reliability of coastal protection structures, and introduce an environmentally friendly approach in coastal protection. The activities will focus on work-out/improve/coordinate numerical model tools that are able to manage interactive data and forecast (by numerical simulations) short term (storm surge, tsunami) and long term (erosion, water level change) phenomena with respect to coastal protection. Project objectives will be pursued by exploring the available experience of the partners, creating complementarities /synergies between them, and using basic preconditions, as follows: - Scientific potential of all partners, the available theoretical knowledge, and expected new findings in the field of coastal hydrodynamics and flooding and - Long-term research cooperation with Chinese partners (dated from 1989) in the field of coastal protection (including some joint model developments, and published papers) - Experience in use of advanced numerical models (MIKE FLOOD, MIKE 21HD/CAMS, SWAN, VOF), as well as GIS data handling abilities, providing links to field observations and related monitoring programs - Well proven expertise in the field of coastal protection & risk management (via EU Coastal protection Projects: EU-FLOWS/FLOODsite/DELOS/CLAS and other - Experience in Environmentally Friendly Coastal Protection, advanced & innovative coastal technologies. Project output should finally help decision makers in: - improving co-ordination of coastal erosion and surface water flood risk - strengthening emergency planning arrangements - managing the investment of significant levels of public funding - helping communities adapt to climate change.
Objective: Human use and exploitation of the biosphere is increasing at such a pace and scale that the sustainability of major ecosystems is threatened, and may not be able to continue to function in ways that are vital to the existence of humanity. Re-framing environmental resource use has led to the emergence of the concepts of ecosystem services (ES) and natural capital (NC). This discourse indicates not only a change in our understanding of planetary functions at the ecosystem scale, but also a fundamental shift in how we perceive the relationship between people and the ecosystems on which they depend. OPERAs (OPERATIONAL POTENTIAL OF ECOSYSTEMS RESEARCH APPLICATIONS) aims to improve understanding of how ES/NC contribute to human well-being in different social-ecological systems in inland and coastal zones, in rural and urban areas, related to different ecosystems including forests and fresh water resources. The OPERAs research will establish whether, how and under what conditions the ES/NC concepts can move beyond the academic domain towards practical implementation in support of sustainable ecosystem management. OPERAs will use a meta-analysis (systematic review) of existing ES/NC practice to identify knowledge gaps and requirements for new policy options and instruments. New insights, and improved or novel tools and instruments, will be tested in practice in exemplar case studies in a range of socio-ecological systems across locales, sectors, scales and time. Throughout this iterative process, available resources and tools will be brought together in a Resource Hub, a web-based portal that will be co-developed by scientists and practitioners representing different interests and perspectives on the development, communication and implementation of the ES/NC concepts. The Resource Hub will provide the main interface between OPERAs and a Community of Excellence (CoE) for continued practice that will benefit from OPERAs outcomes.
Sustainable governance of our biological resources demands reliable scientific knowledge to be accessible and applicable to the needs of society. The fact that current biodiversity observation systems and environmental datasets are unbalanced in coverage and not well integrated brings the need of a new system which will facilitate access to this knowledge and will effectively improve the work in the field of biodiversity observation in general. In light of the new Intergovernmental science-policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), such a network and approach are imperative for attaining efficient processes of data collation, analysis and provisioning to stakeholders. A system that facilitates open access to taxonomic data is essential because it will allow a sustainable provision of high quality data to partners and users, including e-science infrastructure projects as well as global initiatives on biodiversity informatics. EU BON proposes an innovative approach in terms of integration of biodiversity information system from on-ground to remote sensing data, for addressing policy and information needs in a timely and customized way. The project will reassure integration between social networks of science and policy and technological networks of interoperating IT infrastructures. This will enable a stable new open-access platform for sharing biodiversity data and tools to be created. EU BONs 30 partners from 18 countries are members of networks of biodiversity data-holders, monitoring organisations, and leading scientific institutions. EU BON will build on existing components, in particular GBIF, LifeWatch infrastructures, and national biodiversity data centres.
Objective: Despite improved understanding of the links between ecosystem health, provision of ecosystem services and human well-being, further conceptual and empirical work is needed to make the ideas of ecosystem services (ESS) and natural capital (NC) operational. OpenNESS will therefore develop innovative and practical ways of applying them in land, water and urban management: it will identify how, where and when the concepts can most effectively be applied to solve problems. To do this, it will work with public and private decision makers and stakeholders to better understand the range of policy and management problems faced in different case study contexts (ranging across locales, sectors, scales and time). OpenNESS will consolidate, refine and develop a range of spatially-explicit methods to identify, quantify and value ecosystem services, and will develop hybrid assessment methods. It will also explore the effectiveness of financial and governance mechanisms, such as payments for ecosystem services, habitat banking, biodiversity offsetting and land and ecosystem accounting. These types of interventions have potential for sustaining ESS and NC, and for the design of new economic and social investment opportunities. Finally, OpenNESS will assess how current regulatory frameworks and other institutional factors at EU and national levels enable or constrain consideration of ESS and NC, and identify the implications for issues related to well-being, governance and competitiveness. OpenNESS will analyse the knowledge that is needed to define ESS and NC in the legal, administrative and political contexts that are relevant to the EU. The work will deliver a menu of multi-scale solutions to be used in real life situations by stakeholders, practitioners, and decision makers in public and business organizations, by providing new frameworks, data-sets, methods and tools that are fit-for-purpose and sensitive to the plurality of decision-making contexts.
Objective: The poor condition of sanitation and wastewater management in India (as in many Asian countries) is well documented and has recently led the Asian Development Bank to call for a revolution in wastewater management across Asia. Conventional, centralized approaches have failed in many areas and will hardly be able to solve potential problems in rural, hilly and rapidly developing urban areas in India. Instead, innovative, decentralised systems aiming at various benefits are needed. A main benefit in the context of SARASWATI is the reuse of treated wastewater for different purposes. Other benefits include reuse of energy and nutrients, which are also important. Despite the overall poor condition of wastewater treatment across South Asia, India has already considerable experience with such decentralised approaches. Over the last decade, hundreds of decentralised wastewater treatment plants of different technology types have been installed all over India. However, not all are functioning well and several also failed, due to various reasons. Also, there is no consolidated evaluation and review of all those existing plants available. As a result there is only very limited knowledge on the performance of those existing technologies available and a review and evaluation of those plants is very timely in order to derive sound conclusions and recommendations for future wastewater management strategies in India. SARASWATI will perform such a comprehensive and independent evaluation and hence provide key suggestions for the improvement of existing technologies. In addition, SARASWATI aims at deploying selected proven EU technologies with a potential for solving grave water challenges in India (water pollution due to discharge of untreated wastewater and storm-water, water scarcity and groundwater depletion, unhygienic sludge handling practices due to lack of suitable technologies). Water challenged sites have been identified in 5 Indian States comprising almost all regions.
The Clean Hydrogen in European Cities (CHIC) Project is the essential next step to full commercialisation of hydrogen powered fuel cell (H2FC) buses. CHIC will reduce the 'time to market' for the technology and support 'market lift off' 2 central objectives of the Joint Undertaking. CHIC will: - Intensively test the technology to generate learning for the final steps towards commercialisation by operating 28 H2FC buses in medium sized fleets in normal city bus operation and 10 fuel cell passenger cars, and substantially enlarging hydrogen infrastructure in 5 European regions. - Embed the substantial knowledge and experience from previous H2FC bus projects (CUTE & HyFLEET:CUTE). - Accelerate development of clean public transport systems in 14 new European Regions. - Conduct a life cycle based sustainability assessment of the use of H2FC buses in public transport, based on a triple bottom line approach considering environmental, economic and social aspects. - Identify the advantages, improvement potentials, complementarities and synergies of H2FC buses compared with conventional and alternative technologies - Build a critical mass of public support for the benefits of 'green' hydrogen powered transport, leading to increased visibility and political commitment across Europe. The project is based on a staged introduction and build-up of H2FC bus fleets and the supporting infrastructure across Europe. A phased approach will link experienced and new cities in partnerships, greatly facilitating the smooth introduction of the new systems now and into the future. With this arrangement the project will be linked to projects fully funded from other sources and therefore magnifies the impact of the JTI. In the context of the H2FC bus projects and progress achieved to this point, the expected results of CHIC will take the technology to the brink of commercialisation, leading in turn to very significant environmental & economic benefits to Europe and to the World.
Objective: Recent advances in our understanding and forecasting of climate and climate change have brought us to the point where skilful and useful predictions are being made. These forecasts hold the potential for being of great value for a wide range of decision-makers who are affected by the vagaries of the climate and who would benefit from understanding and better managing climate-related risks. However, such climate information is currently under-used, mis-used, or not used at all. Therefore there exists the opportunity to develop new technologies to properly exploit emerging capability from the climate community, and more importantly, to engage with the users of such technologies to develop useful and useable tools. The EUPORIAS project will develop and deliver reliable predictions of the impacts of future climatic conditions on a number of key sectors (to include water, energy, health, transport, agriculture and tourism), on timescales from seasons to years ahead. The project will do this through a strong engagement with the forecast providers and the users/decision-makers, who are both represented within the project. EUPORIAS will develop climate services and tools targeted to the needs of the users, and will share knowledge to promote the technologies created within the project. EUPORIAS will also improve the users understanding of their vulnerability to varying climatic conditions as well as better prepare them to utilise climate forecasts, thereby reducing risks and costs associated with responding to varying climatic conditions. As a result businesses, governments, NGOs, and society in general will be able to better manage risks and opportunities associated with varying climatic conditions, thus becoming more resilient to the variability of the climate. The project will provide the basis for developing a strong climate service market within Europe, offering the opportunity for businesses to capitalise on improved management of weather and climate risks.
Objective: BioEcoSIM comprises R&D and demonstration of an integrated approach and business model that has wide EU27 applicability in the agriculture sector. The new European Bio-economy Strategy aims to increase the use of bio-based raw materials. Thus, large quantities of fertilisers will be required. Therefore, this project targets to produce sustainable soil improving products that can be easily handled, transported, and applied. BioEcoSIM will valorise livestock manure as an important example of valuable bio-waste into 1) pathogen-free, P-rich organic soil amendment (P-rich biochar), 2) slow releasing mineral fertilisers and 3) reclaimed water. By doing this, we will i) reduce negative environmental impacts (eutrophication of water bodies, and NH3 and N2O emissions) in intensive livestock regions, ii) help to decrease NH3 produced by the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process, (iii) mitigate EUs dependency on the depleting mineral sources for P-fertilisers, (iv) increase water efficiency use in agriculture and (v) support European Strategies and Directives, while generating economic benefits in the agriculture and bio-economy sector. The project will combine three innovative technologies 1) superheated steam drying and non-catalytic pyrolysis to convert carbon in manure into P-rich biochar and syngas, 2) electrolytic precipitation of struvite and calcium phosphate and 3) selective separation and recovery of NH3 by gas-permeable membrane. Energy required in-process will be generated through combustion of syngas, thus reducing the pressure on finite fossil fuel. Water reclaimed from manure will be utilised for livestock production and/or irrigation. The sustainability of this approach will be validated against standards ISO14040 and ISO14044. Implementation of the R&D results will help fulfil the need for economically viable and environmentally benign practices in European agriculture to move towards a more resource-efficient and circular economy.
Objective: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) sponsored the Global Framework on Climate Services (GFCS) where the need for actionable climate information for periods from several months up to several years for economic, industrial and political planning has been expressed. However, progress in seasonal forecasting has been slow and decadal forecasting is still incipient. At the same time, new model components to address the role of sea ice, land surface, stratosphere, ocean and their resolution in global models are now available from the climate change and weather forecasting communities. Methods for sophisticated downscaling and calibration for local, reliable climate predictions are scarce in Europe. In this context, SPECS aims to identify the main problems in climate prediction and investigate a battery of solutions from a seamless perspective. SPECS will undertake research and dissemination activities to deliver a new generation of European climate forecast systems, with improved forecast quality and efficient regionalisation tools to produce reliable, local climate information over land at seasonal-to-decadal time scales, and provide an enhanced communication protocol and services to satisfy the climate information needs of a wide range of public and private stakeholders.
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