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Advanced mapping, risk assessment and nature-based depollution methods are combined to accelerate the recovery of contaminated soils and ensure that ecological restoration enters mainstream business

Project description

Tackling soil pollution to restore ecosystems

Europe faces a pressing challenge of reducing soil pollution and promoting ecological restoration. The destructive consequences of soil pollution, ranging from impaired agricultural productivity to compromised ecosystems, demand immediate attention. In this context, the EU-funded EDAPHOS project aims to revolutionise land management practices. With a mission to reduce soil pollution and enhance restoration, EDAPHOS proposes a holistic approach that combines nature-based solutions (NBS) and advanced technologies to accelerate the recovery of contaminated lands and make ecological restoration a mainstream endeavour. By developing a framework for land rehabilitation, conducting comprehensive risk assessments, and validating the effectiveness of NBS strategies, EDAPHOS aims to establish a self-sustained and replicable EU NBS market, bringing hope for a healthier future.

Objective

EDAPHOS proposes a holistic and innovative land management approach to contribute to the Mission “A Soil Deal for EU” and to its specific objective “Reduce soil pollution and enhance restoration”. EDAPHOS will develop a framework for land rehabilitation and ecological restoration of contaminated areas featuring nature-based solutions (NBS) technologies, to accelerate the recovery of contaminated lands to a healthy ecosystem status and making ecological restoration a mainstream business endeavor. EDAPHOS will improve the monitoring of contaminated soils and the understanding of precise pollution sources at selected EU regions by combining robust remote sensing tools and GIS-based methods that will be applied at representative territorial lands. Site-specific risk assessment methods and metrics, based on the TRIAD concept and considering the sources, the pathways, the exposure and effects of soil pollution, will be developed and applied on 7 case studies. EDAPHOS will perform lab and field studies to validate the technological readiness and the cost-effectiveness of NBS as effective remediation strategy for reducing soil contamination in urban, peri-urban and rural settings and land uses. EDAPHOS will assess the environmental, social and economic impacts of selected NBS sites and will develop the most suitable quantitative metrics and KPIs that depict accurately and reliably their integrated socio-environmental performance in both terms of economic benefit (e.g. growth of ecosystem services value, final phytoremediation compounds for further industrial valorization) and cost prevention (e.g. environmental footprint reduction) potentials, along with tailored ecological finance instruments for establishing a self-sustained and replicable EU NBS market. With the aim of providing data-driven tools for forecasting, analyzing and establishing quantitative relationship of multi-scale processes, artificial intelligence techniques will be implemented throughout the project.

Coordinator

COMMUNAUTE D' UNIVERSITES ET ETABLISSEMENTS UNIVERSITE BOURGOGNE - FRANCHE - COMTE
Net EU contribution
€ 824 129,99
Address
32 AVENUE DE L'OBSERVATOIRE
25000 BESANCON
France

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Region
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Franche-Comté Doubs
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
€ 1 303 174,99

Participants (12)