Project description
Growing crops downtown
Urban agriculture holds great potential for food autonomy and environmental sustainability, yet most EU cities grapple with low local crop production and underutilised nutrient-rich waste. The core issue lies in the impoverished state of urban and peri-urban soils, hindering efficient nutrient application and resulting in lower yields. In this context, the ERC-funded NUTRISOIL project aims to revolutionise urban agriculture by enhancing soil quality, promoting nutrient recovery, and fostering knowledge exchange among key stakeholders. The project’s focus on knowledge exchange among farmers, composting facilities, wastewater treatment plants, and policymakers is set to pave the way for sustainable peri-urban agriculture, fostering a circular approach to resource management within our cities.
Objective
Many policies promote urban and peri-urban agriculture (UA) through circularity of nutrients to increase food autonomy, minimize food losses, and reduce environmental impacts associated to transport, mineral fertilizer production, and waste management. Yet up to date most EU cities have low local crop production, and although they generate vast volumes of nutrient-rich waste, nutrient recovery through composting and wastewater treatment to substitute mineral fertilizer for application in UA is still anecdotal. What is hindering nutrient circularity for application in UA and what can be done to overcome the obstacles? The variability and quality of recovered nutrients is one key issue. However, there is a more important underlying problem that has not been addressed: the impoverished state and quality of the urban and peri-urban agricultural soil. Adding nutrients to a carbon-deficient soil is counter-productive, resulting in reduced rooting patterns, increased sensitivity to draughts, and ultimately lower yields. The solution to impoverished soils and poor local crop production lies in the cities themselves. A large proportion of urban residues are rich in decomposable organic carbon and can be used to enhance soil microbiota function, counteract acidification, and improve soil quality and nutrient cycling efficiency. The pathway towards UA is to preserve and increase soil OM, while increasing nutrient recovery in urban areas- and this can be achieved through resource circularity right within the city. The goal of NUTRISOIL is to clearly identify, address, and resolve these soil-related obstacles to the sustainable implementation of UA in cities by providing the technical expertise and creating a knowledge transfer exchange amongst farmers, composting facilities, WWTPs, administration, policy makers, and the various governing and coordinating associations implicated in the entire cycle of nutrients in the city: from waste to food.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Funding Scheme
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept GrantsHost institution
08193 Cerdanyola Del Valles
Spain