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AYUMI – ADVANCING SYSTEMS FOR SUSTAINABLE FOOD PROCESSING AND CIRCULAR WATER MANAGEMENT FOR IRRIGATION

Objective

Agricultural water reuse in Europe and the Mediterranean remains marginal not because technologies are lacking, but because systemic barriers prevent adoption. Fragmented governance frameworks, weak economic incentives, and persistent concerns over food safety and environmental risks continue to limit uptake, despite increasing water scarcity and a supportive regulatory landscape.
AYUMI is designed as a direct response to these barriers. It builds trust through continuous monitoring, HACCP protocols, certification pilots. It addresses governance and economics by co-designing digital twins, tariff schemes and replication roadmaps with basin authorities, embedding reuse volumes into allocation plans and drought strategies. It resolves technical and environmental concerns through multi-season agronomic trials, aquifer monitoring and modular treatment chains already validated at TRL 7–8.
This means AYUMI is not another prototype, but a system-scale action embedded in operational infrastructures. Demonstrations across different socio-climatic basins (Italy, Spain, Germany, Egypt, Crete) prove adoption at full basin scale: treated effluents become safe, regulated and circular inputs for agriculture, nutrients are valorised and accounted for, and replication pathways are anchored in investment pipelines.
AYUMI also brings two strategic assets.
• Scalability by number, not only by size: hundreds of medium and small WWTPs can be turned into local nodes of water–agriculture symbiosis, redirecting volumes currently discharged or sent to potable treatment. This accelerates impact even where infrastructure is weak.
• A new business model based on externalities: beyond CAPEX/OPEX, AYUMI demonstrates the value of avoided fertilisers, reduced CO2, improved resilience and food security. These externalities are translated into policy-ready models, aligning economic signals with environmental and societal benefits.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

Keywords

Programme(s)

Topic(s)

Funding Scheme

HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation Actions

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Call for proposal

(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL6-2025-02

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Coordinator

IRIS SRL
Net EU contribution
€ 669 900,00
Address
CORSO UNIONE SOVIETICA 612/21
10135 TORINO
Italy
SME
Yes
Region
Nord-Ovest Piemonte Torino
Activity type
Private for-profit entities (excluding Higher or Secondary Education Establishments)
Links
Total cost
€ 957 000,00

Participants (17)