Periodic Reporting for period 1 - RecaP (Capture, recycling and societal management of phosphorus in the environment)
Período documentado: 2021-03-01 hasta 2023-02-28
The RecaP project brings together 15 PhD students in both industrial and research positions to ensure sustainable Phosphorus changes across the globe.
Phosphorus (P) is a vital input for agricultural production. Yet, current agricultural practices are overexploiting and wasting the earth´s P reserves, which are needed to meet the food demand of a growing human population. Currently, there is a large flow of P from mineable P rock through agricultural production systems to surface waters, where eutrophication severely deteriorates ecosystems functioning. Hence, P is polluting the environment, while at the same time valuable P resources are lost. This is the global P challenge! A challenge of planetary dimensions with potentially dramatic consequences for humans. Through its circular Economy Action Plan, the EU provides the regulatory framework to develop an economy where the value of products, materials and resources is maintained for as long as possible. Important steps towards a circular P economy includes establishing new interdisciplinary partnerships for creating strategies towards radical restructuring of P governance and for developing novel, interdisciplinary P management solutions involving multi-stakeholder participation at regional and global scales. RecaP will address these needs by creating a new generation of P specialists to become ‘knowledge brokers’ across disciplinary silos with their interdisciplinary skills, experience and networks, ensuring transformative changes in P sustainability in the EU. RecaP will not just explore the technical aspects of the global P challenge, but also where such solutions can be implemented in a way that is socially, economically, and environmentally acceptable. ESRs will focus on capture and recycling of P from wastewater and freshwater systems, novel P recovery techniques, strategies to improve crop utilization of P, novel freshwater restoration techniques, as well as barriers and enablers to policy and economic transformation to support recycling. All activities are connected to one another in order to create novel insights that can help create new P governance.
The project goals address some of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, specifically 2 (Zero Hunger), 6 (Clean Water & Sanitation), 9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure), 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 15 (Life on Land), and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). These goals are important to better understand the impact and changes needed to sustainable capture, recover, utilize, recycle and transform our use of Phosphorus. Together, we can all take informed actions to understand, protect and preserve our planet and its limited resources in a sustainable, cost-effective and safe manner.
Phosphorus (P) is a vital input for agricultural production. Yet, current agricultural practices are overexploiting and wasting the earth´s P reserves, which are needed to meet the food demand of a growing human population. Currently, there is a large flow of P from mineable P rock through agricultural production systems to surface waters, where eutrophication severely deteriorates ecosystems functioning. Hence, P is polluting the environment, while at the same time valuable P resources are lost. This is the global P challenge! A challenge of planetary dimensions with potentially dramatic consequences for humans. Through its circular Economy Action Plan, the EU provides the regulatory framework to develop an economy where the value of products, materials and resources is maintained for as long as possible. Important steps towards a circular P economy includes establishing new interdisciplinary partnerships for creating strategies towards radical restructuring of P governance and for developing novel, interdisciplinary P management solutions involving multi-stakeholder participation at regional and global scales. RecaP will address these needs by creating a new generation of P specialists to become ‘knowledge brokers’ across disciplinary silos with their interdisciplinary skills, experience and networks, ensuring transformative changes in P sustainability in the EU. RecaP will not just explore the technical aspects of the global P challenge, but also where such solutions can be implemented in a way that is socially, economically, and environmentally acceptable. ESRs will focus on capture and recycling of P from wastewater and freshwater systems, novel P recovery techniques, strategies to improve crop utilization of P, novel freshwater restoration techniques, as well as barriers and enablers to policy and economic transformation to support recycling. All activities are connected to one another in order to create novel insights that can help create new P governance.
The project goals address some of the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, specifically 2 (Zero Hunger), 6 (Clean Water & Sanitation), 9 (Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure), 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), 15 (Life on Land), and 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). These goals are important to better understand the impact and changes needed to sustainable capture, recover, utilize, recycle and transform our use of Phosphorus. Together, we can all take informed actions to understand, protect and preserve our planet and its limited resources in a sustainable, cost-effective and safe manner.
The RecaP Consortium launched a virtual kick-off meeting on 13 April, 2021 to review EU MSCA expectations, confirm leadership and communication channels, finalize contracts, establish the supervisory board, and launch a recruitment strategy. This plan led to the successful recruitment of 15 ESRs (starting August 2021 and January 2022). A virtual meeting with all ESRs took place in November 2021, and an ESR retreat in December 2021, with multiple virtual follow up meetings due to COVID restrictions.
In the first two years of the project, the consortium has met 9 times, including 2 'Global Phosphorus Challenge' workshops for students to explore themes connected to Transdisciplinarity and Waste. 21 deliverables have been submitted, with no outstanding deliverables remaining. Four of five milestones have been reached: completion of the first GPC workshop, successful recruitment of all 15 positions, a project mid-term check at year 1, and a fact sheet on Captured Phosphorus in collaboration with Work Packages 4 and 5. The remaining milestone, all ESRs seconded for 2+ months, was not reached, though the timeline is now updated for ESRs to complete their secondments in the latter half of their PhD programmes.
To date, RecaP ESRs have engaged in 22 unique dissemination activities and more than 300 posts on Twitter, LinkedIn, and ResearchGate project profiles. Two papers have been approved internally for submission to peer-reviewed journals, and the beginning of a consortium-wide paper has been drafted in the final month of Reporting Period 1, led by all 15 ESRs.
In the first two years of the project, the consortium has met 9 times, including 2 'Global Phosphorus Challenge' workshops for students to explore themes connected to Transdisciplinarity and Waste. 21 deliverables have been submitted, with no outstanding deliverables remaining. Four of five milestones have been reached: completion of the first GPC workshop, successful recruitment of all 15 positions, a project mid-term check at year 1, and a fact sheet on Captured Phosphorus in collaboration with Work Packages 4 and 5. The remaining milestone, all ESRs seconded for 2+ months, was not reached, though the timeline is now updated for ESRs to complete their secondments in the latter half of their PhD programmes.
To date, RecaP ESRs have engaged in 22 unique dissemination activities and more than 300 posts on Twitter, LinkedIn, and ResearchGate project profiles. Two papers have been approved internally for submission to peer-reviewed journals, and the beginning of a consortium-wide paper has been drafted in the final month of Reporting Period 1, led by all 15 ESRs.
The RecaP consortium has identified 9 diverse gaps in the current approaches to the Global Phosphorus Challenge (GPC). In general, there is a lack of interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations that rethink existing solutions and technologies and exchange knowledge between the individual GPC sectors. The role of recycling nutrients from our waste is gaining considerable EU focus, demonstrated by the CEAP recognizing the need to efficiently implement and secure a paradigm shift towards a P circular economy. Progress in the realization of this vision calls for integrative, inter- and transdisciplinary trained experts who can manage these societal, economic, legal and technological transformations.
RecaP has taken the first steps in delivering a novel, innovative and cutting edge interdisciplinary approach to the GPC. RecaP has contributed to the breaking down of largely “uni-sectorial” approached towards the GPC to bridge diverse sectors and improve communication with each other, to ensure environmental technologies available for water resource management and P recovery are used within the context of a circular economy.
Thus far, ESRs in RecaP have joined a network and contribute to in-depth conversations and regulatory processes in a number of processes for managing wastewater, agricultural soils and freshwater systems in a P sustainable way in engineering, biological, chemical, social, and political realms. Some ESRs build on the foundation established by other experts or fellow ESRs in sister projects, contributing to a rapidly changing environment and the highly needed public response to P management. Continued interest between RecaP partners, including industry participants and other P-based projects, have come together at the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform conference and continue to collaborate on joint initiatives. All work related to RecaP highlights the support received by the MSCA and EU programme.
RecaP has taken the first steps in delivering a novel, innovative and cutting edge interdisciplinary approach to the GPC. RecaP has contributed to the breaking down of largely “uni-sectorial” approached towards the GPC to bridge diverse sectors and improve communication with each other, to ensure environmental technologies available for water resource management and P recovery are used within the context of a circular economy.
Thus far, ESRs in RecaP have joined a network and contribute to in-depth conversations and regulatory processes in a number of processes for managing wastewater, agricultural soils and freshwater systems in a P sustainable way in engineering, biological, chemical, social, and political realms. Some ESRs build on the foundation established by other experts or fellow ESRs in sister projects, contributing to a rapidly changing environment and the highly needed public response to P management. Continued interest between RecaP partners, including industry participants and other P-based projects, have come together at the European Sustainable Phosphorus Platform conference and continue to collaborate on joint initiatives. All work related to RecaP highlights the support received by the MSCA and EU programme.