Newsletters   Subscription   Contributions     Newsletter issue n° 18 - December 09

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EDITORIAL NOTES

FP6 FIREPARADOX (018505): Fire is a bad master, but a good servant!>

Fire long has been an important subject of debate, stemming from the apparent contradiction between its controlled use in everyday life and its threats to life and property as uncontrolled wildfires. This paradox has been phrased very well as, "Fire is a bad master but a good servant." This dichotomy is a key issue for the EU funded FP6 project known as FIREPARADOX. These two visions of fire have grown increasingly far apart, partly due to the increased distance between traditional rural societies, which commonly used fire as a "good servant," and modern urban societies that know fire mostly from the news, where the dominant image of fire as a "bad master" is reported from catastrophic events. These contradictory views are reflected in all aspects of society, shaping the laws, regulations and social acceptability of various practices, such as in smoke management. Lessons learned regarding the use of fire — including interviews, images, and reports on both failures and successes — are being compiled within the project as important resource materials for future academic and professional training.

Although the project partners are primarily from European countries, there also are participants from Morocco, Tunisia, South Africa, Mongolia, Russia and Argentina. This expansion has made it possible to incorporate a wider range of situations and visions on how the paradox of fire should be handled. In fact, many teams in the Fire Paradox consortium have experience with prescribed fire. The diversity of expertise was very much encouraged in the creation of the project, making it possible to cover the various facets of research, development and dissemination required by the different aspects of fire: prescribed fire, initiation, propagation and suppression. This diversity of situations and approaches within Fire Paradox can be captured and handled within the concept of integrated fire management. This concept accounts for the historical and social aspects of fire, builds on the knowledge of fire in the various scientific disciplines, and makes good use of technological developments. Integrated fire management should encompass all the issues of fire, from its use in prevention (prescribed fire) and fire-fighting (suppression fire), to the understanding of the processes of its start (fire ignition) and spread (fire propagation).

Integrated fire management can help solve the apparent contradiction between fire as a "bad master" and "good servant." A wise use of fire for management will benefit the handling of fire suppression, which is another research area within Fire Paradox. The project investigates the historic use of fire in fire-fighting, including the trends, problems, challenges and success stories. The project also is deeply involved in researching the understanding of the physics behind suppression fire, using models developed within the project as well as those of the project's international advisory committee, extending the reach to the United States, Canada and Australia. Because of its importance in both suppression fires and in prescribed fires, the interaction between fire fronts has been specially considered in Fire Paradox. This is a very rich area of research — largely unknown — with very important potential applications. Questions such as the best distance between fire lines when conducting a prescribed fire, or the best opportunity to start a backfire in fire suppression, can be considered by appropriate modelling approaches and applications that still are not operationally available. This effort builds on previous research efforts in Europe and the United States, but the wide range of Fire Paradox partners allows for the integration of diversity of complementary approaches.

by Francisco Manuel Cardoso de Castro Rego, Instituto Superior de Agronomia, Tapada da Ajuda, Lisbon, Portugal
Guest Editor for the Environmental Technologies Research Newsletter issue no. 18 – December 2009

OPEN CALLS

FP7-ENV-2010 Environment (including climate change) Call

Call Reference: OJ C177 of 30 July 2009
Deadline: 05 January 2010 at 17:00:00 (Brussels local time)

The call allocates €175 000 000 million for research topics (49 topics) in all the four activities of the Theme:

Activity 6.1: Climate change, pollution and risks
Activity 6.2: Sustainable management of resources
Activity 6.3: Environmental technologies
Activity 6.4: Earth observation and assessment tools for sustainable development

Among those topics are actions to promote industrial and SME participation, specific actions to reinforce international cooperation (international cooperation is supported and encouraged throughout all areas), dissemination actions to strengthen the visibility, effectiveness and uptake of EU research results, and Era-Nets in the field of 'Biodiversity', 'Eco innovation' and 'Water management'. In addition, in this call, several "bottom-up" topics have been introduced to explore further new and innovative approaches and to encourage participation of stakeholders including the SME and industrial participation. Finally, several cross-cutting actions between various Themes of the FP7 Cooperation programme have been foreseen in order to encourage pluri-disciplinarity in marine sciences and technologies (Ocean for tomorrow call), strengthen Africa's research base and the EU-African Union scientific partnership (Africa call) and participate in actions within the European recovery package (Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), on "Energy-efficient Buildings" and "Green cars"). Detailed information on the call is available at the http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.cooperationDetailsCallPage&call_id=267 homepage.

FP7-Africa-2010 Africa Call

Call Reference: OJ C177 of 30 July 2009
Deadline: 14 January 2010 at 17:00:00 (Brussels local time)
Budget: € 63 000 000

The Africa call represents a great opportunity for strengthening Africa's research capacity to cope with water, food security and health problems. The call is structured around two major issues: Water and Food Security, and, Better Health for Africa. It has a multi-disciplinary approach involving various scientific and technological research fields, such as food, agriculture, health, land and water resources, including their interaction with climate change, and integrating broader socio-economic factors, such as, migration and resettlements, urbanisation, health care systems and programme interventions, destabilisation of national food reserves, variations of food and oil prices, etc. Research activities are intended to strengthen local capacities. The involvement of local stakeholders and regional actors is of paramount importance to achieve the expected impacts. Funded projects will provide high quality research collaboration and results, innovative management, governance tools and technologies suitable for the relevant authorities and stakeholders, empowering them to reduce poverty, increase food security and enhance public health. Further expected benefits are related to the promotion of academic research and training, the setting up of health research networks and the strengthening of the science and technology potential for efficient water management and the protection of natural ecosystems in Africa. The call is implemented jointly by the following Themes of FP7 Cooperation programme: 'Health'; 'Food, Agriculture and fisheries, and Biotechnology'; 'Environment (including Climate Change)'. The total budget is €63 000 000 for the call. To see the full details of the call, please consult the following web address: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.FP7DetailsCallPage&call_id=268

Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Call for Proposals to fund Researchers in Japan participating in EU Research Consortia

JST has launched a call for proposals for researchers in Japan involved in EU research consortia under 11 topics under “Environment (including Climate Change)", "Biotechnologies, Food and Agriculture", and "Industrial Technologies" of the FP7. Researchers in Japan who apply to the EC call for proposals should also apply to the JST call for proposal and submit their own research plan to possibly receive JST funding following JST peer-review evaluation. It should be noted that researchers in Japan involved in consortia selected by the EC will not necessarily be supported by JST, as this depends on outcome of JST evaluation. The 11 FP7 research topics concerned by the JST call for proposals are: (i) ENV.2010.1.1.2-1 Atmospheric chemistry and climate change interactions; (ii) ENV.2010.1.1.3-1 Change in carbon uptake and emissions by oceans in a changing climate; (iii) ENV.2010.1.1.6-1 Climate change mitigation options linked to deforestation and agriculture in the context of a post-2012 international agreement on climate change; (iv) ENV.2010.1.2.2-2 Human health and environmental effects of exposure to pharmaceuticals released into the environment; (v) ENV.2010.2.2.1-2 Global plankton data set building in view of modeling; (vi) ENV.2010.3.1.8-1 Development of technologies for long-term carbon sequestration; (vii) ENV.2010.4.1.2-1 Building observational datasets for the predictability of global atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial processes using reanalysis techniques; (viii) ENV.2010.4.1.2-2 Integrating new data visualisation approaches of earth Systems into GEOSS development; (ix) ENV.2010.4.2.1-1 Enhancing model integration for the assessment of global environmental change; (x) KBBE.2010.3.2-01 Sustainable culture of marine microorganisms, algae and/or invertebrates for high added value products; (xi) NMP.2010.1.3-1 Reference methods for managing the risk of engineered nanoparticles. The JST call for proposals is open from 31 August 2009 to 22 January 2010. The JST maximum budget per participant is 22.5 million yen (approx. € 160,000) for three years. More information is available from the JST web site: http://www.jst.go.jp/inter/english/index.html

EUROPEAN INITIATIVES

2982nd Council meeting: Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry and Research). Brussels, 3-4 December 2009

The Competiveness Council held two days of intensive discussions, in various formations, addressing research, consumer, industrial policy and internal market issues. In the research related fields it was a breakthrough decision on the very sensitive EU patent file, the Council unanimously adopted conclusions on an enhanced patent system in Europe and a general approach on the EU patent regulation. The Council also held a policy debate and adopted Council conclusions on the future priorities for European research and research based innovation in post-2010 Lisbon. Many delegations stressed that indicators should be developed to measure the progress achieved in the implementation of the strategy. There was a general consensus on the need to promote better interaction between research, innovation and education. Many Ministers stressed the positive role of the European Institute of Technology (EIT) in implementing the Knowledge Triangle. Most delegations called for significant improvements in the simplification of procedures with regard to Community programmes and initiatives in support of research and innovation. The Council held a policy debate and adopt integrated Council Conclusions on a competitive, innovative and eco-efficient Europe as a contribution to the post 2010 Lisbon agenda. The need to develop an industrial policy was emphasised. Ministers underlined the importance of an ambitious successor to the Lisbon strategy with a continued focus on growth and jobs. Several delegations stressed that the implementation of a green economy should go together with strengthening the competitiveness of the European industry and a deepening of the Internal Market. The Council also adopted a set of conclusions on the future of ICT research, innovation and infrastructures, and on progress in Joint Programming and the launching of the Joint programming initiative (JPI) on measures to combat neurodegenerative diseases in particular Alzheimer. Another set of council conclusions covers enhanced governance of the European Research Area (ERA) which stressed that the Union and Member States are put on an equal footing to further develop the ERA, in line with the Lisbon Treaty. The detailed press release on the decisions of the Council Competitiveness (Internal Market, Industry and Research) is downloadable from the http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/intm/111732.pdf homepage.

A promising theme for the Joint Programming Initiative: Cultural heritage, climate change and security

Under the Swedish presidency, the High Level Group for Joint Programming (GPC) has identified three proposals of Joint Programming Initiatives (JPI)to be recommended to the Competitiveness Council of 3 /4 December, one of which - led by Italy - is on the subject of research for the protection and conservation of Cultural Heritage. The final version of the proposal is available at the http://www.earto.eu/fileadmin/content/10_Hidden_Pages/Joint_Programming/JPI_CulturalHeritage_final_4.11.09.pdf homepage. A JPI on Cultural Heritage should help strengthening the synergies between European and National funding mechanisms and reinforce all political and scientific efforts at European, national and regional level. It is expected to ensure more efficiency through more continuous and coordinated support.

The Council of 3/4 December has welcomed progress made in the GPC by identifying and substantiating the first wave of themes for JPI with a view to the adoption of JPI by the Council in due time. These are the following three themes: (i) Agriculture, food security and climate change; (ii) Health, food and prevention of diet related diseases; and (iii) Cultural heritage, climate change and security. The Commission, within the remit of its competence, is invited to contribute to the preparation of the joint programming initiatives which correspond to the themes identified and substantiated by the GPC, together with the state of play of research in the field of each of these themes, on the basis of which the Council will agree on joint programming initiatives. These recommendations are expected for the next Competitiveness Council of 25-26 May 2010.

Commission launches consultation on EU 2020: a new strategy to make the EU a smarter, greener social market

The Commission issued a public consultation document on giving the EU economy a brighter future through the EU 2020 Strategy. EU 2020 aims to deliver greener and socially inclusive growth, as outlined by President Barroso in his Political Guidelines. The new Strategy will build on the achievements of the Lisbon Strategy, while learning its lessons. The consultation paper sets out a vision for how EU 2020 will focus on entrenching recovery from the crisis, helping to prevent a similar one in future and on three thematic objectives: creating value through knowledge; empowering people in inclusive societies; and creating a competitive, connected and greener economy. The deadline for responses to the consultation is 15 January 2010. The new Commission will then make a detailed proposal to the Spring European Council. To view the consultation document and send your comments please go to: http://ec.europa.eu/eu2020

Corporate R&D investment in 2008: a global increase with EU companies leading US and Japan

Worldwide corporate R&D investment increased by 6.9% in 2008, in spite of the economic crisis, according to the 2009 "EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard" published in mid-November. With an 8.1% increase, the R&D investment growth of EU companies is significantly higher than US ones for the second year, at 5.7%, and Japanese ones, at 4.4%. EU companies managed to maintain their R&D investment growth barely unchanged at 8.1% from 8.8% in 2007, whereas that of US companies fell from 8.6% in 2007 to 5.7% in 2008. Companies based in emerging economies continued to show the highest R&D growth, led by China with a 40% increase, India (27.3%), Taiwan (25.1%) and Brazil (18.6%). "It is good news that EU companies kept up their R&D investment against the background of the economic crisis in 2008. This is the best strategy to emerge stronger out of the crisis. We must support EU companies' efforts and provide incentives to reinforce the EU research intensive sectors. Building a truly European research area is part of the answer, together with EU actions to promote smart investments in R&D. I also welcome the increase of R&D investment by EU companies active on low carbon energy technologies. They represent new sources of EU growth and jobs", said European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potočnik. Two EU companies feature in the top ten: Volkswagen in the 3rd place with an R&D investment of €5.93 billion and Nokia in the 8th place. The world's biggest investor in R&D was Toyota Motor, with €7.61 billion. Among the top ten R&D investors there are five from the US, including Microsoft, General Motors and Pfizer. The R&D growth in the US is dominated by the high R&D intensity sectors, which includes Pharmaceuticals and biotechnology and IT sectors, while R&D growth in the EU is more evenly spread across all sectors. This year's Scoreboard confirms the strong R&D activity of companies active in renewable energy technologies. The six EU companies from this sector showed impressive growth in R&D investment over the last three years. The 2009 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard provides information on the top 1000 EU companies and 1000 non-EU companies investing in R&D in the last reporting year. It is published annually by the European Commission. The Scoreboard and other IRMA (Industrial Research Investment Monitoring and Analysis) reports are downloadable at http://iri.jrc.ec.europa.eu/.

PAST EVENTS

Conference & Parliamentarian Evening: Accelerating Eco-innovation through Environmental Technology Verification, 12th – 13th October 2009, Brussels

Accelerating eco-innovation is an important aim of Environmental Technologies Action Plan (ETAP) for the environment, the European economy and Europe in a global market. Proving that new technologies are working through Environmental Technology Verification (ETV) is one way to achieve the goal. Therefore, the European Commission intends the implementation of a EU ETV system. ETV is an independent assessment of the performance of a specific environmental product or technology and provides quantitative information on the performance of innovative technologies. In projects all over Europe, first experiences with ETV in pilot technology sectors such as air pollution abatement, water monitoring and treatment, cleaner production and contaminated site remediation have been collected. The conference ‘Accelerating Eco-innovation through Environmental Technology Verification’ has been addressed technology providers, industry representatives and associations, politicians and regulators, with the aims to: (i) Introduce ETV as a tool for technology promotion; (ii) Show results of pilot verifications; (iii) Open a gate for participants to present their views to the European Community and decision makers; and (iv) Actively discuss the pros and cons of EU ETV in a global market. Please find more information about the conference under www.airtv.eu homepage.

ETP 2009: The 2nd Conference of the European Technology Platforms. Centre Albert Borschette, Brussels, 13 October 2009

With the support of the Swedish Presidency, the European Commission organised the 2nd Conference for European Technology Platforms (ETPs) in Centre Albert Borschette, Brussels on 13th October 2009. The Conference was chaired by Ms. Anneli Pauli, Deputy Director-General of DG Research of the European Commission. The plenary session was opened by Mr. Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for Science & Research and Mr. Peter Honeth, State Secretary of the Swedish Ministry of Education & Research. During the debate it was emphasized that ETPs fulfil a crucial role in European research and research policy making. Within the existing 36 ETPs, industry has joined together with research institutes, universities, national authorities and other stakeholders not only to develop strategic research agendas for their field, but also to look into education issues, such as training and mobility, or into innovation matters. ETPs have become an important interlocutor of the European Commission for discussing future research and innovation policy, and delivered their input e.g. to the Lead Market Initiative. There is a growing awareness of the contribution research can make to tackling societal challenges such as climate change and clean energy, sustainable transport, sustainable production and consumption, and public health, etc. The possible role of ETPs in providing solutions for societal challenges was discussed at the conference in four parallel workshops. The conference confirmed that many ETPs are looking at what a focus on such challenges could mean in terms of priority-setting, drawing up and implementing strategic research agendas, and collaboration between ETPs. It was concluded that societal challenges need to be broken down into more manageable themes with strong research and innovation elements, and that tackling each theme will require the large-scale pooling of public efforts and the mobilisation of private funding at European level. The presentations are available on the homepage of the conference: http://cordis.europa.eu/technology-platforms/seminar11_en.html. The ETP conference will be followed by a two-day event on 11 and 12 May 2010.

Workshop - Strengthening the role of R&D in boosting eco-innovation and eco-efficiency. Covent Garden, Brussels, 13 November 2009

The workshop "Strengthening the role of R&D in boosting eco-innovation and eco-efficiency" has been organised by Unit I.3: Environmental Technologies and Pollution Prevention of DG Research. Fourteen distinguished speakers from different research institutes, companies, academia and European institutions animated the debates of the two sessions and about 80 invited participants took part to this event. The workshop was opened by Ms. Manuela Soares, Director of the Environment Directorate of DG Research, who presented the ongoing activities in the Directorate in the field of eco-innovation and eco-efficiency as well as the vision and the future challenges and opportunities for research in this area. The first session of the workshop focused on research priorities for eco-innovation. Catia Bastioli presented the eco-innovative experience of Novamont; Ranier Walz exposed the Fraunhofer ISI approach towards eco-innovation and examined the current trends for environmental technologies. Martin Charter stressed the importance to design better eco-innovation pipelines and systems coordinating public and private efforts. The challenges for SMEs as part of the eco-innovation systems were discussed also by Arnold Black, Director of UK Resource Efficiency KTN and by Theodoros Staikos who described the activities of the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI). Professor Martin Jänicke from Freie Universität Berlin discussed the role of R&D in the governance of the 'Green Innovation Cycle' and the presentation from Uffe Bundgaard-Jørgensen, co-funder of Greenovate focused on the challenges related to the commercial exploitation of new technologies. Doreen Fedrigo from the European Environment Bureau (EBB) outlined the technological and social issues that research on eco-innovation should address. The afternoon session focused on the discussion of the research needs in the field of measurements of eco-innovation and eco-efficiency. Ugo Pretato from JRC IES Ispra, Tomoo Machiba from OECD presented the ongoing institutional activities in this field and outlined the existing research gaps. Igor Jelinski from DG Environment described the work plan of the Eco-Innovation Observatory funded in the context of ETAP. Professor René Kemp from UNU-Merit illustrated the outcomes of the MEI project (Measuring Eco-Innovation) and suggested areas for future research. Raimund Bleischwitz from Wuppertal Institute discussed the methodology and the open issues related to resource productivity indicators. Professor Roberto Zoboli from Catholic University of Milan discussed the research needs to widen to socio-technical dimensions our current perspective in measuring the progresses towards a greener economy. All the presentations and the background materials of the workshop are available at the http://circa.europa.eu/Public/irc/rtd/wseco/library homepage

Focus Area Cultural Heritage (FACH) event as a part of the 4th Conference of the European Construction Technology Platform (ECTP). Hotel Plaza, Brussels, 24 November 2009

The FACH event was well attended by 33 participants. The presentations covered basic information about the Focus Area Cultural Heritage (Isabel Rz-Maribona), about a new project idea (Ioanna Papayianni), about five ongoing new FP7 projects related to the cultural heritage (Mikel Sorli, Jürgen Frick, Adriana Bernardi, Johanna Leissner, Roko Žarnic) and about the ideas for the next FP7 work programs related to cultural heritage research (Michel Chapuis). Further cooperation was requested between ongoing projects in a kind of clustering that can gain an added value to the project outcomes. The idea will be implemented during the progress of projects starting within the next EU CHIC workshop in April 2010 in Vienna where three projects will start clustering (SMooHS, Climate for Culture and EU CHIC). It was also announced that the special attention will be paid to the engagement of Ph.D. students in the research within the projects and their mutual cooperation. The future efforts of FACH will be oriented to close cooperation with E2B Association and preparation of initiatives and programme background for research in the field of rational use of energy during the retrofitting interventions in heritage buildings as well as in rational use of energy in retrofitted buildings. Prof. Christina Sabbioni has informed audience about the NET Heritage project (her presentation is available with other presentations of the Conference) and about the new Joint Programming Initiative (JPI). The proposal of JPI addresses also the expected contribution of FACH to its future progress what was entirely agreed by FACH members that were attending the event. Cooperation of FACH with the JPI will be one of the future priorities of FACH activities. A JPI on Cultural Heritage should help strengthening the synergies between European and National funding mechanisms and reinforce all political and scientific efforts at European, national and regional level. Further information about the Conference and the presentations are available at the http://www.ectp.org/conference2009.asp homepage of the Conference.

COMING EVENTS

The 1st Workshop of the WSSTP Task-Force on ‘Water & Energy’ at the WSSTP premises in Brussels, Belgium, 5th January 2010

The main objectives of WSSTP Task-Force on “Water & Energy” are: (i) to carry out State-of-the-Art of current R&D projects; (ii) to identify gaps, opportunities and R&D needs; (iii) to develop roadmap with R&D recommendations to EC (by July 2010); and (iv) to prepare a report with State-of-the-Art and recommendations (by December 2010). The objectives of the Workshop are to review range of topics, to define the scope of the task force and to organise further actions. Among others the following topics will be addressed at the Workshop; (i) Any topic with interaction between water and energy; (ii) Energy efficient water treatment technologies and water systems; (iii) Energy neutral/positive wastewater treatment plants; (iv) “Blue energy” (osmotic power), microbial fuel cell; (v) Carbon sink in integrated water resource management; (vi) Impact of power supply on water resource management. Draft programme of the Workshop is available at the http://www.wsstp.eu/files/WSSTPX0001/events/Pre-programme Water and Energy 5 January 2010 Brussels.pdf homepage. Registration is possible by e-mailing to the wsstp@wsstp.eu address, participation is limited.

Final Workshop of the FP6 ORFEUS (036856): Optimised Radar to Find Every buried Utility in the street. New developments in surveying buried plant using advanced Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). Ordnance Survey Business Centre, Southampton, United Kingdom, 24th February 2010

ORFEUS is a Europe-wide project of nine organisations consisting of equipment developers, GPR consultants, user organisations and academic institutions that has developed two new radar systems, one to look ahead and sideways from the drill tip of a Horizontal directional Drill, and the other, to advance significantly the performance of downward looking radar. These have now been tested and the performance sets expectations as to what is possible in the future. The 24th February 2010 is the ORFEUS research project final public presentation, and will cover the original aims and the significant technical achievements of the project. This ORFEUS workshop is part of a two day conference organised in conjunction with the Mapping the Underworld (MTU), a UK utility-mapping project. Delegates may attend either day, but are recommended to attend the whole event. The MTU: Mapping the Underworld aims to develop the means to locate, map in 3D and record, using a single shared platform, the position of 100% of buried ducts, utility service pipes and cables without excavation. It is an EPSRC-funded multi-disciplinary project based at Birmingham University in the UK and was begun in January 2009. The MTU second annual workshop takes place on 25th February 2010, and will cover multi-utility issues surrounding accurate mapping of underground plant, and the possible impact and opportunities. The critical use of GPR data is a key element in MTU.

The organisers believe the potential of better integrated mapping and of advanced location tools points the way to a step change in how we install and fix buried services, either with ‘dig’ or with ‘no-dig’ techniques. This multi disciplinary event brings together the most advanced thinking in GPR and mapping buried services for presentation to developers, mapping agencies, and utilities. Inquire about a delegate place by following the links from February 2010 user-group workshop item at the www.orfeus-project.eu website http://www.orfeus-project.eu/usergroup.html. Registration is managed in association with Mapping the Underworld by the Mobile Computer Users Group (MCUG), there will be a charge to cover the event management, and the catering costs.

Final Conference of the FP6 FIREPARADOX (018505) Integrated Project: New approaches in integrated fire management in Europe. Freiburg, Germany, 25 – 26 February 2010

The conference will be co-organized by the partners of the FIREPARADOX project, and will be hosted jointly by the Global Fire Monitoring Centre (GFMC) and the Central European Regional Office (EFICENT) of the European Forest Institute (EFI). The conference language will be English, only. The aim of the conference is to introduce new views on the use of fire, thus stimulating new strategies and policy actions towards integrated fire management at regional, national and European levels. This conference is targeted for European and national policy makers and representatives of forest and fire related organizations. The main outcomes of the project pillars prescribed burning, wildfire management, and fire use practices and policies in Europe will be presented and complemented by interactive demonstrations and poster sessions. The social, economical and environmental consequences of the current wildfire regime in southern Europe are severe, and are likely to aggravate and geographically expand in the near future. The project seeks to contribute to the mitigation of fire impacts by creating the scientific and technical foundation for practices and policies consistent with the concept of integrated wildland fire management. For the sake of integration, coherence and completeness, FIREPARADOX approaches fire from four complementary sides, respectively prescribed burning (a powerful tool in proactive risk management), wildfire initiation, wildfire propagation, and suppression fire (the use of fire in fire fighting). The Conference will take place in the traditional main assembly room of Freiburg University, the “Aula”. Participants arriving at either Frankfurt, Zurich or Basel Airports are recommended to use public transport between the airport and Freiburg Central Railway Station. Preliminary registration form should be sent to Carlo Bifulco (carlo.bifulco@gmail.com) & Maria Souto Maia (msoutomaia@gmail.com) at the Conference Secretariat by e-mail before 15 January 2010 or registration can be made by the project homepage: http://www.fireparadox.org on-line.

The 3rd Stakeholder Workshop of the FP6 OSIRIS (037017): Optimised Strategies for Risk Assessment of Industrial Chemicals through Integration of Non-Test and Test Information. 1-2 March 2010

The new regulation concerning the registration, evaluation, authorisation and restriction of chemicals (REACH) requires demonstration of the safe manufacture of chemicals and their safe use throughout the supply chain. The goal of the project OSIRIS (Optimised Strategies for Risk Assessment of Industrial Chemicals through Integration of Non-Test and Test Information) is to develop integrated testing strategies (ITS) fit for REACH that enable to significantly increase the use of non-testing information for regulatory decision making, and thus to minimise the need for animal testing. OSIRIS is an international collaboration project under the 6th Framework Programme: 31 partners from 14 European countries work together on the development of a web tool which will be made available to end-users from industry and regulatory authorities for the risk assessment of chemicals.

The Third OSIRIS Stakeholder Workshop will be held on 1–2 March 2010. The OSIRIS concepts and applications of the ITS developed will be presented, the OSIRIS web tool for ITS and its functionalities will be demonstrated and case studies (bio-concentration factor, skin sensitisation) will be discussed. Stakeholders from industry, regulatory authorities, NGO’s and academia are invited to provide valuable input to the OSIRIS team, to bring forward concerns and expectations and to discuss applications of the OSIRIS research in the REACH risk assessment process. Details on the programme and registration will be published on the OSIRIS website www.osiris-reach.eu.

IWA Conference on Sustainable Solutions for Small Water and Wastewater Treatment Systems (S2Small2010). Girona, Catalonia, Spain, 19-22 April 2010.

The S2Small2010 Conference will be organised under the auspices of IWA Specialist Groups Small Water and Wastewater Systems (Small) and Resources-Oriented Sanitation (EcoSan). The Small Systems Conference was held in Exeter (UK, 2000), then in Istanbul (Turkey, 2002), followed by Perth (Australia, 2004), Mexico DF (Mexico, 2006) and Coimbatore (India, 2008). Now the international IWA SG conference on Small Systems comes back to Europe as a joint conference with the IWA SG on Resources-Oriented Sanitation (EcoSan). Thus, the Girona conference is being presented as a joint conference of the 9th IWA Specialised Group conference on “Small Water and Wastewater Systems” and the 2nd IWA Specialised Group conference on “Resources-Oriented Sanitation” (EcoSan). The main objective of the conference is to jointly discuss recent aspects related to sustainable solutions for small water and wastewater systems (SWWS) within a framework of sharing experiences from the scientific, engineering, operation and governance points of view within an international scope. The main focus of the conference will be those explained in the proposed themes. Joint discussion of several of them will be highly welcome, especially those involving a sustainable point of view of the treatment in the area of technological applications for both developing and industrialised countries. The conference will generate a set of proceedings that include the abstracts of oral and poster presentations. The state-of-the-art for current uses and novel processes for further development and future application will be presented at S2Small2010. For further information and registration please contact the Conference homepage: http://s2small2010.udg.edu/iwa/

PUBLICATIONS and AVAILABLE DOCUMENTS

5th Commission Summary on the Implementation of the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive. SEC(2009) 1114 final, Brussels, 3rd August 2009

The population of the European Union is nearly 500 million and the waste water generated by people and industry is a major source of pollution of European waters. Waste water discharges can lead to over-fertilisation and speedup biodiversity loss; can affect drinking water supplies and thereby have important links to public health concerns. The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive addresses these challenges by requiring the collection and treatment of waste water in all settlement areas and areas of economic activity (‘agglomerations’) with a population of more than 2000. The implementation of this Directive represents a major financial challenge for the Member States. The full implementation of the Directive is a pre-requisite for meeting the objective set out in the EU Water Framework Directive: to ensure that all waters in the EU achieve good ecological status by 2015. The Directive provides for biological waste water treatment (‘secondary treatment’) to significantly reduce the biodegradable pollution in waste water. In the catchments of particularly sensitive waters (‘sensitive areas’), such as those suffering from eutrophication or those used for other purposes (bathing, drinking water abstraction, etc.), more stringent treatment is required to eliminate nutrients or bacteriological pollution.

This document describes the progress in the implementation of the Directive. The report covers obligations which were due to be met by the end of 2005 and is based on a comprehensive questionnaire, which was jointly agreed by the Commission and Member States under the Water Information System for Europe (WISE). In summary, considerable progress has been achieved in implementing the Directive. Progress in addressing waste water related challenges has ensured notable improvements in water quality and has drastically improved the quality of EU beaches in line with the quality standards of the EU Bathing Water Directives. However, key challenges remain to align waste water treatment in the entire EU with the provisions of the Directive and the ‘good status’ environmental objective under the Water Framework Directive: (i) Secondary treatment needs to be improved in some EU-15 Member States; (ii) Compliance rates for more stringent treatment are very low in some EU-15 countries and, overall greater efforts in implementation are needed; (iii) While implementation in big cities is generally high, greater efforts are needed to ensure implementation of the Directive.

The Report and its Annex can be downloaded from the http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-urbanwaste/implementation/pdf/implementation_report_summary.pdf and the http://ec.europa.eu/environment/water/water-urbanwaste/implementation/pdf/implementation_report_annex.pdf homepages.

Sustainable Water for the Future by Isabel C Escobar and Andrea Schaefer. Water Recycling versus Desalination. IWA Publishing & Elsevier. ISBN: 9781843393405, pp 332

This book is part of a series on sustainability. Specifically, it deals with the issue of sustainable water use. Fresh sources of potable water are being depleted across the world. Pure water is the goal of water utilities as well as several industries. Well past the experimental stage, membrane processes are now a proven and reliable method of providing high-quality, cost-effective water. Membrane technologies have immediate applications to treatment of fresh, brackish and sea waters, as well as wastewater reclamation. With innovative module design and engineering, micro- and ultra-filtrations have become effective and economical for drinking water production, particularly for removal of microorganisms. Membrane bioreactors are being developed for municipal and industrial water recycling. Various membrane processes are also used to remove contaminants from industrial wastewaters. This book covers the fundamental and practical concepts and issues regarding the application of membrane technologies for sustainable water treatment. It describes and compares the effectiveness of desalination versus water recycling for long-term sustainable water use. This book is suitable for graduate and advanced undergraduate students, academic researchers and post-docs, manufacturers, consultants, design engineers and buyers in the field of Environmental Engineering and Chemical Engineering. On-line shopping is possible through the website: http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=isbn9781843393405

Waterborne Pathogens: Review for the Drinking Water Industry by Emmanuelle Guillot and Jean-Francois Loret (GWRC Report Series) ISBN: 9781843391791, pp194

Infectious diseases caused by pathogenic bacteria, viruses and protozoa, are the most common and widespread health risk associated with drinking water. Most waterborne pathogens are introduced into drinking water supplies by human or animal faeces (enteric pathogens) but they can also exist naturally in water environments as indigenous aquatic micro-organisms. Controlling the risks related to these pathogens is a permanent challenge for the water industry. In addition to the constantly evolving range of pathogens to consider, assessing and managing such risks requires the integration of information issued by a wide range of disciplines. The necessary knowledge is however still sketchy and incomplete for most pathogens, and research efforts are necessary to fill the remaining gaps of knowledge. The purpose of this study is to provide an updated, comprehensive review of current knowledge on a selection of pathogens of interest for the drinking water industry, and to identify the remaining gaps of knowledge and thus the necessary research to be conducted. Each micro-organism in this study is described in a summary fact sheet composed of the following items: microbiology, human health effects, geographical distribution, epidemiology, ecology, inactivation/removal, surrogates, environmental detection and research needs. Since much remains unknown about many aspects that are common to viruses, the study features a general section on virus research needs. A special section summarizes the risk management research conducted on waterborne pathogens. Finally, the conclusion gives an overview of the main gaps in current knowledge on waterborne pathogens. On-line shopping is provided at the http://www.iwapublishing.com/template.cfm?name=isbn9781843391791 Internet homepage

Amendments Guide for FP7 Grant Agreements. Version 5/05/2008

In spite of the careful negotiations and appropriate preparations of the grant agreements (GA) the real life insists necessary modifications of the agreements since more and more FP7 research projects have started their research activities. As a general rule, an amendment is necessary whenever the grant agreement has to be modified. This is typically the case for any change of the data included in the core part of the GA and for changes of Annex I. In some cases, the GA explicitly states that a written amendment is needed. An amendment to a GA is a legal act modifying the commitments initially accepted by the parties and which may create new rights or impose new obligations on them, or modifying significant parts of the GA. An amendment can only be done in writing, because an oral agreement is not binding on the parties. The amendment is effected through an exchange of letters: (i) a letter-request from the Commission or the Coordinator on behalf of the consortium, and (ii) a letter of acceptance of the amendment (the Commission or the Coordinator on behalf of the consortium). The request for amendment must be complete and must enclose the supporting documents justifying the modifications proposed if necessary.

The GA may be affected by other types of changes which do not constitute an amendment, but which must be communicated to the consortium or to the Commission through an information letter. These letters inform the parties about circumstances which do not depend on the agreement of the parties and therefore do not require an amendment but change the GA where a given beneficiary participates (e.g. change of legal name, address, etc.). In this case the beneficiary (not the Coordinator) will send a letter to the Commission communicating this information including any relevant supporting documents. The Commission will enter the information in its IT system(s) and send an acknowledgement to the Coordinator and to the beneficiary concerned to inform that it has taken note of the change and that the Commission database has been updated accordingly. In some cases the change may be presented as a change of name or details but may in fact go beyond this and may require an amendment. In case of doubt about the nature of the change affecting them, before introducing a request, beneficiaries are encouraged to contact informally for advice, the Commission officers in charge of the project.

These guidance notes are aimed at assisting beneficiaries. It is provided for information purposes only and its contents are not intended to replace consultation of any applicable legal sources or the necessary advice of a legal expert, where appropriate. The guideline can be downloaded from the ftp://ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/docs/amendments-ga_en.pdf homepage.

RTD RESULTS: USE, EXPLOITATION AND COMMUNICATION EXPERIENCES

FP6 INNOWATECH (036882): Advanced and innovative approaches for treating industrial wastewater

The FP6 European project INNOWATECH started its activities in November 2006 and will be over next March 2010. Its main goal is investigating and enhancing the performances of innovative industrial wastewater treatments based on aerobic biomass granulation, advanced oxidation processes combined with biological treatments, membrane contactors and membrane chemical reactors. Food industry WW, landfill leachates, pharmaceutical WW, pesticides WW, slaughterhouse WW and chemical industry WW have been the streams treated. Among the several results achieved during the project, it has proved that plants based on aerobic biomass granules enable industrial and municipal wastewater treatment with lower energy consumption, costs and footprint. Even the feasibility of treating pharmaceutical wastewater by exploiting solar light has been proved as well as the effectiveness of membrane chemical reactor to treat recalcitrant wastewater with no sludge production. All the investigated and/or developed technologies have been evaluated and compared by life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) methodologies. With the aim to effectively disseminate the final results of the project among the potential stakeholders and end-users, an open conference will be held in GENT (Belgium) on next 27th January (see www.innotech.org for programme and details). Additional and exhaustive information can be found on the same web site (www.innowatech.org), where an open forum area is also available for potential stakeholders and/or end-users.

FP6 OSIRIS (037017): Optimised Strategies for Risk Assessment of Industrial Chemicals through Integration of Non-Test and Test Information

OSIRIS aims to develop integrated testing strategies (ITS) for risk assessment of chemicals, considering different information sources, and thus to increase the use of non-testing information for regulatory decision making and to minimise the need for animal testing. ITS shifts risk assessment from a “box-ticking” approach with extensive animal testing to a more efficient, context-specific and substance-tailored approach.

The OSIRIS ITS training courses for professional end-users address key staff in industry and regulatory agencies involved in the submission and review of chemical risk assessments and aim to introduce the main concepts underlying the design of ITS for the regulatory purposes of REACH and to provide some practical experience of the application of various software tools relevant to ITS. Courses also target the training of young scientists in order to educate the next generation of risk assessors and managers. The Second OSIRIS Training Course was held on 23–25 September 2009 at the Mario Negri Institute in Milan, Italy. It was divided into two modules: Module I was a theoretical introduction to risk assessment and the concepts underlying various software tools, whereas Module II was devoted to software demonstrations and hands-on case studies.

Module I comprised an interactive introduction to the role of risk assessment in the control of chemicals and its relation with risk management, as well as a report on REACH and the need for ITS, describing the underlying principles and difficulties encountered. The REACH procedures and the Chemical Safety Assessment were explained, with a focus on exposure assessment. Cost-effectiveness Analysis (CEA) was introduced, and its use for the assessment of the performance of testing strategies and the application as a decision-support tool was discussed. Information on bioaccumulation and the endpoint bio-concentration factor was summarised, important for REACH within the context of PBT assessment and classification and labelling. Furthermore, the development of strategies for "in vitro", "in vivo" and "in silico" information for mutagenicity/carcinogenicity was described. The use of information relating to mode and mechanism of toxic action in ITS for toxicity prediction and different techniques to determine mechanisms of action were outlined. The reporting formats used to document qualitative and quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) models and their predictions were reviewed.

In Module II, demonstrations and practical sessions were provided of different software tools including the OSIRIS ITS web tool. There was also an open discussion on the adequacy of QSARs and what steps are still needed to promote the acceptance of the models. It was suggested that there should be an EU-certified course on computational toxicology which would ensure a minimal qualification and level of assurance for laboratories/consultants involved in providing QSAR data for REACH registration dossiers.

Further information is available at the OSIRIS website www.osiris-reach.eu. The next OSIRIS Training Course is scheduled for September 2010.

FP6 CALCAS (037075): Co-ordination Action in Life Cycle Analysis for Sustainability

On August 31st 2009 the CALCAS project closed, delivering its final results to the European Commission for the final approval. Started in 2006, the project was aimed to structure the array of LCA approaches that have emerged during the last two decades, and to indicate how the analysis might be improved, by formulating research lines and road maps for sustainability decision support. Indeed, besides LCA as defined in the ISO-14040 series, various other LCA approaches have emerged taking into account more types of externalities (economic and social costs) and more mechanisms (rebound, behaviour, price effects), handling of time ((quasi-)dynamic, steady state), handling of space (spatially differentiated or spatially independent) and/or meeting specific user needs such as in simplified LCA. CALCAS thus pointed out the need of extending Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) to what in the project was referred to as Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis (LCSA).

Important results of the project have just been delivered: (i) The proposal of a unitary framework for Life Cycle Sustainability Analysis (LCSA), a logical structure able to incorporate knowledge from all domains relevant to sustainable development. Its function is to improve decision-making by better reckoning with sustainability consequences in a life cycle perspective regarding decisions on technology systems; and (ii) Two proposals for research programmes and project: one focused on the LCA as standardised by ISO; the other on research issues for expanding ISO-LCA to Life Cycle Sustainability analysis (LCSA). It represents the proposals for research to fill the identified gaps in LCA theory, practice and use within the context of sustainability support.

These results build on the extensive analyses performed during the whole projects, analyses which addressed both the science supply (available knowledge, gaps therein and strategies for filling these gaps) and demand side (users’ needs and governance perspectives). Moreover, important contributions came from the several open workshops organised during the project: in those circumstances, participants belonging to different knowledge domains took part, providing inputs to the projects and feedback to the main achievements. All the analyses and the discussions have represented the basis for the 22 deliverables, which are available for downloading, as soon as approved by the Commission, in the project informative web site www.calcasproject.net

FP6 SOCOPSE (037038): Source control of priority substances in Europe. Priority Substances in The Water Framework Directive - Legislation in need of Support for Implementation

The main objective of the SOCOPSE project is to provide support for the implementation of the WFD with regards to Priority Substances (PS). The project is focussed on the development of a common approach and a Decision Support System (DSS), with associated databases and compiled information, to support the implementation of the WFD. The DSS and the associated guidelines have been tested and evaluated in five case studies in different regions of Europe. The DSS is a step by step decision support plan leading to the selection of the best control options. To provide information on sources of the priority substances, a Material Flow Analysis approach has been used to describe sources, fluxes and environmental end points for priority substances in Europe. This approach was found to be successful for the identification of potential emission sources in river basins although lack of data in some cases prevented a full Material Flow Analysis. Guidance on the assessment and selection of control measures has also been developed. The methodology includes a database on control measures which can be expanded with local data to develop local assessments. A Multi Criteria Analysis (MCA) approach is suggested for ranking of control options. For future development and implementation of the WFD, conclusions from SOCOPSE include: (i) Increased transparency and openness of information on production, use, emissions and management options is needed; (ii) Continued scientific support for the implementation of the WFD is necessary including development of DSS; and (iii) An integrated approach for chemicals (cradle to grave perspective) is needed for future protection of the environment. This would be facilitated by information exchange and joint planning between EU Directives and international conventions. FP6 SOCOPSE was completed on November 30, 2009. Details on project partners, reports and a web based DSS is available on the www.socopse.eu homepage.

FP6 NEPTUNE (036845): New Sustainable Concepts and Processes for Optimization and Upgrading Municipal Wastewater and Sludge Treatment (www.eu-neptune.org) Full scale ozonation of municipal secondary wastewater effluent for eliminating micro-pollutants

A full scale ozone reactor was installed at wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) Regensdorf (Switzerland) to treat the secondary effluent. A rapid sand filter acted as biological polishing step after ozonation. In nine sampling campaigns, different ozone doses were added to the wastewater stream. During each campaign, 24 h or 48 h flow proportional composite samples were taken in the effluent of the primary and secondary clarifier, after ozonation and in the final effluent after sand filtration. More than 50 persistent pharmaceuticals and biocides with different second-order rate constants for the reaction with ozone were selected as suitable indicators for the evaluation of the elimination efficiency by ozone. The results show that many of the compounds with aromatic moieties, amine functions or olefines such as sulfamethoxazole, diclofenac or carbamazepine were eliminated to concentrations below the limit of detection using 600 g O3/kg DOC. Compounds more resistant against oxidation by ozone such as atenolol and benzotriazole were increasingly eliminated with increasing ozone doses. Only few pollutants such as x-ray contrast media persisted almost completely against oxidation. The kinetic behaviour of the elimination process of micro-pollutants during ozonation could be well described by detailed full-scale sampling campaigns taking grab samples along the ozone reactor.

Concerning oxidation by-products, low concentrations of the carcinogenic NDMA were produced, but ~50% were removed during the following sand filtration. The simultaneous toxicity reduction during the ozonation process was determined by a battery of eco-toxicological bioassays. Ozonation led to a reduction of both specific and non-specific toxicity indicating that no relevant amount of toxic by-products is formed. The secondary effluent still exceeded the proposed environmental quality standard EQS concentration, while final effluent was below this EQS. As an additional benefit, the total cell number was slightly decreased and the number of the indicator organism E. coli was significantly reduced by up to 2.5 log units during ozonation. Concerning energy consumption, the ozonation step was optimized during the study and reached the value which corresponds to 20-30% of the total energy consumption of a conventional nutrient removal plant. Additionally, 0.02 kWh/m3 wastewater electrical energy was needed for pure oxygen production.

In conclusion, the full scale reactor proves ozonation to be an efficient technique for the elimination of micro-pollutants from secondary effluent as well as for disinfection and toxicity decrease at feasible additional energy consumption. A subsequent rapid sand filter is useful for the elimination of NDMA and biodegradable compounds formed during ozonation. More details of the obtained results can bee found in the Newsletter of the Neptune project: http://www.eu-neptune.org/Neptune%20Newsletter/2ndnewsletter_Neptune.pdf

FP7 BACSIN (211684): Bacterial Abiotic Stress and Survival Network

The sixteen-partner BACSIN project was launched in June 2008 in the Area of Environmental Biotechnology with the main aim to improve rational control of bacteria as catalysts in pollutant degradation. One of the first project objectives is to better understand the relation between stress response experienced by pollutant degrading bacteria being re-introduced into the environment, and their metabolic activity. The second main objective for the first year was to improve field diagnostics possibilities for screening the presence of appropriate catalytic bacteria to carry out the desired degradation process. BACSIN accomplished several important points to address these objectives, such as genome-wide transcription studies under drought stress on a number of ‘bacsin’ strains degrading key pollutants, survival studies in soil, on plant roots and leaves, and single-cell labeling protocols to follow metabolic activity of bacsins in the environment. Secondly, a catabolic array was designed by which all known catabolic genes can be screened for, which was tested on a contaminated site. The next year will see the transition to controlled microcosm and field experiments to combine basic knowledge on stress behaviour with field performance. Further protocols for optimal bacsin drying and plant root or leaf applications are under development. The consortium held two general meetings (Granada, Spain, February 2009 and Leipzig, Germany, November 2009). An international hands-on two-week workshop is planned for Summer 2011. For more information and current BACSIN publications see the project web-site: www.bacsin.org.

FP7 EnviroGenomarkers (226756): New generation of biomarkers to study environmental agents in human disease

The EnviroGenomarkers project aims at the development and application of a new generation of biomarkers, based on "omics" technologies, to study the environmental aetiology of human disease. Theses technologies are used in a relatively large population study, and aim at the: (i) discovery and validation of novel biomarkers predictive of increased risks of chronic diseases in which the environment may play an important role (breast cancer, Non Hodgkin’s lymphoma, childhood diseases including allergy, neurological and immune diseases, thyroid disruption), (ii) exploration of the association of such risk biomarkers with exposure to a number of high-priority or emerging environmental pollutants with carcinogenic, immuno-toxic or hormone-like properties, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PBCs), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), cadmium, lead, phthalates, brominated flame retardants (polybrominated biphenyls), ambient air pollutants and water treatment byproducts, and (iii) discovery and validation of biomarkers of exposure to the above environmental pollutants.
The project gathers together 11 research institutions from 6 countries (Finland, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Sweden and United Kingdom) and is coordinated by the National Hellenic Research Foundation.

The research results will, not only, reinforce the scientific basis for the risk assessment of the human exposure to the above mentioned factors, but also support policy initiatives for the protection of health in relation to environment. These technologies favour an integrated approach in the field of environmental health and can lead to the discovery of early maturing cell changes, serving as risk indicators for future disease. Following the kick-off meeting of the project (Athens, 9-10 March), the partners discussed about the pilot study, which is expected to be completed soon, and the subsequent main study, mainly the flow of samples in laboratories, the criteria for samples selection, the procedures of their flow as well as the data warehousing and bioinformatics for the statistical analysis. The samples to be analysed come from three bio-banks: the EPIC (Italy), the Northern Sweden Health and Disease Study (Umea) and the Rhea (Crete). Further information is available at the homepage of the project: http://www.envirogenomarkers.net/.

NEW FP7 RESEARCH PROJECTS

FP7 ChemScreen (244236): CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE IN VITRO/IN SILICO SCREENING SYSTEM TO PREDICT HUMAN- AND ECO-TOXICOLOGICAL EFFECTS

The current system of risk assessment of chemicals is complex, very resource-intensive and extremely time-consuming. Because of this, there is a great need to modernize this process. However, this is not feasible without alternative, integrated testing strategies in which chemical characteristics are used to more advantage and where costly and time consuming animal tests are replaced to a large extent by more rapid, cheap and ethically less controversial methods. This is particularly needed for reproductive toxicity testing of chemical. Reproductive toxicity is important to assess both human and environmental toxicity and uses the most animals in toxicity testing. Unfortunately, there are very few alternative methods. We aim to fill this gap and place the tests in a more general innovative animal free testing strategy. For this, we will generate a simple rapid screening system, which aims at widespread implementation within the tight time schedule of the REACH program. It will be a flexible tool that can be adapted and used for applications beyond the scope of REACH and in the post-REACH period. It will use "in silico" methods for pre-screening chemicals for all relevant toxic effects. When found positive, this will be followed by further "in silico" and "in vitro" tests, most of which are available already. To fill the gap of suitable alternative methods for reproductive toxicity testing we will use a novel high throughput approach combining in silico/in vitro methods. In this approach we will combine knowledge of critical processes affected by reproductive toxicants with knowledge on the mechanistic basis of such effects. Straight forward data interpretation and decision trees will be developed in which all information on the potential toxicity of a chemical is considered. In this way we will provide a cost-effective means to generate a basic set of data on toxicological properties of chemicals and a decision tool to assess if further testing of chemicals is required. Partner Institutions: (i) BioDetection Systems B.V. (NL); (ii) FRAUNHOFER-GESELLSCHAFT ZUR FOERDERUNG DER ANGEWANDTEN FORSCHUNG E.V (DE); (iii) NEDERLANDSE ORGANISATIE VOOR TOEGEPAST NATUURWETENSCHAPPELIJK ONDERZOEK(NL); (iv) SIMPPLE S.L. (ES); (v) RIJKSINSTITUUT VOOR VOLKSGEZONDHEID EN MILIEU (NL); (vi) Technical University of Denmark (DK); (vii) PROCTER AND GAMBLE INTERNATIONAL OPERATIONS S.A. (CH); (viii) EBERHARD KARLS UNIVERSITAET TUEBINGEN (DE); (ix) Universität Konstanz (DE)

FP7 NANOSUSTAIN (247989): Development of sustainable solutions for nanotechnology-based products based on hazard characterization and LCA

The primary goal of the project is to develop new technical solutions for the sustainable design and use, for recycling and final treatment of selected nanotechnology-based products. Specific objectives are: (i) to assess the hazard of selected nanomaterials based on a comprehensive data survey on their properties (physico-chemical characteristics, exposure probabilities, etc.) and the adaptation, evaluation, validation and use of existing analytical, testing and LCA methods; (ii) to assess selected products using LCA (in relation to material and energy flows); (iii) to assess the impact of these materials in relation to toxicology, ecotoxicology, exposure, environmental and biological fate, transport, transformation, and destiny; and (iv) to explore the feasibility and sustainability of new technical solutions for end-of-life processes, such as reuse/recycling, final treatment or disposal.

The project will integrate, validate and apply a variety of advanced analytical and toxicity test methods, including molecular biology and biochemistry, to deepen our present understanding of the impact that follows after possible release and intake of nanoparticles, and identify possible health risks. Various laboratory and modelling approaches will be used to assess hazardous properties of selected products and materials, to improve existing monitoring systems to control distribution, transport and final destiny of nanomaterials, and to develop and explore appropriate solutions for their safe use, handling and recycling, and final treatment. It will in particular develop the assessment of specific areas that may be relevant for the selection of appropriate endpoints, such as exposure to nanoparticles in test systems or their aggregation and solubility in relation to abiotic factors. Different test strategies and in vitro tests will be examined, to assess possible effects under real conditions, but also to reduce the amount of animal testing. Results will be used to build up a project-specific material database, to further develop and validate preliminary and established risk assessment methods, and to allow for a more careful design and use of products, and of technical solutions for recycling and final treatment. To identify potential environment impacts from production and application/use to final recycling, existing LCA-methods and exposure models for LCIA will be used and further developed to generate data on prospective environmental concentrations and to define criteria and guidelines for a more precautionary design and improved recyclability of selected nanomaterials. The Consortium CONTENTS 13 partners from 8 countries: (i) Nordmiljö AB, SE; (ii) The Institute of Nanotechnology, UK; (iii) National Research Centre for the Working Environment, DK; (iv) Technical Research Centre of Finland, FI; (v) University of Bremen, DE; (vi) Veneto Nanotech, IT; (vii) European Commission Joint Research Centre, BE; (viii) Kaunas University of Technology, LT; (ix) National Institute for R&D in Microtechnologies, RO; (x) Nanologica AB, SE; (xi) Nanogate AG, DE; (xii) UPM Kymmene, FI; (xiii) Amroy Europe, FI. For further information please consult the project web site: http://www.nanosustain.eu.

FP7 FIRESENSE (244088): Fire Detection and Management through a Multi-Sensor Network for the Protection of Cultural Heritage Areas from the Risk of Fire and Extreme Weather Conditions

The proposed project aims to develop an automatic early warning system to remotely monitor areas of archaeological and cultural interest from the risk of fire and extreme weather conditions. Since these areas have been treasured and tended for very long periods of time, they are usually surrounded by old and valuable vegetation or situated close to forest regions, which exposes them to an increased risk of fire. Additionally, extreme weather conditions (such as storms and floods) pose great risks for these sites. The proposed system will take advantage of recent advances in multi-sensor surveillance technologies, using a wireless sensor network capable of monitoring different modalities (e.g. temperature) andoptical and infrared cameras, as well as local weather stations on the deployment site. The signals collected from these sensors will be transmitted to a monitoring center, which will employ intelligent computer vision and pattern recognition algorithms as well as data fusion techniques to automatically analyze sensor information. The proposed system will be capable of generating automatic warning signals for local authorities whenever a dangerous situation arises. Detecting the starting position of a fire is only the first step in fire fighting. After detecting a wildfire, the main focus should be the estimation of the propagation direction and speed in order to help forest fire management. The project will provide real-time information about the evolution of fire using wireless sensor network data. Furthermore, it will estimate the propagation of the fire based on the fuel model of the area and other important parameters such as wind speed, slope, and aspect of the ground surface. Finally, a 3-D Geographic Information System (GIS) environment will provide visualisation of the predicted fire propagation. Demonstrator deployments will be operated in selected sites in Greece, Turkey and Tunisia. Partner Institutions: (i) Centre for Research and Technology Helleas (GR); (ii) Bilkent Universitesi (TR); (iii) Ecole Supérieure des Communications (TN); (iv) XenICs nv (BE); (v) Stichting Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica (NL) (vi) Marac Electronics, S.A (GR); (vii) Bogazici Universitesi (TR); (viii) Ministry of Culture, IX Ephorate for Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities (GR); (ix) Titan Building Systems Technology, Industry and Trade Ltd. (TR).

FP7 LC-IMPACT (243827): Development and application of environmental Life Cycle Impact assessment Methods for imProved sustAinability Characterisation of Technologies

LC-IMPACT is a 3-year project and its main objective is the development and application of life cycle impact assessment methods, characterisation and normalisation factors. Impact from land use, water use, marine, mineral and fossil resource use, eco-toxicity and human toxicity, and a number of non-toxic emission-related impact categories will be considered in LC-IMPACT. First, new impact assessment methods will be developed for categories that are not (commonly) included in life cycle impact assessments and categories for which model uncertainties are very high, i.e. land use, water exploitation, resource use, and noise. Second, LC-IMPACT will provide spatially explicit characterisation factors based on global scale models for land use, water exploitation, toxicants, priority air pollutants, and nutrients. Thirdly, parameter uncertainty and value choices will be assessed for impact categories with high uncertainties involved, such as eco-toxicity and human toxicity. Fourthly, ready-to-use characterisation factors will be calculated and reported. Fifthly, normalisation factors for Europe and the world will be calculated for the impact categories included. Sixthly, the improved decision support of the new characterisation factors and normalisation factors will be demonstrated in the context of the following three case studies: (i) food production (fish, tomatoes, margarine), (ii) paper production and printing, and iii) automobile manufacturing and operation. Finally, verification and dissemination of the new life cycle impact assessment methods and factors will be done by a portfolio of actions, such as stakeholder consultation, a project website, workshops, course developments, and training of user groups. In short, LC-IMPACT will provide improved, globally applicable life cycle impact assessment methods, characterisation and normalisation factors that can be readily used in the daily practice of life cycle assessment studies.

Partner Instutions: (i) Radboud Universiteit Nijmegen - Stichting Katholieke Universiteit (NL); (ii) Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich (CH); (iii) Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DK); (iv) SIK – Institutet foer Livsmedel och Bioteknik AB (SE); (v) PRé Consultants b.v. (NL); (vi) Internationales Institut Fuer Angewandte Systemaanalyse (AT); (vii) Unilever UK Central Resources Ltd. (UK); (viii) Universitaet Stuttgart (DE); (xi) Ecointesys - Life Cycle Systems Sàrl (CH); (x) Universiteit Leiden (NL); (xi) EC Directorate General Joint Research Centre (EU); (xii) Raw Materials Group RMG AB (SE); (xiii) Grafisk Arbejdsgiverforening (DK); (xiv) Daimler AG Mercedes Benz Werk Rastatt (DE); (xv) Institut de Recerca I Technologia Agroalimentaries (ES).

USEFUL LINKS