Meet the Projects

iMERMAID is an EU-funded project focused on protecting the Mediterranean Sea and its surroundings, which play a crucial role in various socioeconomic activities. It aims to address the growing threats of chemical contamination and pollution caused by human activities.

With a consortium of 26 partners from across Europe and beyond, iMERMAID aims to integrate innovative strategies for prevention, monitoring, and remediation. The project will encourage collaborations to develop advanced sensor and remediation technologies, strengthen regulations to reduce contamination, enhance economic opportunities, and thereby improve the quality of life for EU residents.

The project will test these innovations in five real-world scenarios across the EU and beyond: Spain, Tunisia, Italy, Cyprus and Greece, tackling everything from agricultural runoff and heavy metals to wastewater treatment and the open waters of the Mediterranean. But the project is not just about technology. iMERMAID is about people.

iMERMAID is committed to training young minds through a dynamic capacity-building program, nurturing the next generation of water conservation champions. iMERMAID will also distribute a total of 800,000 EUR to third parties (via two OPEN CALLS) to engage local and regional authorities across associated regions. These calls aim to further demonstrate the innovative iMERMAID solutions and provide technical assistance to address the CoEC (CONTAMINANTS OF EMERGING CONCERN) challenges specific to the different regions.

AquaBioSens develops handheld devices to measure aquatic hazards and pollution, supporting the EU Mission to “Restore our ocean and waters by 2030”. The devices use novel analytics, such as immunoassays, environmental RNA quantification, and whole cell biosensors, coupled with advanced sensors, such as acoustic biosensors, fluorimetry, and organ-on-chip devices. The devices are low-cost, accessible, and connected to the web. They will be tested and validated in coastal and freshwater sites in the UK, Ireland, and Greece, and disseminated to the international community. AquaBioSens aims to commercialize the new technologies.

CONTRAST project will advance understanding on the properties, occurrence, fate and effects of the most relevant CECs in the marine ecosystem and deliver solutions for efficient integrated assessment and effect-based monitoring of marine environments. The project will deliver solutions for efficient integrated assessment and effect-based monitoring of marine environments, with a particular focus on three deep-sea case studies.

CONTRAST will design, demonstrate and deliver fit-for-purpose framework(s) for innovative monitoring of CECs in European seas, with the vision of significantly supporting policymakers at the EU and national levels and contributing to the implementation of relevant environmental policies.

DIGI4ECO, Digital Twin-sustained 4D Ecological Monitoring of Restoration in Fishery Depleted Areas, is a pioneering initiative aimed at unlocking new discoveries crucial for addressing climate change and regulating human activities. The project recognizes the critical importance of these ecosystems for both environmental conservation and socio-ecological activities, and it is committed to harnessing digital innovation to address these challenges.

DIGI4ECO is dedicated to making past, current, and future data accessible to everyone. Through innovative tools and methodologies, the project will utilize relevant “sleeping” data collected by various institutions, including physical and chemical sensors and video cameras, across 4 demonstration sites.

The MOBILES project is an innovative project funded by the European Union under Horizon Europe Programme. By developing advanced electronic and organism-based biosensors, the project aims to detect and monitor harmful organic chemicals, antimicrobial-resistant bacteria, and pathogens across soil, water, and air. Furthermore, soil metagenomic analysis will be conducted on contaminated soils across Europe, and a metagenomic database will be constructed in order to identify a pool of genes linked to soil-specific soil pollutants.

MOBILES is dedicated to safeguarding environmental health through real-time, portable diagnostic tools, enabling rapid and precise detection of biotic and abiotic pollutants in soil, water, and air.

Co-creating strong uptake of REMEDIES for the future of our oceans through deploying plastic litter valorisation and prevention pathways (IA).

The REMEDIES project focuses on three key pillars: monitoring and detection of plastic litter, collection and valorization, prevention and zero waste solutions. Aligning with allies, we address plastic pollution’s impact on marine ecosystems. Our project tests four innovations per pillar across 8 demonstration sites in the Mediterranean and expands to 33 more locations. A significant part of the project is community building, involving stakeholders and turning those affected by plastic pollution into actors for a healthier ocean. We aim to create a plastic-conscious society, realizing 115 beach cleanups and engaging 2K citizens to collect more than 20t of plastic (#20tonneschallenge). With REMEDIES, we have launched two open calls for Associate Regions with financial support of 500K. Overall, we aim to map 170 km², engage 100,000 citizens, and reach more than 1 million people, collect 400 tons of plastic, and prevent 3,700 tons of plastic waste from entering marine environments.

Restore4Life showcases the remarkable socio-economic benefits derived from a comprehensive and interdisciplinary approach to restoring freshwater and coastal wetlands in the Danube basin. By creating new blue-green infrastructure that bolsters regional climate change resilience and mitigation efforts, Restore4Life paves the way for a sustainable future.

RHE-MEDiation “Responsive hub for long term governance to destress the Mediterranean Sea from chemical pollution (IA)”

RHE-MEDiation aims to establish a responsive governance hub to reduce chemical pollution in the Mediterranean Sea, targeting critical hotspots. The initiative is focused on testing and validating a remediation technology using micro-algae solutions, which will be integrated into existing water and wastewater treatment systems to improve the removal of heavy metals, pesticides, and PFAS (forever chemicals). Additionally, mobile and fixed sensing systems will be deployed to detect and quantify these pollutants in both terrestrial and marine environments, with data being contributed to the European Commission EMODnet platform to enhance the Digital Twin of the Ocean. Demonstration sites in Italy, Greece, and Turkey will lead the initiative, with plans to expand to five additional replication sites, empowering local stakeholders to drive this transformative effort.

SUNBIO is an innovative EU-funded project focused on developing and implementing an integrated triple-use system that combines renewable energy production, marine biodiversity support, and carbon sequestration to address pressing environmental challenges. By leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as marine floating photovoltaics, wave energy, and thermal gradient systems, SUNBIO’s Offshore Hybrid Renewable Energy System (OHRES) generates clean and renewable energy, paving the way for a more sustainable future.

The project aims to address the urgent need for harmony between human development and the planet’s ecosystems by developing innovative systems that balance human needs with marine biodiversity and resource conservation. It runs from June 1, 2024, to May 31, 2027, with participating countries including Spain, Greece, the United Kingdom, and Cyprus.

SUNDANSE is a 48 months long initiative that brings together 20 innovation stakeholders and educational entities from 10 different European countries, who share a common vision to develop sustainable sediment solutions for the Danube – Black Sea system. The Danube River has been incredibly important for both people and wildlife for hundreds of years. However, human activities since the late 1800s have significantly changed how the river functions to better serve our needs. Unfortunately, these alterations, combined with the effects of climate change, have disrupted the river’s natural balance. This is where SUNDANSE plays a big role! SUNDANSE will conduct a survey of the configuration and dynamics of the Danube River via REXDAN, the newest and most advanced research vessel in Europe. With this, among other benefits, a complete map of the main characteristics of the Danube River from Vienna to the Black Sea will be gained and a Sediment Management Handbook for the Danube River basin, including intervention strategies will be created.

Zero pollution of Persistent and Mobile substances, will interlink and synergize prevention, prioritization and removal strategies to protect the environment and human health from persistent, mobile (PM) substances. To do this, ZeroPM will establish an evidence-based multilevel framework to guide policy, technological and market incentives to minimize use, emissions and pollution of groups of PM substances.

To Prevent, ZeroPM will develop scientific, policy and market tools for the substitution and mitigation of prioritized PM substances to safer and sustainable alternatives To Prioritize, ZeroPM will identify the groups of PM substances requiring the most urgent action. To Remove, ZeroPM will explore real-word scale remediation solutions and find their sustainability limits. By taking this systemic approach, the EU will be better able to avoid regrettable substitution – substituting one problematic chemical for another – and regrettable remediation – investing in remediation efforts more that cause more damage than the substance itself.