Department Water Resources and Drinking Water

Our project was part of the EU project INSPIRATION. It dealt with urban development and agricultural production in Europe which has significantly damaged soil and water resources, ecosystem biodiversity, socio-economic well-being and contributed to climate change. Expected further intensification of production to ensure food safety for population growth must be sustainable to minimize future impacts and negative externalities. This project addressed these challenges by training 15 early stage researchers in cutting edge research skills and innovative approaches to manage soil and groundwater impacts from urban settings and agriculture. The scientific objectives focused on developing (1) management techniques which mitigate environmental impacts of contamination on soil, water and climate systems; (2) "smart" environmental monitoring, biotechnology and modelling tools to predict the outcome of measures and practices; (3) decision-making tools with sustainability indicators. This was achieved by linking lab-scale studies of processes with field-scale evaluation of novel management concepts, analytical tools and modelling, using state-of-the-art methods.