Coordinated by the University of Bourgogne Franche-Comté, the Horizon-Europe EDAPHOS project aims to implement innovative technologies for monitoring polluted soils and nature-based restoration to accelerate their restoration and ensure that the processes developed can be integrated into a commercial offer. It is endowed with 7 million euros over 4 years as part of Horizon Europe’s "Soil Health and Food" mission.
Issues
Soils are the backbone of healthy and vibrant ecosystems, providing substrates and physical, chemical and biological functions necessary for life. But soils are constantly threatened by pollution, creating a significant risk to human health and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. The EU Soil Strategy 2030 sets out a framework and concrete measures to protect, restore and ensure that soil is used sustainably. It sets out a vision and targets to achieve healthy soils by 2050, with concrete actions by 2030.
Specific objectives
EDAPHOS is a R&I project that aims to implement innovative nature-based technologies for monitoring polluted soils and remediation to accelerate their reclamation and ensure that the processes developed can integrate a commercial offer. The ambition of the project revolves around 5 major axes:
• Improving remote sensing contaminated soil monitoring by combining multi-scale, multispectral and multi-modal information
• Improve and democratize methods for ecological risk assessment and analysis of ecosystem services
• Implement and demonstrate the effectiveness of nature-based solutions through their deployment on 7 study sites (ES, FR, GR, IT, PO)
• Making phytoremediation an opportunity for society and a traditional commercial enterprise
• Facilitate data analysis and integration into a spatial planning model using artificial intelligence (AI)
Partners
The project brings together a European consortium made up of:
• 2 academic partners: University of Bourgogne Franche Comté / University of Franche Comté (FR), Universita di Bologna (IT);
• 5 research institutes: Centre For Renewable Energy Sources And Saving Foundation (CRES, GR), Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior De Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC, ES), Office national d’etudes et de recherche aerospatiales (ONERA, FR), Institut national de l’environnement industriel et des risques (INERIS, FR), The Central Mining Institute (GIG, PO);
• 4 SME : LGi Sustainable Innovation (LGi, FR), Phytowelt Greentechnologies Gmbh (DE), EVOTROPIA Ecological Finance Architectures Private Company (GR), ELVESYS (FR);
• 1 large company: AMPHOS 21 CONSULTING SL (ES)
Key info:
• EU funding: €6.99 million
• Project duration: 4 years; September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2027
• Coordination scientifique : Michel Chalot (Professor at the University of Lorraine and researcher at the Chrono-environment Laboratory of the University of Franche Comté)
• Project Management Officer : Samy Strola (LGi)
Learn more:
• the website of "Soil Mission" at the MESR.
