Projects Chronology

Link(s)

• https://magic-nexus.eu/
• https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/689669

Contract

Grant Agreement ID 689669

Program (funded under)

• H2020-EU.3.5 SOCIETAL CHALLENGE: Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials
• H2020-EU.3.5.4 Enabling the transition towards a green economy and society through eco-innovation

Topic

WATER-2b-2015 Integrated approaches to food security, low-carbon energy, sustainable water management and climate change mitigation

Duration

1 June 2016 – 30 September 2020

IASTE Resource Persons

Mario Giampietro (Coordinator & PI), Sandra Bukkens, Louis Lemkow, Violeta Cabello, Zora Kovacic, Maddalena Ripa, Tarik Serrano, Ansel Renner, Louisa Jane Di Felice, Juan José Cadillo-Benalcazar, Raúl Velasco-Fernandez

Description

The objective of MAGIC was to open the path towards a new way of managing the resource nexus in which researchers and decision makers work together in the search for development strategies that can contribute to the smart, sustainable and inclusive economic growth required by the EU 2020 Strategy, while maintaining a leading and informed participation in international discussions about global issues, like climate change or food security.

In order to do so, MAGIC developed and deployed a set of novel, cutting-edge and system-oriented approaches that originates from system ecology, bio-economics and science and technology studies. Their combination allowed MAGIC to highlight if a certain mix of EU policies results in undesirable or unforeseen outcomes. Climate, water, land energy, and food modeling were integrated into a socio- and bio-economics framework using an iterative and participatory method. Significant care was taken to embed these ideas and approaches within the advisory and decision-making functions of the European Commission.

Impacts were twofold. First, MAGIC contributed a methodological framework where the needs for advice of different DGs in the design of development strategies for the EU are covered using a method that embraces the complexity of the resource nexus, for a better understanding of the interactions it holds. Second, the project provided ‘on the flight’ advice to the EC about the timeliness and soundness for the EU 2020 Strategy and the EU position in international agreements of EU policies -like the Water Framework Directive, the Common Agricultural Policy, or the Low-Carbon Economy Strategy- and targets of implementing technologies, such as electric vehicles, biofuels, and alternative water sources.

Link(s)

• https://www.green-win-project.eu/
• https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/642018

Contract

Grant Agreement ID 642018

Program (funded under)

H2020-EU.3.5.1 Fighting and adapting to climate change

Topic

SC5-03b-2014 Linkages between climate change actions and sustainable development

Duration

1 September 2015 – 31 December 2018

IASTE Resource Persons

Louis Lemkow (PI)

Description

The GREEN-WIN project was a major international transdisciplinary research collaboration applying a solution-oriented approach targeted at increasing the understanding of links between climate action and sustainability and overcoming implementation barriers through win-win strategies. The project critically assessed where and under which conditions win-win and in particular green growth strategies work in practice and where fundamental tradeoffs are faced. Work focused on four critical barriers, as identified by practitioners and policy makers:

• Develop transformative narratives highlighting opportunities in climate and sustainability action in order to contribute to overcoming cognitive barriers and empowering people.
• Examine climate and sustainability finance policies and governance arrangements in order to contribute to overcoming financial barriers to mitigation and adaptation.
• Substantiate the economics of green growth in order to contribute to overcoming economic and collective action barriers to decarbonization. Towards this end, the consortium introduced major innovations into the GEM-E3 computable general equilibrium model to explore green growth strategies. These include a network-based model of technological diffusion, and financial market constraints and adaptive expectations of agents.
• Contribute to overcoming economic and institutional barriers through identifying win-win strategies, sustainable business models and enabling environments in three action fields of coastal zone flood risk management, urban transformations and energy poverty eradication and resilience.

Project activities were embedded within a sustained international dialogue involving stakeholders from policy, research, civil society and the private sector, and an open knowledge management and capacity building strategy to promote knowledge transfer and learning beyond the project lifespan.

Link(s)

• https://sites.utu.fi/euforie/
• https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/649342

Contract

Grant Agreement ID 649342

Program (funded under)

H2020-EU.3.3.6 Robust decision making and public engagement

Topic

EE-12-2014 Socioeconomic research on energy efficiency

Duration

01 March 2015 – 30 November 2018

IASTE Resource Persons

Mario Giampietro (PI), Alevgul H. Sorman, Raúl Velasco, Laura Perez Sanchez, Samuele Lo Piano, Sandra Bukkens

Description

EUFORIE studied energy efficiency from different perspectives by building on methodologies developed in previous EU projects, namely SMILE and DECOIN. The project recognized the complexity of integrated assessments dealing with the performance of socio-ecological systems. In particular, there are different interpretations of the concept of efficiency that can be quantified at different levels and at different spatial, temporal and functional scales. For this reason, EUFORIE explored the potentialities of different analytical approaches and tested these approaches in case studies referring to different scales.

The project pursued two main objectives:

• Analyzing patterns of energy and material efficiency in Europe at different temporal and spatial scales in order to understand interpretations, benefits and risks of failure in the use of the concept of efficiency to formulate policies.
• Understanding and enhancing the role of stakeholders in the deliberation of more effective policies of energy and material resource use.

The insights obtained represented useful information and knowledge for the European Commission and for EU Member States in the field of energy efficiency.

Link(s)

• http://www.perform-research.eu/
• https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/665826

Contract

Grant Agreement ID 665826

Program (funded under)

H2020-EU.5.a Make scientific and technological careers attractive to young students, and foster sustainable interaction between schools, research institutions, industry and civil society organisations

Topic

SEAC-1-2014 Innovative ways to make science education and scientific careers attractive to young people

Duration

1 November 2015 – 31 October 2018

IASTE Resource Persons

Louis Lemkow (PI), Maria Heras López

Description

PERFORM combined performing arts and scientific research for the sake of innovating science education. European adolescents often have a narrow concept of science and many also struggle to identify, on a cultural level, with science, which can limit their future engagement with the subject. This lack of aspiration is particularly seen among girls and adolescents from low socio-economic backgrounds. PERFORM took action to overcome the distance between young people and science, and to break the unidirectional model of scientific knowledge transfer still prevalent in science teaching and learning, through connecting science with the arts, from STEM to STEAM. To this end, this collaborative project actively involved secondary school students, their teachers, and early career researchers in inquiry-based learning about scientific topics by using clown based on improvisational theatre, stand-up comedy and science busking.

PERFORM’s overall objective consisted of investigating the impact of innovative and participatory science education methods based on performing arts in fostering secondary school students’ engagement in science and STEM careers.

Specific objectives were:

1. Explore new science education methods based on scenic arts leading students to understand and to learn about STEM.
2. Identify and challenge limitations faced by teachers and early career researchers in teaching and communicating STEM to young people.
3. Assess the impact of the participatory educational process in fostering students’ motivations and engagement in science and with Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) values.
4. Implement a sound communication strategy for the dissemination and exploitation of the research results for widespread policy adoption and implementation across Europe.

Link(s)

https://prosjektbanken.forskningsradet.no/en/project/FORISS/238997

Contract

Grant Agreement ID 238997

Program (funded under)

Norwegian Research Council (Norges Forskningsråd)

Duration

01/07/2014 – 30/06/2018

IASTE Resource Persons

Mario Giampietro (PI), Juan J. Cadillo-Benalcazar, Gonzalo Gamboa, Sandra Bukkens

Description

The purpose of AQUAFLY was to develop and utilize novel safe and healthy raw materials, not used directly for food, as ingredients for salmon feed, thus contributing to the goal of a sustainable aquaculture. Insects are outstandingly powerful organisms that have the ability to upgrade less favorable organic resources to highly nutritious feed ingredients. NIFES earlier demonstrated the potential of insect meal as a suitable protein source for Atlantic salmon. AQUAFLY took this work a step further by developing novel insect meal and oil ingredients for Atlantic salmon diets contributing with essential nutrients to sustain fish health and welfare. To achieve this goal, insect meal nutrient composition was tailored towards Atlantic salmon nutrient requirements, such as marine omega-3 fatty acids.

All raw materials contribute with undesirable substances, and AQUAFLY monitored the undesirable substances including pathogens in the whole production chain from insect feed to fish fillet. Particularly, arsenic and cadmium concentrations are a challenge in some macro algae, and increased knowledge of the transfer efficiency from waste stream to insects to feed ingredients to fish fillet is necessary for evaluating macro algae and tunicate waste as relevant substrates for insect lipid and protein production.

The most promising macro algae and tunicate were selected as insect feed based on availability from wild stocks and aquaculture, nutrient composition and concentrations of undesirable components.

AQUAFLY also increased knowledge of the potential of a new insect species, Kelp fly, for commercial fish feed ingredient production.

Main AQUAFLY end points to assess the potential of insect raw materials for Atlantic salmon are the impact of maximum inclusion of insect protein and lipids on production of robust fish, feasibility of insect ingredients as an industry for aquaculture, and sustainability in a broad sense, as well as ethical aspects of insects in the seafood production chain.

Link(s)

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/623593

Contract

Grant Agreement ID 623593

Program (funded under)

FP7-PEOPLE Specific programme “People” implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Topic

FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IOF Marie Curie Action: “International Outgoing Fellowships for Career Development”

Duration

05 January 2015 – 26 April 2018

IASTE Resource Persons

Mario Giampietro (PI), Cristina Madrid-Lopez

Description

This project was coordinated by the UAB with Yale University as outgoing partner. Using the research lines of the partners, it aimed at enhancing the potential of integrated, multi-scale analysis of Water Metabolism of fracking activities to contribute to Integrated Water Resource Management (IWRM).

Water connects human and ecosystem processes at different spatial-temporal scales which form part of the water-energy nexus. IWRM aims at dealing with multiscale and nexus issues but due to its relative youth, its methodological body faces important analytical challenges like i) the connection between social and environmental levels of analysis, ii) the definition of the role water plays at these levels, iii) the nexus with other resources and iv) the integration of the stakeholder perspectives. The application of the Societal Metabolism metaphor to water helps scientists to deal with these weaknesses. The main issue faced by water scientists in the assimilation of Societal Metabolism is the different analytical approaches existent nowadays. This project brought together two of them that are complementary: Industrial Ecology and Complex System Theory.

Fracking is a fossil fuel extraction technology based on water injection in which the four challenges of IWRM explicitly reveal themselves. Fracking-driven shale gas extraction has affected global markets and local environments. The contradictory views about fracking are fed by partial studies of its economic and environmental consequences. Civil society, policy makers and academics claim for integrated analyses whose results allow better regulation and conflict resolution. To that end, an integrated assessment of its water metabolism was performed. Pennsylvania (US) served as primary case study. The insights were used to build scenarios of implementation in the EU (see also MAGIC).

Link(s)

https://www.cost.eu/cost-action/assessment-of-european-agriculture-water-use-and-trade-under-climate-change-euro-agriwat/

Contract

COST ACTION ES 1106

Duration

18 April 2012 – 17 April 2016

IASTE Resource Persons

Cristina Madrid-Lopez

Description

The COST Action EURO-AGRIWAT focuses on the assessment of water footprint (WF) and virtual water trade (VWT) of key food and no-food agricultural products, including their uncertainties, as well as scenarios concerning WF and VWT under future climatic conditions. The use of advanced tools and data such as remote sensing, updated climatic databases, climatic projections/scenarios and agrometeorological models represents the base of the activity. The use of such instruments will allow a detailed analysis of interactions between crops, climate and management that will be taken into account in the WF assessment. An important component of the Action will be the preparation and dissemination of recommendations and guidelines for enabling a more efficient water resource management in relation with agricultural activities under climate change and variability. The framework of a COST Action represents the most suitable way for facing the outstanding and multi-faceted problem of sustainable water use, being characterized by a non-competitive and interdisciplinary environment of high scientific level. These features will allow a collaboration between scientists and stakeholders and the development of common strategies to broaden the available research expertise.

Link(s)

• https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/612263
• http://netep.dps.uminho.pt/

Contract

Grant Agreement ID 612263

Program (funded under)

FP7-PEOPLE Specific programme “People” implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

Topic

FP7-PEOPLE-2013-IRSES Marie Curie Action “International Research Staff Exchange Scheme”

Duration

02 January 2014 – 01 January 2017

IASTE Resource Persons

Mario Giampietro (PI), Zora Kovacic, François Diaz-Maurin, Alevgul H. Sorman, Rosaria Chifari, Raúl Velasco Fernandez

Description

The general aim of the project NETEP—European-Brazilian Network on Energy Planning is to create the basis for interdisciplinary research and knowledge transfer on energy planning. The proposed exchange programme envisages a significant contribution to the development of sustainable energy planning strategies that will support future decision making. NETEP brings together partners having different types of expertise in the field of energy analysis and operating in four different countries: Portugal, UK, Spain and Brazil expressing different energetic metabolic patterns and different energy market structures. Staff exchange will enable partners to share knowledge on models and methodologies and on the possibility of implementing or adapting them to different energy systems. The knowledge generated will benefit energy decision makers and the scientific community. The outputs will result in a relevant contribution to the general target of achieving sustainable energy societies in the future. Visits between universities’ research staff are expected to create the basis for proposing joint projects and long-term collaboration. The participation and training of early career researchers is a key aspect of the proposal and joint supervision of their work will be valuable means to ensure proper collaboration and knowledge transfer between EU and Brazil.

Link(s)

http://participia.net/

Contract

Grant Agreement ID DCI-AFS/2013/320-333

Program (funded under)

ACP-EU Co-operation Programme in Higher Education EDULINK II

Duration

02/10/2013 – 01/10/2016

IASTE Resource Persons

Mario Giampietro (Coordinator), François Diaz-Maurin, Alevgul H. Sorman, Zora Kovacic, Sandra Bukkens

Description

PARTICIPIA was a three-year project funded under the EDULINK II programme; an ACP-EU Co-operation Programme in Higher Education funded by the European Development Fund (EDF) and the Development Co-operation Instrument – Relations with South Africa (DCI).This project, coordinated by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain), aimed at developing and implementing innovative and competitive Master modules and/or programs in Participatory Integrated Assessment of Renewable Energy Systems in the ACP-member states of Botswana, Namibia and South Africa. In this way, and through the dissemination of related know-how through academic and non-academic channels, the action contributed to fostering access to alternative energy technologies and their efficient utilization in different socio-economic and geographical contexts in Southern Africa.

Link(s)

• http://glamur.eu/
• https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/311778

Contract

Grant Agreement ID 311778

Program (funded under)

EU FP7-KBBE-2012-6-single stage (SP1-Cooperation)

Duration

01/02/2013 – 31/01/2016

IASTE Resource Persons

Mario Giampietro (PI), Tiziano Gomiero, Gonzalo Gamboa, Marina Di Masso, Sandra Bukkens

Description

The overall objective of the project is to integrate advancement in scientific knowledge about the impact of food chains with the application of knowledge about practice, in order to increase the sustainability of food chains through the development of both public policies and private strategies. This will be achieved by a range of research measures, that include: developing and validating a ‘performance criteria matrix’ for assessing and comparing food chains across a range of geographical scales; building a database of quantifiable indicators on the impact of specific food chains; developing methodologies that can better overcome the problems of comparing the impact of different food chains both within and between sectors; assessing how the notion of ‘performance’ within food chains is perceived by stakeholders in different national contexts; assessing both the actual and potential role of public and private policies in relation to food chains, and to make policy recommendations; and to build a network that can turn the advancements made in terms of scientific knowledge, into decision making tools for a range of organizations.

Link(s)

http://www.marss.rwth-aachen.de/cms/front_content.php?idcat=1&lang=2&changelang=2

Contract

Grant Agreement ID LIFE11 ENV/DE/343

Program (funded under)

EU LIFE+ Environment Policy and Governance

Duration

03/09/2012 – 31/12/2015

IASTE Resource Persons

Mario Giampietro (PI), Louis Lemkov, Gonzalo Gamboa, Rosaria Chifari, Samuele Lo Piano, Sandra Bukkens.

Description

The EU Landfill Directive has underlined the importance of reducing the amount of untreated municipal solid waste (MSW) going to landfill as being one of the main sources of harmful greenhouse gas emissions in the form of methane. Our research and results from extensive field tests and the previous pilot plant -known as the mechanical biological treatment (MBT) PRP test plant- indicate that our proposed Material Advanced Recovery Sustainable Systems (MARSS) demonstration project could provide countries with a real alternative to incineration based on a material recovery process that is do-able, robust, cheap and can be implemented quickly. In addition to the material recovery of metals, both ferrous and non-ferrous, this new process is designed on the inclusion of further processing steps of pre-sorting and refining in order to produce a high-quality CO2-neutral, biomass fuel for energy recovery. This process maximizes the re-use of MSW and recovery of valuable metals, diverts organic material from landfill to comply with the EU Landfill Directive and avoids combustion of plastic fractions. The socio-economic impact will be monitored throughout the project, from the initial planning phase through to the construction of the pilot plant in Trier. Additionally, an analysis of social perceptions and conflicts will be carried out for the in-depth Naples case study.

Link(s)

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/288971

Contract

Grant Agreement ID 288971

Program (funded under)

FP7-SIS Specific Programme “Capacities”: Science in society

Topic

SiS.2011.1.1.1-4 Integrated assessment methods for measuring societal impacts of emerging scientific and technological developments

Duration

1 May 2012 – 30 April 2015

IASTE Resource Persons

Louis Lemkow (PI), Mario Giampietro, Zora Kovacic

Description

The EPINET project investigated conditions for the development of more integrated technology assessment (TA) methods. It developed methods and criteria for more socially robust and efficient practices on the interfaces between TA and the world of policy makers and innovators. At present, a large number of TA methodologies and practices exist. Many of these are based on varying – and sometimes conflicting, unclear – values, presuppositions, interests and commitments. This is problematic, insofar as differing conclusions and recommendations will follow from different methodologies and disciplines; hence the need for more integrated approaches. However, the irreducible difference of perspectives and plurality in the field of TA needs to be recognised and used as a resource. EPINET introduced the concept of epistemic networks as a way of conceptualising complex developments within emerging fields of sociotechnical innovation practices. It established a weak or “soft” framework within which the plurality of different TA practices was explored in a concerted and holistic manner; EPINET used this to study four cases: wearable sensors, cognition for technical systems, synthetic meat and smart grids. “Integrating TA”, it is claimed, is a task for empirical investigation in which implicit values of TA methodologies, disciplines and practices are spelled out and placed in relation to the practices they are meant to assess. This is the context of innovation conceptualised through the concept of emerging and future epistemic networks. EPINET developed a holistic framework for integrating assessments through gradual co-production of methodologies and concepts (centrally that of “responsible innovation”) together with innovators and policy makers. The challenges of “integrating assessments”, we claim, can only be gradually worked out within such a holistic view of complex intersecting networks and practices.

Link(s)

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/230381

Contract

Grant Agreement ID 230381

Program (funded under)

FP7-SIS Specific Programme “Capacities”: Science in society

Topic

SiS-2008-1.1.2.1 Ethics and new and emerging fields of science and technology

Duration

1 March 2009 – 30 November 2011

IASTE Resource Persons

Louis Lemkow (PI)

Description

TECHNOLIFE has developed a method to map ethical issues at early stages of S&T and policy development and to represent social imaginaries relating to these ethical issues. This method is a theoretically grounded and balanced suite of exploratory, qualitative and quantitative approaches and consists of the following steps:

1. An ethical issues scoping exercise that defines hot topics in relation to the technological fields. Hot topics are issues of concern that involve unsolved social, moral and/or political tensions and that are immature for regulatory definition and resolution.
2. A protocol for a participatory, deliberative exercise in which citizens and stakeholders discuss the hot topics. The protocol details the selection and recruitment of groups; the use of media objects (such as films) in conjunction with social media; and an online forum tool integrated with the specially designed KerTechno software.
3. An online voting system for deliberative purposes that is integrated in the KerTechno software and that allows for quantitative analysis of results.
4. A qualitative, analytical procedure that identifies the arguments, concerns, imaginaries and alternative frames of understanding elicited by the participatory exercise and defines their relation and relevance to early stages of S&T and policy development.

TECHNOLIFE has applied this method to describe ethical issues of concern to European communities (citizens and civil societies) in relation to the three technological fields of:

• ICTs and the changing configurations of public and private,
• Geographical Imaging Systems and environmental conflict, and
• Converging technologies and the future of the human body.

TECHNOLIFE has delivered a number of concrete policy recommendations. The main and over-arching lesson is the following: Communication and dialogue should permeate ethical frameworks, to provide substantive input as well as in the procedural and institutional design. In particular, communication and dialogue is important for social desirability as an aspect of responsible research and innovation, and it should be pursued through methodologies that favour and nurture a culture of honourableness and good faith. This becomes even more important in times of economical challenges and social tensions. The TECHNOLIFE method has proved to be one such methodology.

Link(s)

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/217213

Contract

Grant Agreement ID 217213

Program (funded under)

FP7-SSH – Specific Programme “Cooperation”: Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities

Topic

SSH-2007-2.1-02 The extent to which trade-offs or synergies exist between the different aspects of sustainable development

Duration

1 January 2008 – 30 June 2011

IASTE Resource Persons

Mario Giampietro (PI), Alevgul Sorman, Gonzalo Gamboa, Tarik Serrano

Description

This project had the goal to apply and further develop the analytical tools studies in the DECOIN project to analyze trade-offs and synergies between different aspects of sustainable development. A number of cases study were carried out to assess the validity of the toolkit in different socio-economic, environmental and cultural contexts. Project activities included the construction of different scenarios of future development paths characterized across scales and in relation to sustainability trade-offs.

Link(s)

https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/44428

Contract

Grant Agreement ID 44428

Program (funded under)

FP6-POLICIES Policy support: Specific activities covering wider field of research under the Focusing and Integrating Community Research programme 2002-2006.

Topic

POLICIES-3.4 Forecasting and developing innovative policies for sustainability in the medium and long term

Duration

1 November 2006 – 31 October 2009

IASTE Resource Persons

Mario Giampietro (PI), Alevgul Sorman

Description

The DECOIN project dealt with sustainable development indicators and the methodology of analyzing inter-linkages between different trends in the EU. The DECOIN project contributed to the research towards a sustainable European knowledge society through the development of the EU framework of Sustainable Development Indicators. Through the methodological work concerning the analytical framework the project helped the EU and its Member States to better observe the trends in relation to the different dimensions of sustainability.