Partners

French Geological Survey (BRGM), France

BRGM, the French geological survey, is France’s leading public institution for Earth Science applications for the management of surface and sub-surface resources with a view to sustainable development. With extensive partnerships with both public and private stakeholders, BRGM focuses on scientific research, expertise and innovation. The core activities of BRGM revolve around four main objectives: (i) understanding geological phenomena and associated risks, (ii) developing new techniques and methodologies, (iii) producing and distributing data for surface, subsurface and resource management, (iv) providing the tools required to manage the surface, subsurface and resources, prevent risks and pollution, and manage policies in response to climate change.

Role in PHISHES:

Within the PHISHES project, BRGM is primarily responsible for assessing the impact of land use management on the fate and transport of contaminants in soils. This will provide insights into how soil ecosystem functions and associated ecosystem services respond to contamination. BRGM will also provide data from controlled testing facilities regarding the fate and transport of specific contaminants, such as per- and polyfluorinated compounds (PFAS). The core BRGM team includes Nicolas Devau, soil scientist and hydrogeologist with expertise on modeling fate and transport of inorganic and organic contaminants from soil to groundwater, and Dominique Guyonnet, soil scientist and Scientific Program leader focusing on contaminant transport in soil and groundwater, soil science policies and uncertainties analysis. The Team also icludes Maxime Cochennec, expert on fluid mechanic modelling in porous media, Colombano Stefan, expert on contaminated soil management and remediation technologies and a PhD thesis student.

University of Copenhagen (UCPH), Denmark

University of Copenhagen and Department of Plant and Environmental Science contribute with modelling of soil-water-plant systems and fate and transport of pollutants in soils influenced by land use and soil management.

Role in PHISHES:

The teams is Bjarne W. Strobel, Per Abrahamsen, Maja Holbak, Nina Cedergreen, Camilla Jakobsen and MSc thesis students.

DELTARES, Netherlands

Deltares is an independent research institute for applied research in the field of water and subsurface. From the perspective of water, the subsurface and infrastructure. Deltares is a non-for-profit, world leading and mission-driven Dutch knowledge institute that works on major societal issues with over 900 collegues, from sixty different nationalities.

Role in PHISHES:

In the PHISHES program Deltares will focus on developing scenarios combining different types of land-use for agricultural land, urban areas and industrial sites: restoration mechanisms and key drivers such as climate change. The team that will work on PHISHES consists of: Annemieke Marsman, project leader and specialist in modelling of groundwater transport; Hilde Passier, geochemist and program leader on environmental quality; Hendrik Kok, geohydrologist focused on unsaturated zone; and Imke Falkena, junior advisor on soil and groundwater quality.

Swedish Geotechnical Institute, Sweden

The Swedish Geotechnical Institute (SGI) is a governmental expert authority that works towards a safe, efficient, and sustainable development as well as the sustainable use of land and natural resources. Among other subjects the Institute works with research and development related to contaminated areas, with special focus on methods for investigation, risk assessment and remediation. It provides expert advice to other Swedish authorities.

Role in PHISHES:

In PHISHES the Swedish Geotechnical Institute is involved in issues related to modelling of contaminant speciation and transport, contributing with a well-characterized PFAS-polluted field site for model testing, verification, and development. Team members from SGI are primarily Charlotta Tiberg, PhD in Soil science with a focus on metal chemistry and fate in the environment together with Robert Earon, PhD in Land and Water Resources Engineering with a focus on hydrogeology, site characterization and contaminant transport in both porous and fractured media.

German Environment Agency (UBA), Germany

The German Environment Agency (Umweltbundesamt, UBA) is Germany’s main environmental protection agency, ensuring that there is a healthy environment in Germany in which people can live as far as possible protected from harmful environmental impacts. The UBA’s motto, “For our environment” (“Für Mensch und Umwelt”) sums up what we are there for. The Agency brings the expertise of using scientific results for the development of policy instruments.

Role in PHISHES:

For the identification of advanced policy advice and instruments in the PHISHES project, a dedicated process will be implemented on German level in a first step. This includes the assessment of key actors (consultants, technical experts, NGOs, desk officers, etc.), activities, timelines and resources required for successful policy implementation of the project results, i. e. influence of changes of land use and soil pollution on soil functions and ecosystem services as well as developed measures against identified soil degradation. In a next step, UBA’s role in the PHISHES project is to write scientific opinion papers and policy briefs on advanced policy instruments as well as organizing workshops for implementation of PHISHES results into legislation.
The contact person is Dr. Marc Marx. He is the scientific officer in the section “Soil monitoring and soil state”.

CzechGlobe, Czech Republic

CzechGlobe (CG), the Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences, is a leading institute focusing on global climate change. Main mission is to advance scientific understanding and develop innovative solutions to mitigate and adapt to climate change. CzechGlobe, brings significant value through its extensive resources (e.g. international interdisciplinary team of 300 researchers of 25+ nationalities covering main disciplines such are climatologists, life sciences and socioeconomics and state-of-the-art research infrastructure). CG has unique experience with technology and knowledge transfer at national and international level in collaboration with private and public sector including governments and international organizations. CzechGlobe operates advanced research infrastructure which supports comprehensive interdisciplinary research on global change and its impacts on various ecosystems.

Role in PHISHES:

CzechGlobe is leader of the PHISHES case studies. In this task coupled modelling of soil processes within the hydrologic system will be validated via practical application real-world. CG operates and maintains one of the most important test cases in the Želivka basin, where together with external partners, it has been measuring water quality and quantity for a long time.
CG is also a crucial partner in the PHISHES Digital Platform development under which climate scenarios for all test sites will be developed and distributed to other PHISHES partners.
The core team is Evzen Zeman, Vaclav Rara and Martin Pavlik.

Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Poland

Warsaw University of Life Sciences, Institute of Environmental Engineering performs research on land and water management, hydrology of urban and rural catchments, soil protection and pollution mitigation, open channel hydraulics and environmental restoration, soil and fluid mechanics.

Role in PHISHES:

The role in the PHISHES project will involve integrated MikeShe modeling for land use changes and soil pollution impacts on ecosystem services. Team members are: Dr Eng. Andrzej Brandyk – hydrologic and soil pollution modeling, Prof. Dr hab. Eng. Maja Radziemska– soil pollution research, Dr Eng. Sylwia Szporak– ecosystem services, modelling tools, Prof. Dr hab. Grzegorz Majewski- scenario studies of soil pollution mitigation, ecosystem services.

T6 Ecosystems Srl, Italy

T6 Ecosystems is a research and consulting SMEs with an interdisciplinary team devoted to applied research, bringing research and innovation results to society and maximising their positive impacts. The company has a long-standing experience in research and the coordination of national and international R&D projects, most of which are funded within the EC Research Framework Programmes. What makes T6 different is the capability to look at innovation at the crossroads between technology, user acceptance and cultural diversity within the global implementation of its services. We see the integration of user-centred research within innovation and development projects as the missing link in making impact happen. In this framework, the main activities of T6 are: the co-design of innovation processes and socio-technical tools, socio-economic impact assessment of research and innovation initiatives; policy analysis; scientific communication and project dissemination.

Role in PHISHES:

T6 is leading the communication and dissemination and is part of the project management team, supporting the coordinator in financial and day-to-day management. The core T6 team consists of Katja Firus, Ilaria Lener, Sara Dorato, and Danilo Capone.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.