ARAGORN: Achieving Remediation And GOverning Restoration of contaminated soils Now
ARAGORN will compile and test remediation strategies and sustainable soil decontamination solutions, and will develop and put in practice nature-based solutions, improve knowledge on biodiversity and deliver a framework for step-by-step decision making in terms of what is the best approach for resilient restoration in various European countries. The complete framework will be developed together with strategic engagement of land managers throughout Europe, and by rooting knowledge through co-creative processes and sustainable infrastructures.
The implementation will be done through a strong team of multidisciplinary scientists and practitioners with ongoing
commitments with a diverse set of stakeholders across Europe at the local, national and EU level. We will interlink land
managers and sectors across Europe to take effective action on soil health and provide longevity links and support to
several EU policy and international commitments.
ARAGORNs mission is to facilitate decisions by European landowners to protect, remediate and restore the health of polluted soils, biodiversity on it and ecosystem services such as water. Four groups of persistent pollutants (PFAS, organochlorine and bromine compounds, petroleum/coal pollutants and metals) will be in the focus, due to their long term risks and costs. The ultimate aim is to reduce the claim for land, by providing tools that can help private and public landowners to decide when it makes sense to clean up various types of polluted soils vs. not to clean it up, due to risks of regrettable pollution.
Decision frameworks will be made, that will include information and tools such as mapping of potentially and known polluted sites, chemical and biological analyses, remediation techniques, modelling, nature-based solutions to restore the health of soil and nature/biodiversity across different climatic zones, risk and cost estimates, indicators, and co-creation processes with local communities across Europe. Both the tools and the frameworks will be transferred to commercial companies and to local authorities, with the aim to enable balanced decisions on how to best reuse the soil in a safe manner for instance for food production, housing, recreation and biodiversity/nature on it.
In this way ARAGORNs mission is to support the implementation of the European Green Deals multiple aims, related to health soils (SoilMission), farming (FarmToFork), Biodiversity (Biodiversity Strategy), a Circular Economy and reduced pollution (Zero Pollution Ambition and the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability).
ARAGORN is structured in five work-packages (WP1-WP5) that generates content such as data, modelling, maps, risk and socio-economic assessments, processes, knowledge overview and decision frameworks. Horizontal coordination across WP1-WP5 will take place though the Action Teams for groups of persistent contaminants. The five WPs are supported by three cross-cutting work-packages (WP6-WP8) on dissemination/exploitation/communication, project and data management, and ethics requirements. Coordination with external partners will take place through WP6.
WP1: Mapping, assessment, planning and action strategies. Work Package Lead: Martin Scheringer (ETHZ)
- Maps of polluting activities for site history.
- Spatial and financial planning tools.
- Advance risk- and socioeconomic assessments for decision making for PFAS, OCB, PETCO, and metal contaminated
sites.
WP2: Monitoring and Sampling strategies. Work Package Lead: Hans Christian Bruun Hansen (UCPH)
- Review and improve representative sampling strategies for different polluted sites.
- Implement and improve targeted, non-target and group-method screenings for persistent contaminants, combined with chemometrics to assist identification of contaminant sources.
- Provide State-of-the-Art analyses/modelling and demonstrate their applicability for T'1-2-3 sites to identify their sources and environmental transport and for input to risk assessment.
WP3: Remediation Strategies. Work Package Lead: Mari Løseth (NGI)
- Obtain an overview of the TRL of different remediation technologies in Europe and their current status of
implementation, limitations, and potential for the four groups of contaminants.
- Develop the frameworks R1 (reduce bioavailability and emissions) and R2 (sustainable remediation), that identifies
the best performing, most sustainable remediation strategies that avoids regrettable remediation.
- Implement R1 and R2 frameworks to case study sites at the T’1 and T’2 level.
WP4: Resilience and nature-based restoration strategies. Work Package Lead: Marco Uzielli (UNIFI)
- Develop a 3-tiered knowledge-based platform for assessing the resilience of remediated sites, comprising a conceptual
resilience framework (R3) and guidelines as well as qualitative and quantitative methods, indicators, and software tools
to model the post-remediation resilience of soils to climate change and other processes brought by bio-based and naturebased restoration actions.
- Validate and demonstrate the practical applicability of R3 by evaluating sites where restoration has occurred on sites
remediated recently and less recently by assessing key indicators identified from reference sites or models.
WP5: Co-creation, guidance and decision-making strategies. Work Package Lead: Peter Bondgaard Mortensen (Eurofins)
- Develop and deliver synthesis guidance documents for private and public land managers to prioritise, plan and invest
in remediating land contaminated with PFAS, OCBs, PETCO compounds and metals, each with a focus on how to reach
remediation goals in the most cost-effective and sustainable way to avoid regrettable remediation.
WP6: Dissemination, exploitation and communication. Work Package Lead: Chiara Fonio (ICONS)
- Raise awareness and understanding of multiple audiences to support a move towards reclamation of contaminated soil.
- Synthesise key results and recommendations for target groups and the general public to deliver actionable knowledge
from the remediation and restoration strategies developed and results of the project.
- Ensure the sustainability of project results through the development of a post-project exploitation plan.
- Measure the effectiveness of the CDE strategy through dedicated outreach and engagement KPIs.
WP7: Project and Data Management. Work Package Lead: Xenia Trier (UCPH)
- Ensure that project tasks, milestones and deliverables are achieved on time and in line with the budget.
- Submit periodic technical and financial reports.
- Secure efficient communication within the consortium and with the European Commission.
- Observe any potential compliance or conflict issues and mitigate them immediately and accordingly
WP8: Ethics requirements. Work Package Lead: Marco Uzielli (UNIFI)
- The objective is to ensure compliance with the 'ethics requirements' set out in this work package.
ARAGORN consists of 17 partners, of which 16 are beneficiaries (funded by the EU grant), and one partner enters with their own grant (ETHZ).
- University of Copenhagen
- Norwegian Geotechnical Institute
- ARCHE Consulting
- Babes-Bolyai University
- Copenhagen Municipality
- Comenius University Bratislava
- Envit, environmental engineering and technologies Ltd
- Eurofins Environment
- ICONS
- Mendel University in Brno
- Microhumus
- NIRAS
- National Institute for Public Health and the Environment
- University of Florence
- Utrecht University
- Örebro University
- Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
Core team:
- Xenia Trier (UCPH, PC)
- Majbrit Dela Cruz (UCPH, PM)
- Astrid Hasselbalch (UCPH, EU contact point)
- Hans Peter Arp (NGI)
- Mari Løseth (NGI)
Disclaimer
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 European Research Executive Agency (REA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
Researchers
Name | Title | Phone | |
---|---|---|---|
Search in Name | Search in Title | Search in Phone | |
Dominique Jeanette Tobler | Associate Professor | +4535325369 | |
Giorgio Tomasi | Associate Professor | +4535320406 | |
Hans Chr. Bruun Hansen | Professor | +4535332418 | |
Karsten Raulund-Rasmussen | Professor | +4535331666 | |
Katrine Korsgaard | Special Consultant | +4535321036 | |
Xenia Trier | Associate Professor |
Project period: 1 October 2023 -
30 September 2027
Project Coordinator
Xenia Trier
Associate Professor
+ 45 35 33 51 63
xt@plen.ku.dk