Dear reader,

Welcome to the fourth newsletter of UPWATER! With the EU Green Week just around the corner, we are excited to update you on the upcoming (partner) events of UPWATER. But first, let's dive into the milestones we've achieved in UPWATER recently and the tasks we've been working on in our project! 

In the UPWATER project, we have reached several milestones we like to highlight. On March 31st, we finished the initial policy brief at local, regional, and EU levels, in collaboration with our sister projects from the ZeroPollution4Water Cluster. On April 30th, we completed a deliverable summarizing the activities undertaken to assess bio-based mitigation strategies at laboratory scale to mitigate groundwater pollution. At the same time, the updated Data Management Plan was finished, outlining the midterm data management strategies for the UPWATER project. On May 31st, a generic framework for environmental risk and impact assessment related to groundwater pollution was completed, that has been tested with laboratory data and can provide a ranking for technological measures to mitigate groundwater pollution. Finally, the report on groundwater risk assesment was completed, detailing the initial findings on groundwater vulnerability to pollution, covering methodologies, case studies, and specific pollutant assessments.

You can find all public deliverables on our project website.

In Work Package (WP) 3 of the UPWATER project, a novel source apportionment method has been developed. This new code significantly enhances the capability to manage a broader range of contaminants and sources compared to the previous code. WP4 has made notable progress, particularly in the monitoring of chemical and biological groundwater quality across all sites.The construction of Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) at the Greek and Spanish sites has been completed. Moving forward, we will continue our monitoring activities, initiate the operation and performance assessment of the NBS plants in Greece and Spain, and maintain performance checks on the Danish pilot plant. WP5 has achieved significant milestones, including the completion of the UPWATER Assessment Framework and the Initial Report on Groundwater Risk Assessment, explained above. The current efforts are concentrated on continuing this groundwater risk assessment.

WP6 is currently focused on identifying non-technological preventive measures, creating a comprehensive and user-friendly toolkit for water management entities. Looking ahead, we will host 5 online Focus Groups during the EU Green Week 2024, in which experts will discuss a specific groundwater related topic (see the event section below). Finally, WP7 participated actively in the Zero-Pollution4Water Cluster, preparing multiple (EU Green Week) events. By communicating project updates consistently on LinkedIn, we've reached a milestone of 600 followers!

Want to stay updated on all our activities? Follow UPWATER on LinkedIn!

Green Week Parner Events 2024: Towards a water resilient Europe
29 May - 1 September 2024 
The EU Green Week Partner Events are organised all across Europe and beyond. The events will raise awareness and educate people about the importance of protecting the environment and promoting sustainable living practices.

Public webinar: Climate change and groundwater: resilience building, adaptation and mitigation strategies
6 June 2024 | Online
This joint partner event of the EU Green Week, is organised by UPWATER, NINFA and MAR2PROTECT, three projects of the ZeroPollition4Water cluster, all focusing on groundwater. Curious to read more about this event? Find out more via the cluster website and the announcement below. 

Public webinar: Precursors of disinfection by-products
4 June 2024 | Online
The projects H2OforAll and SafeCREW, sister projects of the ZeroPollution4Water Cluster, host a joint webinar on Precursors of disinfection by-products (DBPs), partner event of the EU Green Week. 

Focus Groups UPWATER  
12, 14, 18, 26, 27 June 2024 | Online
In line with the EU Green Week 2024 on Water Resilience, UPWATER will celebrate online Focus Groups with international experts on water economy, governance and groundwater contamination. Check the topics and additional information to find out which Focus Group aligns with your expertise and interest!

Nature-Based Solutions for water treatment
11 September 2024 | Stengaarden, Denmark
This stakeholder meeting in Denmark is an introductory event for the Danish Regions, Utilities and regulators and enables interested parties to anticipate the latest results as well as to plan and use Nature-Based Solution (NBS) systems. 

18th International Symposium on Persistent Toxic Substances and Health
14-19 September 2024 | Crete, Greece
The International Symposium on Persistent Toxic Substances and Health (ISPTS), organised by the Technical University of Crete, is the premier event for scientists and experts to discuss the latest research progress and developments in the areas of persistent and emerging contaminants. 

Today in the spotlight: Giacomo Moro, researcher and Ph.D. candidate at IDAEA-CSIC.

"Recently, I've joined the UPWATER project at IDAEA-CSIC in Barcelona, for my Ph.D. thesis. My goal is to develop and test the use of ceramic passive samplers (CPS) as an easy solution to detect and measure contaminants of emerging concern (CEC) in groundwater in the basin of the river Besòs in Barcelona. My work extends from the actual production of the CPS all the way to the development of the analytical method for the quantification of the contaminants."

The ZP4W Cluster is an initiative that originated from the coalition of seven different water projects, all funded from two Horizon Europe 2022 calls. The cluster aims at creating further collaboration and synergy between the sister project, developing co-operation actions with other projects running and future projects and other initiatives, such as co-funded and co-programmed partnerships. 

On May 22nd, UPWATER participated in the second internal webinar of the ZP4W Cluster: 'Monitoring technologies for Groundwater and Drinking Water'. During this webinar, we discussed the gaps and synergies between the projects of the cluster, aiming to streamline our continuing collaboration. 

Are you a member of the ZP4W Cluster? Or project partner at one of the ZP4W Projects?
Then you are welcome to join the upcoming internal cluster meetings: 

Internal meeting 3: July 8th, 2024: Treatment Technologies
Internal meeting 4: September 24th, 2024: Decision Making Tools/Central Knowledge base

We keep you updated about the date and time of these and other ZP4W events via the ZeroPollution4Water website and LinkedIn page of the cluster!

The quest for sustainable water management and zero pollution has reached an important moment with the release of the first Policy Brief from the ZeroPollution4Water (ZP4W) Cluster and Water Europe. The brief includes the different activities of the seven EU-funded projects: NINFA, SafeCrew, Mar2Protect, H20forALL, ToDrinQ, UPwater, intoDBP. It is built upon the first cluster meeting organised in October 2023 in Brussels. At this event, a vision was set into motion. The brief is divided into two insightful parts: the first showcases the individual contributions and objectives of the seven projects, while the second presents key findings and recommendations from the intoDBP and H2OforAll projects.

Interested to read the full Policy Brief? Visit the cluster website.

UPwater is an EU Horizon project. It focusses on Understanding groundwater Pollution to protect
and enhance WATERquality. Read more about the project and our project partners on our website.