The SYMBIOREM project meets in Wroclaw for its third annual Consortium Meeting

The SYMBIOREM project is halfway through its 4-year duration and the partners celebrated the start of the second half of the project in Wroclaw, where they gathered for their third in-person project meeting from 2 to 4 October 2024.

Hosted by the Wroclaw University of Environment and Life Sciences, the consortium had the opportunity to discuss the project’s progress, the ongoing work at the different demo sites, the mitigation measures in relation to the termination of the partner Alchemia Nova, and ethics issues across the different activities.

The first day of the meeting was dedicated to the presentations of all the main actions undertaken by partners in the last six months. The Work Package presentations were followed by the External Advisory Board online meeting, in which one of the Advisory Board Members, Dr. Asit Mandala provided his positive remarks about the progress of activities, and by the yearly ethics evaluation of the project led by Rene Peters (TechForce).

During Day 2, specific workshops were held: in particular, the discussions covered the economic evaluation of the SYMBIOREM solutions, the integrated assessment of their benefits in comparison to standard remediation approaches, and the advancement in the work of the pilots related to marine and freshwater environments. The day ended with a group visit to the water exhibition at the Hydropolis Museum and with a guided tour in the center of Wroclaw.

The agenda of the last day was devoted to the visits of the demo sites led by Wroclaw University: the floating island at the lake in Tolpa Park in the center of the city, and the Osobowice remediation field, on the outskirts of Wroclaw. The site visits were the opportunity for the partners to get to know more about the local bioremediation solutions, their objectives and challenges, and the strategies for the involvement of local communities in the co-creation of bioremediation techniques.

The project communication partners took the chance of visiting the demo sites to film video interviews with the representatives of Wroclaw University, which will be published soon on the project’s website and social media profiles.

The third annual in-person meeting confirmed once more the cooperation spirit and the deep commitment of SYMBIOREM partners to the development of bioremediation solutions, with the objective of offering natural, effective, and sustainable ways to restore the quality and functionality of the environment. At the same time, the work of the project also serves the mission of advancing towards a circular bioeconomy, the enhancement of biodiversity, more resilient ecosystems, ultimately contributing to the well-being and prosperity of society.