CISWEFE-NEX

About

Explore the mission and objectives of the CisWEFE-NEX project, understand the expected impacts and learn more about the project’s structure and the partners involved.

Mission

Integrating innovative technologies and practices across water management, renewable energy, sustainable food production, and ecosystem protection in regions that are severely water-stressed.

objetives

Support the European Commission’s objectives for sustainability and climate resilience

01

Achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions

02

Reuse wastewater for sustainable food production

03

Implement regenerative agriculture and aquaculture practices

04

Repurpose waste streams and utilize renewable energy

05

Achieve a net-positive freshwater balance

CCRI

CisWEFE-NEX is part of the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative.

CCRI is a European initiative aimed at supporting cities and regions in their transition toward a circular economy.
It supports the CisWEFE-NEX project by facilitating knowledge transfer, replication, and scalability of its solutions.
Key regions within the CCRI contribute to replicating circular systems, while CCRI connects the project to thematic working groups focused on industrial symbiosis and the bioeconomy. Additionally, CCRI’s network of cities and regions ensures wider uptake of CisWEFE-NEX innovations, enhancing its impact across Europe.

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WEFE NEXUS

WATER

Objective:
Achieve a net-positive freshwater balance in the water cycle.

Actions:
Combine olive mill wastewater reuse with large-scale saltwater desalination (without using fossil fuels) to produce drinking and irrigation water. Waste streams (brine and bitterns) from desalination will be repurposed for salt production in nature-based solar saltworks.

ENERGY

Objective: Achieve a net-zero GHG emissions process.

Actions:
Develop and demonstrate renewable energy technologies, such as agri-photovoltaics (growing crops under photovoltaic panels) and biogas production from advanced anaerobic digestion processes, using olive mill and other biowastes.

FOOD

Objective:
Enable sustainable food production.

Actions:
Demonstrate nature-based techniques for food and seaweed production (for pharma use) at scale. These systems will employ phytopharmaceutical approaches. Regenerative agriculture and the reuse of biophenols from olive mill waste will be explored for their high-value bioactive products.

ECOSYSTEMS

Objective:
Protect ecosystems through advanced monitoring.

Actions:
Use cutting-edge analytics to monitor pollutants (including micropollutants) and prevent environmental harm. A mobile-controlled cavitation unit will offer wastewater treatment services, including advanced oxidation processes and disinfection.

Expected Impacts

Enhance knowledge transfer, uptake, replication, scalability and visibility of circular systemic solutions and hence multiplication of their economic, social and environmental benefits

Contribute to new knowledge about WEFE Nexus applications and foster sustainable biobased value chains.

Increase the participation of citizens in circular and climate-neutral practices, who will benefit from improved food security, sustainable water management, and new business opportunities.

Increase circularity at local level and reduce dependence on external resources, improve local food security, and reduce GHG emissions.

Create jobs (direct and indirect) in the circular economy, with benefits for SMEs and communities involved in agriculture, aquaculture, and energy production.

Actions to Achieve Objectives

Conduct and extensive stakeholder engagement, including citizens and policymakers, in the circular economy and sustainability practices via public consultations and awareness campaigns to promote the project’s results.

Develop and implement innovative circular governance models and knowledge transfer framework.

Identify, analyse and quantify the wider economic, social, and environmental benefits and trade-offs/ challenges.

Design, install and demonstrate the innovative, fully integrated and sustainable circular systemic solution proposed in the framework of the WEFE Nexus to close loops in the key value chains of food, water and nutrients, as well as the AI/ML driven digital twin monitoring and control platform to optimise resource flows.

Expected Results

Water
Generation of reclaimed water for irrigation through desalination of brackish water and treatment of olive mill waste.

Food
Production of certified organic crops, table and Epsom salt, polyphenols, shrimps and seaweed.

Scalability
Development of long-term business models, policy recommendations, and frameworks for replication and scaling across regions.

Energy
Generation of renewable energy through agri-photovoltaics and anaerobic digestion technologies.

Environment
Monitoring of pollutants and land preservation.

Consortium

Workpackages

Support the European Commission’s objectives for sustainability and climate resilience

Ensures compliance with ethics standards set out in the project.

Research integrity: Ensures transparency, fairness, and accountability in research.
Human rights protection: Upholds human dignity, privacy, and data protection.
Civil applications: Focuses solely on civil uses, excluding prohibited practices.
Vulnerable populations: Supports vulnerable groups with food, water, and fertilizers.

Focuses on the overall management of the project, coordinating partners, and ensuring timely delivery within budget and high-quality standards.

Aims to maximize the impact of the project by promoting its outcomes, engaging stakeholders, and ensuring long-term exploitation through business strategies and intellectual property management.

Manages permits and licenses, engages stakeholders (especially citizens), and prepares for the generation of certified carbon credits and water benefit certificates.

Focuses on producing freshwater from desalination and olive mill wastewater reuse while establishing water storage and donation systems for socially vulnerable groups.

Aims to generate energy through renewable sources like agri-photovoltaics and biogas, alongside the production of organic fertilizers and powering subsystems within the project.

Focuses on the overall management of the project, coordinating partners, and ensuring timely delivery within budget and high-quality standards.

Regularly monitors traditional and emerging contaminants, ensuring ecosystem health while developing mobile water treatment systems for seasonal and rural use.

Integrates data from all subsystems into a digital twin platform to optimize circularity and sustainability, and performs life cycle assessments (LCA) for environmental and social impact.

Investigates the potential for scaling and replicating the project’s solutions in other regions and supports knowledge transfer and networking.