The CisWEFE-NEX project was approved by the Horizon Europe program, with the support of INOVA+, and will receive funding of 11 M€. The main objective is to promote sustainable resource management, specifically in agriculture and food production.

Led by BIOAZUL, SL, the CisWEFE-NEX includes the collaboration of 20 partners and 7 associated partners from 9 European countries. Among these partners, INOVA+ plays a crucial role in communicating and disseminating the project’s initiatives, as well as creating strategies for stakeholder engagement.

The project began in June this year (2024) and is expected to last for five years. The central innovation of the initiative is the integration of the main subsystems into a single System (iSYS). This way, solutions will be developed to address the challenges of water scarcity, energy consumption, food security, and ecosystem health.

Sustainable Production: water and energy management, food security and ecosystem health

In the area of sustainable water management, the project will focus on the reuse of wastewater from olive oil mills and the desalination of seawater. Regarding energy, the goal is for all system needs to be met by renewable energies, thus achieving zero greenhouse gas emissions. Technologies such as agrivoltaics and biogas will be demonstrated to achieve this goal.

CisWEFE-NEX will also implement innovative techniques in food production, including multi-trophic aquaculture in saltwater, which eliminates the need for chemical additives. Additionally, a mobile cavitation unit will be developed to monitor and treat water, ensuring the sustainability and safety of local ecosystems.

CisWEFE-NEX Pilot Region: Alentejo-Algarve-Andalusia

The pilot region selected to test the system is the Eurorregion border of Alentejo-Algarve-Andalusia, which faces common environmental challenges such as water stress and drought. During the project execution, it is expected that the technology will evolve from an embryonic phase to a demonstrated field prototype (TRL 3 to TRL 6).

In the future, CisWEFE-NEX could serve as an inspiration for other regions with similar challenges, promoting the creation of resilient and sustainable systems capable of facing climate change and the exhaustion of natural resources.

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