UPWr becomes a member of international projects under the Interreg Central Europe program

• Project foodCIRCUS, which concerns circular solutions for reducing food waste in Central European schools
• The Climate_CRICES project, aimed at increasing resilience to climate change in Central Europe
• The goal of the URBIO BAUHAUS project is to combat the reduction of biodiversity in urban and suburban areas of Central Europe

Interreg CENTRAL EUROPE, a European Union funding initiative, plays a crucial role in fostering cohesive regional development across central Europe. This program emphasizes the importance of collaboration to address shared challenges, such as climate change and digital transition, in a region historically segmented by the "Iron Curtain". It seeks to cultivate a culture of trustful cooperation that transcends geographical and administrative boundaries, aiming to create a more integrated Central Europe.

In the second call for projects of the Interreg Central Europe program, 47 projects were approved with funding totaling 76.3 million euros from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). Out of these, 35 projects will involve 58 Polish partners, receiving funding of 8.6 million euros from the ERDF. Polish institutions, including the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, will coordinate seven of these projects.

Reducing food waste from school cafeterias

Project foodCIRCUS, which concerns circular solutions for reducing food waste in Central European schools, is set to launch on June 1st of this year and will last for 30 months. It boasts a collaboration of several prestigious institutions, including the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna, and partners in Milan, Budapest, Prague, and Ostrava. The local collaborating institutions will feature the Wrocław City Council and the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology, with Dr. Jan den Boer leading the initiative for UPWr. The UPWr team, led in communication efforts by Ewa Syguła, will not only lead Work Package 2 and four significant activities but will also play a crucial role in project communication.

– foodCIRCUS is aimed at the substantial reduction of food waste originating from school cafeterias, highlighting innovative methods to repurpose food waste and engaging both private and public sectors to embed awareness and solutions within the community. This initiative will introduce exemplary models from pilot actions, educational tools for immediate implementation, and a comprehensive strategy enriched with policy recommendations for tackling the issue of food waste more effectively – says Dr. Jan den Boer.

A key focus for UPWr within this project is to evaluate the extent of food wastage in Wrocław's primary schools, to deploy and monitor the effectiveness of reduction strategies. The project plans to refine five methods for food waste treatment, including insect breeding, lactic acid fermentation, biogas, torrified pellets, and hydrochar production, with the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences taking the lead on hydrothermal carbonization of food waste. Moreover, UPWr will conduct an environmental sustainability assessment of all food waste reduction and treatment pilots through life cycle analysis, ensuring that the project's outcomes are not only effective but also sustainable.

Increasing resilience to climate change in Central Europe

The Climate_CRICES project, aimed at increasing resilience to climate change in Central Europe, seeks to strengthen the capacity of public authorities to manage the effects of climate change, focusing on key threats to Central Europe. These have been identified in the latest reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Among these threats are heatwaves, droughts, water shortages, floods, and impact on biodiversity. 

Within this project, regions, sectoral agencies, and research units from Austria, Germany, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Croatia, and Italy will conduct research in both urban and rural areas. A key challenge is the processing and analysis of extensive sets of environmental, hydrological, and meteorological data from various sources and countries. 

– To achieve the project's main goal, we must gather and integrate data from a cross-border perspective and coordinate them according to common standards. This will enable more effective analysis and strategy planning that will mitigate the effects of climate change and support adaptation – explains Prof. Jolanta Dąbrowska, the project leader of the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences team. 

As she explains, project partners will develop a dedicated platform for analysing and visualising the available data, which will allow creating more accurate climate change forecasts. This tool will be extremely useful in creating regional development plans for both urban and rural areas. The platform will be designed to make its results easily accessible and understandable in multiple languages, making it useful for various users in many countries. 

In the testing phase, the platform will be used by decision-makers and other stakeholders to assess its effectiveness in predicting the impact of climate change and its value for regional climate management plans. Support will also be provided to the authorities of pilot regions, which will allow for better management and adaptation to climate change throughout Central Europe. 

The "Climate_CRICES" project is supported by a consortium of nine members, including the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Polish associate partners are the Sendzimir Foundation, and the Institute for Territorial Development from Wrocław. The project will last 30 months, and its total budget for UPWr is 182,421 euros. – The “Climate_CRICES” project will contribute to safer economic, environmental, and social development in Central Europe – emphasizes Prof. Dąbrowska.

Combating the reduction of biodiversity in urban and suburban areas of Central Europe

The goal of the URBIO BAUHAUS project is to combat the reduction of biodiversity in urban and suburban areas of Central Europe by implementing sustainable, inclusive, and aesthetically advanced solutions, in line with the principles of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative.

As part of the URBIO BAUHAUS initiative, solutions will be implemented to protect and support urban biodiversity in four Central European cities – Wrocław, Kranj (Slovenia), Erd (Hungary), and Pula (Croatia).

– Together, we will create biodiversity islands for endangered species, micro-intervention systems aimed at protecting and supporting key species of biological diversity, protect and develop natural wildlife corridors, design an urban area lighting system that combines the necessity of ensuring safety for city residents with biodiversity protection, and establish green areas that integrate biodiversity protection with the use of edible plants – explains Dr. Katarzyna Tokarczyk-Dorociak, the leader of the Wrocław team, emphasizing that all actions will involve local communities through co-designing solutions.

As Dr. Tokarczyk-Dorociak highlights, this initiative also plans to create BIOCENTUM (Biodiversity Centered Urban Mindset) centers for social actions promoting a positive attitude towards urban biodiversity.

URBIO BAUHAUS will create a common action plan for the transformation of biological diversity in cities, which will serve to halt its reduction and also support the restoration of biodiversity in urban areas, in cooperation with city residents. Municipal authorities play role in the project, as illustrated by Wrocław, where UPWr and the Wrocław City Office will conduct environmental and social studies on the possibility of ensuring residents' safety through appropriate lighting, while simultaneously protecting biodiversity.

The results of these studies will serve as a model for other cities, providing an impulse for further scientific research. As the team leader says, the project is made possible thanks to the interdisciplinary team from the Department of Landscape Architecture and the Department of System Research, supported by the Department of International Research Programs.

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