CIRAN 3rd Consortium Meeting (Bologna, Italy)

/in /by

From September 30 to October 3 2024, the CIRAN project team gathered in Bologna, Italy, for the 3rd in-person Consortium Meeting following Brussels and Lisbon. An engaging opportunity for project partners to share the progress and results with the External Experts and the European Commission’s Project Officer, the team reviewed the project implementation and planned the next steps for the second half of CIRAN. This four-day event brought together key stakeholders and provided valuable insights to shape the project’s future direction.

The first two days were dedicated to maximising the time with CIRAN External Experts. The starting point was a workshop initiated with an engaging parliamentary hearing exercise, focused on key assumptions for permitting a mine in an environmentally protected area. This set the stage for partners to present the latest updates on their respective Tasks, with expert feedback proving invaluable in reckoning results from the project’s first half. The afternoon session featured a group exercise aimed at refining a permitting decision tree. These discussions were aimed at reaching a consensus on the permitting decision-making process based on each of these priorities, further enhancing collaboration between partners and experts. The day concluded with a delightful city tour of the historical sites of Bologna led by a local guide, followed by a group dinner to continue engaging in insightful conversations and further the connections among the CIRAN community.

The second day included a field trip to the Vena del Gesso Romagnola Regional Park, recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2023. The group met with park authorities at Rocca di Riolo Terme, where presentations covered the park’s protected area designations, sustainability efforts, and the extraction activities of the Saint-Gobain group at the Monte Tondo Quarry. A guided tour of the active quarry and the Saint-Gobain production facilities focused on plasterboard manufacturing from the extracted gypsum helped illustrate the balance between biodiversity preservation and economic activities for regional and national development.

The Project Review Meeting with the European Commission’s Project Officer (PO) and an academic external evaluator happened during the third day. CIRAN’s results from the first half of the project were presented in detail, highlighting milestones achieved and ongoing key strategic objectives. The project received overall approval and commendations.

On the last day the Consortium partners discussed the next steps and strategies to achieve project objectives by December 2025, ensuring effective implementation of the remaining tasks for the completion of CIRAN as well as identifying the open opportunities to continue working on this complex balance.

In the CIRAN project the team of La Palma Research Centre is responsible for mapping the connections between policy decisions and drivers of change for mining activities, with the help of foresight tools and engagement with experts, as well as leading the development and implementation of communication and dissemination actions towards stakeholders and general public.  For LPRC, work will continue with the development of the CIRAN 2035 scenarios.

LPRC joins a new Horizon Europe project: GENESIS

/in /by

Between the 24th – 26th of September, LPRC staff members participated at the Kick-off meeting of GENESIS, a newly-awarded Horizon Europe project (GA 101157447), hosted in the “Museo Geominero” in Madrid. This meeting, hosted by the coordinator Instituto Geológico y Minero de España, was an excellent opportunity to meet in person, discuss and organize the work ahead for these 4 years in every Work Package, with the representation of all project partners from several countries in Europe.

The project’s main goal is to support regions, local authorities, and communities in addressing climate change vulnerabilities related to potential natural disasters and long-term climate changes impacting groundwater-dependent systems by showcasing local and regional NbS and via creating a deep demonstrator in Macaronesia. The project will test their limits and bring to the table innovative Nature-based Solutions, including dry gallery and underground dike-impounded dam systems in the regions. Additionally, GENESIS prioritizes sustainable water reuse to maximize resource efficiency by treating and repurposing wastewater, stormwater, and reclaimed water for non-potable uses like irrigation, industry, and urban landscaping.

Follow the project on its website to keep up-to-date with the project actions.

Macaronight 2024 – another successful event!

/in , /by

Around 10000 science enthusiasts and curious minds across the Macaronesia gathered last Friday of September for Macaronight 2024, an annual event celebrating science, innovation, and research. The MacaroNight project is led by La Palma Research Centre with the help of local partners in Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands.

Held on September 27th this year, Macaronight is part of the wider European Researchers’ Night, an initiative aimed at bridging the gap between scientists and the public. The night, celebrated in Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Madeira and São Miguel, was packed with interactive experiments, workshops, talks, and live demonstrations at institutions and public spaces throughout the region.

The 2024 edition continued its tradition of bringing the joy of scientific discovery to people of all ages, offering a mix of hands-on activities and scientific monologues. This year’s themes focused on climate change, restoration of oceans and waters, and transition towards healthy soils.

The realisation of Macaronight couldn’t be possible without our partners, Fundación General de la Universidad de La Laguna, Big Van Ciencia, Universidade da Madeira and Observatório do Mar dos Açores.

We can’t wait to meet you again on September 26th 2025!

La Palma Research Centre organizes the MacaroNight 2024

/in , /by

Similarly to previous years (from 2018 to 2023), LPRC is the coordinator of the MacaroNight project series, a Marie Curie Researchers’ Night project aiming to bring the science in Macaronesia together for a night to show the public that Macaronesia regions share a common research identity, with common challenges and assets appealing to the new generations of Macaronesian researchers to develop a career in sciences.

The project has grown exponentially every year since 2018 and has amassed a multitude of stakeholders and external collaborations that have allowed for the success of each edition of the European Researchers’ Night in the Macaronesia.

Macaronight has become a door to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) for the students and young adults of the Macaronesian region and is celebrated every year on the last Friday of September in the archipelagos of the Canary Islands, the Azores and the Madeira Island.

In 2024, MacaroNight will happen on the 27 September. The venus from Azores, Madeira, Gran Canaria and Tenerife, will present the participants with a series of talks, experiments, showcases and quizzes in topics connected to the islands and the EU Missions A Soil Deal for Europe, Adaptation to Climate Change and Restore our Oceans and Waters.

Join the MacaroNight events in your venue of choice!

More information:

FIREFLY

FIREFLY Consortium Meeting, 9-11 September 2024, Leuven, Belgium

/in /by

La Palma Research Centre joined the most recent FIREFLY project meeting in Leuven, Belgium, between the 9 and 11 September 2024. This event was hosted by the partner VITO.

The event counted with all the project participants and the main was to share updates on the different work packages and discuss next steps. In this regard, LPRC prepared and hosted the discussions on Work Package 2 – Supply of waste catalyst and mapping of relevant resources, where the team is developing a methodology for a Material Flow Analysis on different materials from a selection of catalysts, supported with the creation of Geographical Information System of stocks of materials. LPRC also participates in Work Packages 4 – R&D and optimization of renewable energy sources for electrification and Work Package 8 – Integrated Life-Cycle Sustainability Assessment and Roadmapping.

In the other Work Packages updates were given on the technologies in the electrochemical toolbox with latest experiments’ data, the development of the AI-based prediction tool Renewable Energy Source-powered electrochemical toolbox, process modelling for all individual technologies and Integrated Life-Cycle Sustainability Assessment (ILSCA).

The meeting was complete with a visit to the laboratory facilities of the hosting partner, VITO.

𝐋𝐚 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐚, 𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐢ó𝐧 𝐝𝐞 𝐈+𝐃+𝐢 𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐚 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝟑 𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐝𝐚, La Palma, 1 August

/in /by

La Palma Research Centre joined the event “𝐋𝐚 𝐏𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐚, 𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐢𝐬𝐥𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐜𝐜𝐢ó𝐧 𝐝𝐞 𝐈+𝐃+𝐢 𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐚 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝟑 𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐝𝐚” this 1st of August in La Palma, where the LPRC team presented the company and its projects.

The objective of this meeting was to show the development opportunities in La Palma, through R&D&I, within the framework of the Canary Islands Smart Specialisation Strategy, to which some of our projects contribute to. Such are the cases of GENESIS, AIRSHIP, SEAWINGS and MacaroNight.

The aim of the event was then to create an open space for participation, aimed at discovering new transformative projects, gathering the views of the island’s socio-economic agents in relation to the deployment of the actions planned in the expanded RIS3, and collecting proposals for the design of future policies in this area, particularly the new Canary Islands R&D&I Plan.

For more information on the event please check:

https://cabildodelapalma.es/es/el-talento-la-innovacion-y-el-tejido-productivo-de-la-palma-expone-sus-proyectos-idi-al-gobierno-de

The Futures of Critical Raw Materials in Europe explored at the 2024 Futures Conference in Turku

/in /by

On the past 13th and 14th of June, La Palma Research Centre was present at the 24th Futures Conference organised by the Finland Futures Research Centre & the Finland Futures Academy, from the University of Turku, in cooperation with the Natural Resources Institute Finland. Participation in this event was linked to the CIRAN project. The theme of the 2024 Futures Conference edition was the “Futures of Natural Resources”, consisting of a pre-Conference virtual programme (4th of June) and two full days of keynote lectures, parallel sessions, and participatory workshops, altogether generating a space for knowledge-exchange, experience-sharing, and fostering transdisciplinarity around the foresights and future alternatives for the preservation, protection, regulation, use, and application of natural resources.  

It was in this context, that the EU-funded CIRAN project was represented by LPRC’s researcher Helena Robert i Campos, who hosted a participatory workshop on Task 3.3 ‘Nexus of societal vulnerabilities’ within WP3 (Nexus between Policy Decisions and Drivers of Change). The workshop encouraged participants to delve into future possible scenarios for Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) in Europe. CRMs are essential components in various high-tech industries, including renewable energy, electronics, and automotive manufacturing. As Europe strives to transition to a green development model, ensuring a stable and sustainable supply of these materials has become a top priority.  

The event brought together leading experts, policymakers, and industry stakeholders to discuss CRM autonomy and the foresights for their extraction in European environmentally protected areas, highlighting the relevance of circularity across value chains and consumption patterns, as well as the transformative trends in the extractive and mining sectors, such as the advances in robotisation and remote-sensing techniques.

Participants were introduced to the four Future Scenarios for 2035 generated by LPRC from the outcomes of previous foresight exercises such as the Delphi Survey. Afterwards, participants had the chance to actively discuss and outline the key drivers and changes that need to happen to support sustainable CRM management. These included, among others: investment in recycling infrastructure to recover CRMs from end-of-life products, funding and the need to strengthen partnerships with non-EU countries to secure a diversified supply chain and fair CRMs cooperation.

To conclude, the LPRC team acknowledges the great engagement of workshop participants and thanks them for their valuable contribution to the development of the CIRAN project. It equally thanks the organising institutions for successfully coordinating another edition of the Futures Conference. Looking forward to participating in Turku next year! 

For more information on the CIRAN Project and upcoming events, please visit the CIRAN Project Website.

TIMREX Steering Commitee Meeting, 27-28 June 2024, Wroclaw, Poland

/in /by

La Palma Research Centre joined the TIMREX consortium in Wroclaw, Poland, on the 27-28 June 2024, as part of the project’s yearly Steering Committee meeting. This event was hosted by the partner Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.

The meeting began with welcome words and practicalities, followed by the overview of the agenda and the objectives of the meeting. After that, all partners engaged in discussions about administrative topics and workplan with regards to the different components of the TIMREX programme. The latest editions of the Summer School and Applied Field Exploration course were presented, including the feedback provided by the participating students, followed by discussions on how to improve these actions for next students. The Exploration entrepreneurship course, a strong entrepreneurial component of TIMREX programme, was also presented.

After that, the partners overviewed the thesis topics of the students and their internship activities as TIMREX students. The purpose of this section was to monitor the academic progress of the students, and to plan the necessary actions to fulfill the objectives of the study programme. LPRC presented the work done on Communication and Dissemination matters and how the efforts are helping the project.

Finally, the partners engaged in discussing the targets to be met in the near future and to assess the possibilities to extend the partnership for additional years.

CRM-geothermal 3rd General Assembly, 3-5 July 2024, Munich, Germany

/in /by

La Palma Research Centre joined the CRM-geothermal partners in the most recent project General Assembly, hosted by GFZ Postdam in Munich, Germany, between the 3 and 5 July. Project partners presented the progress achieved over the past year, across all Work Packages.

The first day was dedicated to presentation of Work Package (WP) 1: Screening and mapping of CRM content in geothermal settings, WP2: Geological controls of CRM mobility, source and long-term sustainability in different geothermal settings and WP6: Dissemination, communication and exploitation. LPRC contributed to the presentations under WP6 on Communication and Dissemination. As the leader of the clustering task, aimed at identifying common topics and challenges with other European initiatives related to the project, LPRC introduced the task concept, highlighted past activities, and outlined future networking opportunities through events and conferences focused on raw materials and geothermal energy. Additionally, with the engagement of other partners, potential joint activities were identified and evaluated.

On the second day of meetings, LPRC led presentations on the Market Deployment task. This task focuses on bridging the technology used in CRM-geothermal with the market. It is a complex task that involves technological issues, political settings, environmental concerns, and social aspects of combined CRM and geothermal energy extraction. As the task is just beginning, the presentation involved discussing strategies and target audiences to build solid business plans and a market deployment strategy with all partners. This task is part of WP4: Deployment of the combined extraction of CRM and energy from geothermal fluids. Other WPs included 3: Development and optimisation of extraction technologies for CRM from geothermal brines and 5: Testing, validation, integration (of design requirements, systems and components).

The last was dedicated to a field trip to a geothermal plant in Laufzorn.

 

START Consortium Meeting, 6 & 7 June 2024, Oslo, Norway

/in /by

The 2024 annual START meeting was held during the 6th and 7th June 2024 in Oslo, Norway, with partner SINTEF hosting the meeting. The meeting was dedicated to the status and future steps of the work being developed under the seven work packages, which include Work Package 7 – Innovation and Exploitation strategy, led by La Palma Research Centre. The main goal of START is to build an innovation ecosystem in the European Union (EU) related to the development of sustainable and economically viable tellurium-free thermoelectric (TE) energy harvesting systems based on innovative mine waster recycling, to be applied in heavy industry for waste heat recovery and also as primary power source for energy harvesting for wearables, buildings, off-grid sensors and IoT devices.

The first day was dedicated to technical presentations, which were complemented with a workshop hosted by LPRC for data collection on commercial and feasibility aspects of the START technological developments. Collected parameters will feed into development of Task 7.2 – Industrial viability and economics.

The second day had technical presentations, the 5th START webinar, and another workshop hosted by LPRC, this time dedicated to sustainability of the START project after the funding period. First, LPRC presented the status and future steps in WP7, then the workshop was hosted connected to Task 7.4 – Sustainability and Deployment. During this workshop exercise, participants (project partners and advisory board representative) were asked to provide their ideas for the “START Service Company” in a Lean Canvas (a tool used for business planning purposes).

This was a great meeting and the perfect opportunity for LPRC to prepare its future work in Work Package 7.

Stay tuned for upcoming news on the project. Meanwhile, follow the project news on the website, Twitter and LinkedIn channels!