ISLANDR IN A NUTSHELL
The Information-based Strategies for Land Remediation, in short ISLANDR, is a multidisciplinary project, which is foremost aimed at supporting the execution of the EU mission: A Soil Deal for Europe.
The ISLANDR research activities are designed to provide tools and methods so as to support:
- The delineation of polluted soils across Europe,
- An evidence-based assessment of the risks posed by polluted soils,
- The promotion of sustainable and risk-based land management practices,
- The inclusion of a wider valuation approach in financial and investment cases,
- A closer integration of land contamination and spatial planning decision-making.
Lessons learnt and experience gained throughout the project duration will be used to deliver key policy-relevant findings related to the Soil Strategy, the proposed Soil Health Law, and other areas of policy where soils are crucial.
In order to road-test the project’s findings, seven test areas across Europe have been
identified. To begin with, the ISLANDR Test Areas (ITAs) will provide a real-world context
for the planned research activities. The ITAs have been selected to cover different land use
types, such as urban, peri-urban, rural, agro-forestry, mining, wetlands and coastal areas.
The ITAs are characterized by both point and diffuse sources of pollution, as well
as by
different soil pollution types, such as organic, inorganic, as well as contaminants of
emerging concern.
Furthermore, ISLANDR brings a dedicated focus to low input remediation, by including test areas
impacted by the consequences of the green transition, such as former mining areas. This will
ensure that soil remediation will be facilitated even when the cost of remediation is
economically marginal or may even be negative.
On the one hand, this necessitates a
more thorough understanding of low input remediation approaches from a technological
perspective, yet it also requires a wider value proposition for investment cases and financial
planning.
Key actors, stakeholders and end-beneficiaries are at the epicentre of ISLANDR. Through events in the respective ITAs, the role of local actors will be to provide feedback and offer insights as to the robustness and effectiveness of the strategies, frameworks and decision-support tools, as well as on the wider valuation approaches and financing mechanisms to be developed over the course of the project’s lifetime.
Our project organisation
