Short Description
The SPORE-MED project (http://spore-med.eu/) has been funded by the PRIMA program of the European Union, with a total budget of €3,347,684. and a total duration of 36 months. SPORE-MED uses a holistic approach towards major challenges faced by the Mediterranean region, such as climate change, drought, water pollution and food safety. The project focuses at upgrading existing urban wastewater treatment plants by improving the quality of the final produced reclaimed water, and by utilizing these facilities as providers of natural resources and services. The project has adopted a sustainable and innovative approach based on three core pillars: i) integrating cutting-edge physicochemical processes, biological processes and online tracking and monitoring technologies; ii) prioritizing environmental/economic/social sustainability; and iii) providing resources (water and nutrients for agriculture) and services (health surveillance system protocols).
Main actions and outcomes
The use of physicochemical and biological treatment processes for the removal of contaminants of emerging concern from urban wastewater, such as the PROGRAMOX treatment process for fast removal of nitrogen and organic matter, and froth flotation with the use of air nanobubbles for the removal of micro/nanoplastics and contaminants of emerging concern.
The use of treated wastewater for agricultural irrigation and recovery of their nutrients for use in agricultural practices.
The use of detection sensors for SARS-CoV-2 in urban wastewater and the development of a wastewater surveillance system, with an emphasis on antibiotic-resistant bacteria of clinical concern, according to the World Health Organization.
All above actions will be also evaluated as to their environmental, economic and social impact and sustainability, through life cycle assessment.
Bio
Despo Fatta-Kassinos is a Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of the University of Cyprus. She served as the founding director of Nireas International Water Research Center from 2010 until 2022. She holds a Diploma and a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens. Since 2003, she has attracted ca. 14.5 million € in funding as project coordinator/principal investigator. She is a member of the (8-member) Independent Expert Advisory Committee (IEAC) of the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Solving Antimicrobial Resistance in Agribusiness, Food, and Environments (SAAFE) of Australia and a member of the International Scientific Committee of OneWater – Eau Bien Commun, which is the National Research and Innovation Funding Programme for Water in France. She is the Chair of the Advisory Board of the African Center of Excellence in Water and Environment Research in Nigeria, and a member of the advisory boards of various water research centers in Europe. She is a founding member of the International Ph.D. School on Advanced Oxidation Processes and member of its Scientific and Management Committee. She has also served as the Chair of the Scientific and Technological Advisory Board of the European JPI 'Water Challenges for a Changing World' (2015–2019). She is a Highly Cited Researcher since 2018 (ranked in the top 1% by citations) and has published more than 194 journal papers. She is Executive Editor of the Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, and Editor of Water Research, Elsevier. Among other prizes, in 2012 she received the distinguished national research award by the Research and Innovation Foundation of Cyprus, while in 2022 the Noack Laboratorien Outstanding Science Career Award by The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC). In 2022 she was elected as a member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Europe Council. In 2024, she became the first female scientist from Cyprus elected to the Academy of Europe, in the Class of Exact Sciences, in the Section of Engineering.
