CLOSURE OF THE PHYTOSUDOE PROJECT, FINAL CONFERENCE

CLOSURE OF THE PHYTOSUDOE PROJECT, FINAL CONFERENCE

After three years of intense work, the PhytoSUDOE project has celebrated its closure in Vitoria-Gasteiz with a final conference that has attracted a large audience.

85 people from different countries, including attendees, speakers and project partners, received information on the development and results of the project and on the latest research and applications in the field of phytoremediation and phytomanagement. After the welcoming speach by the President of the CEA Iñaki Prusilla, who valued the importance of the collaboration between the local administration and the research centers, the technical program structured in three sessions started

 

The first one was focused on the progress of the work of the project partners. After the official opening by the coordinator of the project, Petra Kidd of the CSIC, Juan Vilela of the CEA analyzed the importance of these solutions for the restoration of municipal land; José María Becerril from the University of the Basque Country advanced in its first results the benefits of combining agroforestry crops with bioaugmentation (inoculation of bacteria); Carlos Garbisu from Neiker insisted on the fundamental role of the microorganisms and the ecosystem services they provide; Paula Castro from the Portuguese Catholic University explained her field trials introducing the importance of the bacterial strains they use; Rui S. Oliveira of the University of Coimbra illustrated the performances in his complicated location of Sao Domingos; Luís Novo from the University of Aveiro explained the potentialities of the phytomining in Portugal for the case of gold and nickel and finally, Michel Mench of INRA closed the session by speaking about the designing process of the conceptual model; risk analysis and decision making for the phytomanagement of the sites.

In the second session we had the invited presentations of Michel Labrecque from the University of Montreal, summarizing the potentialities of the willows, Carlos Pachon of the US EPA, commenting on sustainable remediation options, Jaco Vangronsveld of the University of Hasselt illustrating the importance of the whole plant-bacteria-soil and Julio Ortega of the CSIC deepened into the microbial component, all of them, giving us an European and international vision. During this session, some time was reserved for the young authors of the posters exhibited during the day, to offer us a brief explanation of their content.

 

The third session was dedicated for companies working in the field of phytoremediation to talk about their progress in the application of new treatments, as well as about the difficulties that sometimes they find when proposing the use of phytoremediation to their clients instead of the application of ex-situ techniques or landfill disposal, making it clear that the phytoremediation is a feasible technology and capable of obtaining excellent results in the recovery of contaminated and degraded soils, as well as a much more sustainable solution regarding to the environment. They were present, in addition to Ihobe and Basoinsa as partners associated with the project, Tecnalia, Dinam, Iragaz and Afesa.

At the end of each session there was a round table where the dialogue between the attendees and speakers gave the finishing touch to this conference.

 

The PDFs of the presentations of the conference are attached below:

1_Phytomanagement experiences in Vitoria-Gasteiz

CF01_Juan_Vilela_CEA

2_ Elaboration of guidebooks for best practices in phytomanagement

CF02_Michel_Mench_INRA

3_Willows: number one tool for phytotechnology

CF03_Michel_Labrecque_MontrealUniversity

4_Perspectives on Greening the Superfund Remediation Technology Portfolio

CF04_Carlos_Pachon_USEPA

5_How to influence bioavailability for reducing risks from organic pollutants in bioremediation

CF05_Julio_Ortega_CSIC

6_Basque Policy related to management of contaminated soils

CF01_Ana_Alzola_Ihobe

7_Basque Country experiences in contaminated soil management

CF02_Ekain_Cagigal_Tecnalia

8_Phytomanagement experiences of Basoinsa

CF03_Garcia_Sarriegi_Basoinsa

9_Study of alternatives vs. Treatability trials in soil decontamination through in-situ treatment techniques

CF04_Gonzalo_Zarate_Dinam

10_Technological development, soil decontamination and administration…, how do we jump the gap?

CF05_Eduardo_Alzola_Afesa