EDAPHOS

Europe faces a pressing challenge of reducing soil pollution and promoting ecological restoration. The destructive consequences of soil pollution, ranging from impaired agricultural productivity to compromised ecosystems, demand immediate attention. In this context, the EU-funded EDAPHOS project aims to revolutionise land management practices. With a mission to reduce soil pollution and enhance restoration, EDAPHOS proposes a holistic approach that combines nature-based solutions (NBS) and advanced technologies to accelerate the recovery of contaminated lands and make ecological restoration a mainstream endeavour. By developing a framework for land rehabilitation, conducting comprehensive risk assessments, and validating the effectiveness of NBS strategies, EDAPHOS aims to establish a self-sustained and replicable EU NBS market, bringing hope for a healthier future.

EDAPHOS proposes a holistic and innovative land management approach to contribute to the Mission “A Soil Deal for EU” and its specific objective “Reduce soil pollution and enhance restoration”. EDAPHOS will develop a framework for land rehabilitation and ecological restoration of contaminated areas featuring nature-based solutions (NBS) technologies to accelerate the recovery of contaminated lands to a healthy ecosystem and make ecological restoration a mainstream business endeavour. EDAPHOS will improve the monitoring of contaminated soils and the understanding of precise pollution sources by combining robust remote sensing tools and GIS-based methods. 

Based on the TRIAD concept and considering the sources, pathways, exposure and effects of soil pollution, site-specific risk assessment methods and metrics will be developed and applied to 7 case studies. EDAPHOS will perform lab and field studies to validate the technological readiness and the cost-effectiveness of NBS as an effective remediation strategy for reducing soil contamination in urban, peri-urban and rural settings and land uses. 

EDAPHOS will assess the environmental, social and economic impacts of selected NBS sites and will develop the most suitable quantitative metrics and KPIs that accurately depict and reliably their integrated socio-environmental performance in terms of financial benefit (e.g. growth of ecosystem services value, final phytoremediation compounds for further industrial valorisation) and cost prevention (e.g. environmental footprint reduction) potentials, along with tailored ecological finance instruments for establishing a self-sustained and replicable EU NBS market. Artificial intelligence techniques will be implemented throughout the project to provide data-driven tools for forecasting, analysing and establishing quantitative relationships of multi-scale processes.