Our partner, LEQUIA (Universitat de Girona), participated in the European Researchers’ Night in Girona. This event connects science with society and inspires the next generation of innovators.

As part of the SPORE-MED project, which is funded by the PRIMA Partnership Program, LEQUIA is helping us rethink the role of wastewater treatment plants in the Mediterranean region. Rather than being the end of the water cycle, these facilities can become centers of sustainability and resilience by recovering valuable resources, enabling safe water reuse, and supporting health surveillance.

Several partners from the SPORE-MED consortium (Institut Supérieur de Biotechnologie de Sfax, LEQUIA, Sostenipra and Sanitary Environmental Engineering Division (SEED)) contributed to the SPORE-MED PRIMA Partnership Special Session at the 7th Euro-Mediterranean Conference for Environmental Integration (EMCEI-2025; https://lnkd.in/dBiYmDxh ) with engaging and impactful oral presentations. Their work highlighted key advancements in sustainable agriculture and environmental resilience across the Mediterranean.

In concrete, our colleague Anna Petit Boix represented our team at the conference in the context of the SPORE-MED project.

???? For the past few months, Roger Plans i Vilardell, Laura Talens Peiró and Anna Petit Boix have been working on the ハッシュタグlifecycleassessments of the SPORE-MED technologies dedicated to energy and nutrient recovery in wastewater treatment plants. We collaborated with Oriol Carbó Monmany and Marta Campabadal from GS Inima Environment to conduct a theoretical energy balance and environmental assessment of the PROGRAMOX technology for energy upgrades.

⚡ The results are promising! We expect an increase in at least 14% of the energy self-sufficiency of a wastewater treatment plant. The LCA results will be available soon!

UdG also presented their work on phosphorus recovery as struvite. The work was carried out together with Emma Company Masó, Jesus Colprim, and as part of the research efforts of the LEQUIA group, within the framework of the SPORE-MED project.

In addition, the session in featured contributions from another PRIMA Partnership project (WATERMED4.0), making it a valuable moment for exchange, collaboration, and shared learning within the wider research community. A big thank you to all the presenters and participants who made this session a success!

On June 4^th-6th, Sostenipra has hosted the 1st International Life Cycle Assessment Symposium on Nutrient and Water Circularity for Food Production at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. The program has been packed with very interesting talks and activities, and it was great to host more than 60 participants from across the world.

Our keynotes gave inspiring talks on:
– current practices and needs in the LCA community (Michael Martin)
– potential futures for nutrient recovery and urban agriculture (Anastasia Papangelou)
– real-world cases of circular water management and footprinting (Desirée Marín) and
– the need for more specific and dynamic characterization factors for the impacts on marine biota and microplastics (Ian Vázquez Rowe)

Many speakers shared their LCA-related research and experiences around nutrient circularity, water management, novel emission factors for agriculture, soil health, verticalfarms, new technologies and their upscaling in cities.

We have learned a lot and connected with a vibrant community! Thanks to all speakers and participants for joining us and until next time!

Our PhD researcher Emma Company Masó from LEQUIA had the opportunity to present her research on nutrient recovery through electrochemical precipitation—a sustainable upgrade for wastewater treatment plants—at the Iberimet Meeting of the National Network of Microbial Electrochemical Technologies (METs) last week in the beautiful city of Segovia!

Great work, Emma!

On May 14 and 15, SPORE-MED project members gathered in Marrakesh for the third General Assembly and Scientific Board Meeting to discuss project progress.
The local hosts, the University Mohammed VI Polytechnic (UM6P), took the members on a tour of their experimental fields, which are ready to test the recovery of nutrients from wastewater treatment at UM6P.
It was evident that promising technologies for wastewater treatment are being developed, and the reuse of nutrients in agriculture appears to be a relevant alternative for recycling in Morocco and beyond.