New chance for Polluted Lands: Recovery of agricultural soil function by non-food farming and adapted soil management at degraded sites

Programme 2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B Central Europe

Date of latest update: 2025-03-13

Description

Description (EN):

The PoLaRecCE project aims to develop innovative tools and approaches to support land management practices to better adapt degraded soils to the environmental, social and economic needs of the local community. It is in line with the EU Green Deal policy and is a response to the challenges of environmental degradation and climate change. In Central Europe (CE), the sustainable management of agricultural soils contaminated or degraded by various human activities is an administrative and social challenge. In many regions of Europe, agricultural or marginal soils are contaminated by various types of pollutants. Moreover, these soils are still used for growing food and feed, leading to uncontrolled uptake of pollutants into the food chain. This project provides an innovative and coherent management program to restore agricultural activity on contaminated and marginal land. It also focuses on disseminating the knowledge and practical experience of European organisations from different climatic regions to implement the most up-to-date strategies for rapid remediation and restoration of degraded soils for non-food agricultural production. Such an approach preserves the basic functions of soil and minimises the transfer of pollutants from soil to the food chain. Taking up non-food agricultural production is seen as an alternative source of income for farmers. In the case of brownfields managed by municipalities, this project will propose their conversion into more environmentally friendly areas. Selected pilot areas (0.5-2 ha) in different regions of CE will be established to test the most innovative methods for rapid detection of different pollutants. If the soil needs remediation, the most appropriate and cost-effective techniques will be promoted to strengthen sustainable environmental management practices and enable non-food agriculture. It is also planned to carry out an economic calculation of the proposed solutions, focusing on the needs of local markets.

Expected Achievements (EN):

Initial survey to collect the data from each CE region involved in the project in order to identify the main difficulties linked to the degraded lands including description of the contaminated soils, forms of degradation and common environmental and ecological problems related to this kind of area. Demonstration of innovative on-site measurement techniques to develop the most effective procedure for environmental site assessment. Such actions are necessary to properly evaluate land availability for non-food agriculture and reclamation needs. Furthermore, this will be a starting point for further steps, focusing on the full recovery of soil function in areas contaminated by different types of pollutants. Development of the individual strategy and action plan for non-food agriculture for each of the pilot sites. The strategy should include the local features such as: the level of land degradation, soil properties, needs and possibilities of the local market, specific climatic conditions and soil requirements with respect to cultivation of certain plants. Implementation of the development strategies for non-food agriculture in the frame of pilot actions conducted at the pilot sites, located in the selected municipalities. Developing the universal procedures that will be routinely applied by the local administration to solve the problem of the degraded lands. These will involve the application of the most advanced management tools to rapidly and efficiently recover the productivity of such areas with respect to the environmental, social, and economic needs of the local community.

Project outputs: Collaborative partnership during regional data collection and project realization(EN)
Jointly-developed strategy and action plan to engage stakeholders and end-users in using and expanding the Central European database(EN)
Action plan developed for land degraded by urban and industrial deposition(EN)
Action plan developed for land degraded by long-term poor agricultural farming(EN)
Action plan developed for roadside soil, degraded by traffic pollution(EN)
Action plan developed for the area of former clay mining activity(EN)
Testing procedures for soil recovery of lands degraded by urban and industrial deposition (IT)(EN)
Testing procedures for soil recovery of agricultural land, degraded by long-term poor agricultural farming (HU1)(EN)
Testing procedures for soil recovery land located on roadside soil, degraded by traffic pollution (HU2)(EN)
Testing procedures for soil recovery of land located in the area of former clay mining (Sl)(EN)
Solution: comprehensive toolbox and handbook for municipal/ local land management and soil recovery of degraded land based on non-food agriculture, integrating the findings from pilot actions in WP3. (EN)

Thematic information

Waste and pollution Agriculture and fisheries and forestry

Priority: (VI-B_CE_2) Cooperating for a greener central Europe

Priority specific objective: RSO2.7. Enhancing protection and preservation of nature, biodiversity and green infrastructure, including in urban areas, and reducing all forms of pollution

Priority policy objective (Interreg specific objective): PO2 A greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, risk prevention and management, and sustainable urban mobility

Type of intervention: 073 Rehabilitation of industrial sites and contaminated land

Partners (10)

Lead Partner: Instytut Podstaw Inżynierii Środowiska Polskiej Akademii Nauk

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 933166482

Partner’s ID if not PIC: PL6480006720

Department: Department of Environmental Magnetism and Reclamation

Address: Marii Skłodowskiej - Curie , 41-819 Zabrze, Poland

Department address: Marii Skłodowskiej - Curie , 41-819 Zabrze, Poland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.ipis.pan.pl

Total budget: EUR 381 900.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 305 520.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 76 380.00

Gmina Skawina

Name: Gmina Skawina

Partner’s ID if not PIC: PL6791023301

Address: Rynek , 32-050 Skawina, Poland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Local public authority

Website: http://www.gminaskawina.pl

Total budget: EUR 60 900.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 48 720.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 12 180.00

Oikon d.o.o. – Institut za primijenjenu ekologiju

Name: Oikon d.o.o. – Institut za primijenjenu ekologiju

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 998582118

Partner’s ID if not PIC: HR63588853294

Address: Trg senjskih uskoka, 10020 Zagreb, Croatia

Legal status: private

Organisation type: SME

Website: https://oikon.hr/

Total budget: EUR 52 920.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 42 336.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 10 584.00

Gyoma-Felsőrészi Olvasó és Gazdakör Gyomaendrőd

Name: Gyoma-Felsőrészi Olvasó és Gazdakör Gyomaendrőd

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 882174649

Partner’s ID if not PIC: HU18381085

Address: Mirhóháti, 5500 Gyomaendrőd, Hungary

Legal status: private

Organisation type: Interest groups including NGOs

Website: http://gyoma.hu

Total budget: EUR 152 650.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 122 120.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 30 530.00

Občina Ormož

Name: Občina Ormož

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 911144087

Partner’s ID if not PIC: SI29924464

Address: Ptujska cesta , 2270 Ormož, Slovenia

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Local public authority

Website: http://www.ormoz.si

Total budget: EUR 144 550.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 115 640.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 28 910.00

Anci Liguria

Name: Anci Liguria

Partner’s ID if not PIC: IT80101610105

Address: Piazza Matteotti , 16121 GENOA, Italy

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Regional public authority

Website: http://www.anciliguria.it

Total budget: EUR 176 550.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 141 240.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 35 310.00

Contractors:

Name: CEVASCO ANNALISA
VAT registration or tax identification number: 02432160998
Name: ASTENGO AUGUSTO
VAT registration or tax identification number: STNGST78C19I480K
Name: ARTE PASTA
VAT registration or tax identification number: 01583680093
Name: LE VECCHIE MURA SRL
VAT registration or tax identification number: 02825560994

FOS spa

Name: FOS spa

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 991439814

Partner’s ID if not PIC: IT12851070156

Address: Via Enrico Melen , 16152 Genoa, Italy

Legal status: private

Organisation type: SME

Website: http://www.fos.it

Total budget: EUR 236 880.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 189 504.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 47 376.00

WOODTECH Zrt.

Name: WOODTECH Zrt.

Department: WOODTECH-CAMPUS

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 883692408

Partner’s ID if not PIC: HU32111350

Address: Kossuth Lajos, 9730 Kőszeg, Hungary

Department address: Kossuth Lajos, 9730 Kőszeg, Hungary

Legal status: private

Organisation type: SME

Website: https://woodtechcsoport.hu/hu/

Total budget: EUR 178 800.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 143 040.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 35 760.00

GBER schemes / de minimis: GBER Article 20

Universität für Bodenkultur Wien

Name: Universität für Bodenkultur Wien

Department: Institute of Chemical and Energy Engineering

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999987357

Partner’s ID if not PIC: ATU16285008

Address: Muthgasse , 1190 Wien, Austria

Department address: Muthgasse , 1190 Wien, Austria

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.boku.ac.at/map/ivet

Total budget: EUR 179 000.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 143 200.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 35 800.00

Studiorum – Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari

Name: Studiorum – Università di Bologna, Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari

Department: Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecnologie Agro-Alimentari

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999993953

Partner’s ID if not PIC: IT01131710376

Address: Via Zamboni, 40126 Bologna, Italy

Department address: Viale G. Fanin, 40127 Bologna, Italy

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://distal.unibo.it/

Total budget: EUR 201 550.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 161 240.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 40 310.00

Partners map

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): New chance for Polluted Lands: Recovery of agricultural soil function by non-food farming and adapted soil management at degraded sites

Project acronym: PoLaRecCE

Project ID: CE0200635

Project start date: 2024-06-01

Project end date: 2026-11-30

Project status: ongoing

Relevant linked projects:

Horizon Europe Mission, ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’, Co-creating solutions for soil health in Living Labs (EN) | We plan to use the demonstration sites and some of the pilot sites as a lighthouses - places for co-creation and testing of solutions for soil health in rural and urban areas, being a part of the Living labs, covering degraded areas of the EU regions. We plan to construct larger project, where partners from other EU countries can be involved. This will provide opportunity to expand our idea on broader European scale and to maintain the pilot sites after finalizing the PoLaRecCE project. (EN)

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 765 700.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 412 560.00

Total EU funding (co-financing rate): 80.00%

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 1 412 560.00. Co-financing rate, 80.00%.

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

(bullets are inserted automatically and may be incorrectly placed)

Infrastructure investments:

I3.4 - Ormoz pilot site - EUR 20 000.00 - country: Slovenija (SI), town: Municipality of Ormož, Vzhodna Slovenija (SI03), Podravska (SI032)
I3.3 - Phytoremediation forest - EUR 40 000.00 - country: Magyarország (HU), town: Gyomaendrőd outlying area, Dél-Alföld (HU33), Békés (HU332)
I3.2 - Energy forest plantation - EUR 40 000.00 - country: Magyarország (HU), town: Gyomaendrőd, Dél-Alföld (HU33), Békés (HU332)
I3.1 - Planting of flowers on degraded and polluted soils - EUR 50 000.00 - country: Italia (IT), town: Cairo Montenotte, Liguria (ITC3), Savona (ITC32)

Deliverables:

Partnership agreements with all project partners
Questionnaire for regional survey
Published report with the summary of the conducted survey
Open electronic database
Protocol of stakeholders and end-users needs and report on potential of the local market
Strategy and action plan to engage stakeholders and end-users in using the Central European database
Guidelines for using “in situ” soil magnetometry for rapid assessment of soil pollution
Guidelines for application of the PTF method to evaluate the status of soil organic matter
Guidelines for assessing fertilization needs with respect to local/environmental conditions
Report on the environmental quality of soils degraded by urban and industrial deposition of PTEs
Report on the state of marginal lands degraded by long-term poor agricultural farming practices
Report on the environmental quality of roadside soils contaminated by traffic pollution
Report on the environmental quality of soils degraded by clay mining activities.
Action plan developed for land degraded by urban and industrial deposition
Action plan developed for land degraded by long-term poor agricultural farming
Action plan developed for roadside soil, degraded by traffic pollution
Action plan developed for the area of former clay mining activity
Summary presenting the results of the development strategies implemented on the demonstration sites
Documentation of the activities on the pilot site by written report and photographic documentation
Documentation of the activities on the pilot site by written report and photographic documentation
Documentation of the activities on the pilot site by written report and photographic documentation
Documentation of the activities on the pilot site by written report and photographic documentation
Final handbook with detailed instructions how to handle and manage the degraded land
Data dissemination, education and training of the local farmers and administration

Contribution to wider strategies and policies:

EUStrategyAdriaticIonianRegion Project contributes to EUSAIR action with preservation of terrestrial resources and reduction of pollution as important steps for Adriatic and Ionian Region. Further it supports techniques and technologies to restore biological and agricultural function of soil. Project also directly contributes to increase environmental quality by soil pollution reduction, identified as one of EUSAIR pillar .
EUStrategyAlpineRegion The project fits into the EUSALP strategy by supporting initiatives for the protection of natural resources, identified as one of the actions supporting EUSALP. The project can contribute to the activities of AG7 Green Infrastructures and biodiversity, because it promotes pilot solution to renew degraded and polluted soil with new non food agriculture.
EuropeanGreenDeal The PoLaRecCE project aims to limit the degradation of ecosystems, which is one of the pillars of the European Green Deal. In addition, by constructing a database of degraded areas, we collect precise geographic information about the location of marginal and degraded agricultural land in order to eliminate potentially harmful food products from the market. Moreover, this project provides a new chance for safe use of these areas and at the same time maintaining/recovering their biological and agricultural functions.
TerritorialAgenda2030 We plan to use the demonstration sites and some of the pilot sites as a lighthouses - places for co-creation and testing of solutions for soil health in rural and urban areas, being a part of the Living labs, covering degraded areas of the EU regions. We plan to construct larger project, where partners from other EU countries can be involved. This will provide opportunity to expand our idea on broader European scale and to maintain the pilot sites after finalizing the PoLaRecCE project.

Programme Common Output Indicator:

RCO 116 - Jointly developed solutions, Measurement unit:
RCO 084 - Pilot actions developed jointly and implemented in projects, Measurement unit:
RCO 087 - Organisations cooperating across borders, Measurement unit:
RCO 083 - Strategies and action plans jointly developed, Measurement unit:

Programme Common Result Indicator:

RCR 084 - Organisations cooperating across borders after project completion, Measurement unit:
RCR 104 - Solutions taken up or up-scaled by organisations, Measurement unit:
RCR 079 - Joint strategies and action plans taken up by organisations, Measurement unit:

Project part of European Union Macro-Regional or Sea Basin Strategy: EUSALP

EUSALP Priority (Policy) area / Horizontal action:

EUSALP Degree of compliance:

Project part of European Union Macro-Regional or Sea Basin Strategy: EUSAIR

EUSAIR Priority (Policy) area / Horizontal action:

EUSAIR Degree of compliance:

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B Central Europe

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2025-03-31

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

100 / 100 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

1 018 / 1 018 (100%)

Notes on the data

Programme's webpage last visited on 2025-03-17.

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New chance for Polluted Lands: Recovery of agricultural soil function by non-food farming and adapted soil management at degraded sites

Description

Thematic information

Partners (10)

Partners map

Summary

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

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