May brought another successful ReLEAF consortium meeting for the books. Partners gathered in Birmingham, UK for their biannual check-in meeting to discuss the project’s progress and planning for the upcoming period.
As part of the project management, the ReLEAF partners meet in person twice a year to discuss progress and achieved milestones and update other partners on the activities carried out. Additionally, each Workpackage shares a forecast of their activities for the upcoming period and next steps for the new project phase.
The two-day event started with a welcome and meeting introduction by the local organizing partner iNeuvo and project coordinator Leitat. Each Workpackage had the opportunity to present their activities and the work they have been doing since the previous meeting.
- WP1 – Feedstock requirements and technologies optimization for compound extraction and ingredient production: the teams of RITTMO, University of Bologna, Leitat, Novaid and Aeris shared their progress and some preliminary results on user requirements and regulations for fertiliser production and use, characterisation of waste/by-product streams and specifications of bio-based ingredients, optimisation of fertiliser ingredient recovery and production at laboratory scale, and scale-up specifications and pilot plant construction for ingredients production.
- WP2 – Fertiliser formulation and production technologies demonstration: partners CNR, Tecnopackaging, TIMAC AGRO, CMI, Leitat and Alchemia Nova presented their tasks on First formulations with PHA, chitosan, and for mulching and injected pots, mould design , Formulations for the BBF definition, Engagement strategy definition, and demo site preparation.
- WP3 – Fertiliser efficiency, soil quality, and product safety assessment: RITTMO shared their planning for the assessment of agronomic, agricultural and environmental performance of bio-based fertilisers.
- WP4 – Exploitation and value chain co-creation to ensure circularity: iNeuvo, EFFoST and Global Omnium shared their progress on feedstock mapping, supply, and logistics assessment, value chain assessment and circular business models for co-creation.
- WP5 – Environmental, economic and social sustainability assessments: partners FiBL, ISQ and UAK presented their tasks on reviewing general environmental hotspots in BBF production, Data collection for qualitative health and safety assessment, a preliminary assessment of materials hazards and H&S concerns during production processes, the defined data collection process, and the defined questionnaire for common data collection.
- WP6 – Communication, dissemination and outreach: EFFoST gave a presentation on the communication and dissemination activities carried out in the first year, an update on outreach by increasing knowledge networks and international collaboration, activities for citizen science, and inputs needed for the upcoming period.
- WP7 – Project coordination and management: Leitat introduced the meeting goals, giving an overview of general information and partners’ responsibilities, as well as information and organization for reporting.
Moreover, ReLEAF partner iNeuvo gave an interesting and insightful workshop on exploitation of results focusing on IP management, value chain exploitation and commercialisation interests and identifying Key Exploitable Results.
These meetings are a great opportunity for the consortium to address any possible challenge, discuss joint activities, update others on the progress of each Workpackage, and of course, enjoy together visiting a new European city.