Projects and agreements

A detailed description of the research activities of each research team of the Department is available at the site Research Database of the Università Politecnica della Marche.



RECONSTRUCT aims to develop circular, eco-friendly, and innovative solutions to reduce emissions from the construction industry. How? By sourcing local alternatives to conventional steel and cement, applying reclaimed components and implementing design for disassembly and reuse.

The project focuses on reducing the use of primary non-renewable materials. Circularity is the strategy. To achieve this, RECONSTRUCT will:

  • Develop and adopt low-carbon alternatives to cement and steel.
  • Manufacture construction components that not only incorporate recycled materials but are also designed for disassembly and reuse.
  • Integrate the process of deconstruction into the very core of building design.

Further information:

  • Project name: A TERRITORIAL CONSTRUCTION SYSTEM FOR A CIRCULAR LOW-CARBON BUILT ENVIRONMENT (RECONSTRUCT)
  • Funding: European Commission, Horizon Europe
  • Project funding for all partners: 7.8 million EUR
  • Countries involved: UK, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Holland
  • Project duration: 6/2023 – 05/2027 

UnivPM main role in the project:

UNIVPM will develop innovative and sustainable alkali-activated concrete (AAC), without Portland cement, by using waste materials, industrial by-products and recycled aggregates. AAC mixtures will be preliminarily characterized in the laboratory, to evaluate their physical-mechanical properties and durability, before being used in-situ for the construction of two demo buildings, in Barcelona and Brussels. Finally, recyclability studies will be carried out, to evaluate the possibility of reusing the materials at the end of their life, to increase sustainability and circularity.

Discover the RECONSTRUCT project in our presentation video

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Especially in recent decades the frequency of extreme events such as floods, earthquakes and severe heat waves has increased and affected European communities. There is an urgent need to plan, design and retrofit the built environment to adapt to current and future risks.
In a rapidly changing world where climate change and localised natural hazards pose an increasing threat to our cities and infrastructures, MULTICLIMACT is a beacon of progress and hope. The project aims to develop innovative strategies and technologies and a toolkit of 18 reliable and easy-to-implement methods and digital solutions to improve the resilience of our urban landscapes.
The toolkit is being tested at four pilot sites in Italy, Spain, Latvia and the Netherlands. The sites all have different climatic conditions and are therefore vulnerable to different types of climate-related environmental disasters.
The main objectives of the MULTICLIMACT project include innovative risk assessment and prediction, interdisciplinary collaboration and community engagement and education. The project is dedicated to promoting public awareness and engagement and empowering communities to take an active role in protecting their built environment.
The European Union-funded project is coordinated by RINA CONSULTING SPA, Genova, Italy and involves a consortium of leading experts and institutions from nine European countries. As a project partner, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum is responsible for communication and public relations. For this purpose, in addition to the placement of scientific publications, a wide-ranging social media campaign will be implemented, multilingual communication material will be developed and activities such as web seminars and networking events will be carried out.

Further information:

  • Project name: MULTI-faceted CLIMate adaptation ACTions to improve resilience, preparedness and responsiveness of the built environment against multiple hazards at multiple scales
  • Funding: European Commission, Horizon Europe
  • Project funding for all partners: 7.5 million EUR
  • Countries involved: Finland, Germany, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden
  • Project duration: 10/2023 – 03/2027

UnivPM main role in the project:

Within the framework of MULTICLIMACT project, UNIVPM develops innovative sustainable materials and measurement methods for improving the resilience of the built environment towards natural hazards, considering in particular seismic events. Moreover, also measurement strategies for the assessment of the occupants’ wellbeing in the built environment will be developed, considering both physiological and environmental sensors and also digital technologies.



Further links

Websitehttps://multiclimact.eu/

XMULTICLIMACT Project (@multiclimact) / X

LinkedInhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/multiclimact-project/about/

Keywords:
built environment, infrastructure, climate hazard, environmental disaster, resilience, resistance

Videos
MULTICLIMACT Video



Project ITHACA: Innovative and sustainable TecHnologies for reducing critical raw mAterials dependence for Cleaner transportation Applications – http://www.crm-extreme.eu/WP/
The solutions proposed in ITHACA originate from networking and scientific activities developed thanks to the CA15102 Action CRM-EXTREME, which has seed the initial catalytic nucleus contributing to the success of two related H2020 projects, MONAMIX and EQUINOX, and of a bilateral Greece-Israel industrial R&D project, Euro6cat.
The scientific focus of ITHACA will be on the assessment of processes for:

  • the substitution of Yttrium (Y) in Thermal Barrier Coatings (TBCs) for aerospace engines,
  • the replacement of Cobalt (Co) alloys in components for combustion engines
  • the substitution of Platinum Group Metals (PGMs) in automotive catalysts.

The aim of ITHACA is to bring together significant research (critical mass) expertise from all over Europe in the area of materials manufacturing and recycling in order to create a new research community able to identify and address the challenges in sustainable processes aimed at reducing CRMs in transportation applications. The creation of ITHACA Network will serve to capture and understand the current materials manufacturing scene and pump-prime activities in this area to move the sector forward.



ULTIMATE (indUstry water-utiLiTy symbIosis for a sMarter wATEr society) will foster the synergetic cooperation between the industry and the water sector for an intelligent and efficient operation of water-related processes. This will be done via the establishment of “Water Smart Industrial Symbiosis” (WSIS) between different industries and service providers. The aim is to use and reuse jointly water, wastewater and all used recyclable resources. Industries such as agro-food, beverage, (petro-)chemical and biotech industries participate in ULTIMATE. Those industries together with service providers such as municipal utilities and water service providers as well as scientific institutions will develop and/or investigate and assess 36 technologies in 9 case studies. Furthermore, ULTIMATE develops new business models focusing on WSIS up to their market maturity. In ULTIMATE, UNIVPM will be the Innovation & IPR manager, monitoring and documenting the progress of developments of technologies up the TRL ladder and will screen for possibilities to patent and opportunities of application and exploitation of developments. Moreover, UNIVPM will be the material recovery leader of the cross-cutting technology group (CTG) and will coordinate the Italian Case Study (CS3).
ULTIMATE is funded by the European Union in the programme Horizon 2020 (Grant agreement ID: 869318) for 48 months. The KWR Water Research Institute from the Netherlands has the coordination of the consortium of 27 partners (research institutes, utilities and SMEs).
http://ultimatewater.eu/



Life Blue Lakes project tackles the problem of microplastics in lakes through a set of governance, training, information and awareness actions, addressed to institutions, relevant stakeholders and citizens.
Main project’s actions will be held in Garda, BraccianoTrasimeno and Castreccionilakes in Italy and in Constance and Chiemsee lakes in Germany. Further Italian and European lake communities will be involved in the promotion and dissemination of good practices.
Life Blue Lakes specifically aims at:

  • Supporting local administrations in Italian and German lakes areas and enhancing the engagement of local economic entities by a Participatory Process to draft the Lake Paper: a sort of voluntary commitment signed by all the local stakeholders for the implementation of management good practices and spreading of circular economy models intended to protect the lakes and reduce the impact of economic activities;
  • Reducing microplastics release from Water Treatment Plants developing a technical protocol and training operators;
  • Cooperating with relevant companies (plastics, pneumatics and cosmetics) to find out and develop solutions to reduce and prevent further primary microplastic loads;
  • Raising public awareness in Italy and Germany and promoting behaviours to prevent plastic waste;
  • Enhancing existing regulatory framework to face local microplastic pollution and influencing national and European political agenda in Italy and Germany;

The project is co-financed by the European Commission through the Life Programme and PlasticsEurope.
Website: https://lifebluelakes.eu/ info@lifebluelakes.eu



Waste management (WM) represents a cornerstone in the effort to preserve Mediterranean citiesand guarantee a healthy living environment for communities. Municipal WM, which represents a big challenge for the area, is directly affected by population growth and concentration, urbanization and tourism. The growth limits faced in the MED cities call for smart, sustainable, and inclusive urban development. Moreover, agriculture has become of great interest in findingnew answers for how cities can master recent social, economic, and ecological challenges.

DECOST project aims to develop a new framework of WM building a closed loop system of organic waste valorisation integrating decentralised Home & Community Composting systems with Urban Agriculture. Innovative results in waste valorisation must lead to a broader approachin terms of sustainability; waste urban planning shall be viable from an environmental/economicperspective but also bearable and equitable from a social/environmental and social/economic points of view. These goals can only be achieved by using a people-centred approach, empowering civil society and increasing institutional capacity building.

DECOST is based on the participation of a wide range of actors (Waste Agencies, Municipalities and Research Centres) of 6 different countries, 3 of them EU Mediterranean Countries (Spain, Italy and Greece) and 3 South-East Mediterranean Countries (Palestine, Jordan and Israel) resulting in an international partnership that brings different backgrounds and expertise and are directly engaged in the local governance processes. Integrated Municipal Solid Waste Management Plans and pilot initiatives will be implemented at 4 different municipalities (Spain, Italy, Jordan and Palestine) aiming to (i) reduce food waste and valorize 1,500-2,000 t organic waste/year, (ii) use the produced compost in urban agriculture projects, (iii) create green jobs through DECOST teams (iv) train staff of public administrations (v) use IT tools and mobile Appsfor citizen science and engagement and (vi) address municipal sustainability at long-term strategiclevel.
Website: enicbcmed.eu/projects/decost