H2O Pollution: holistic approach and nature based solutions

This transnational and transdisciplinary course will focus on two key sustainability challenges of today's societies - clean water and energy supply. The programme will bring together a European team of experts in ecology, microbiology, environmental chemistry, hydrogeology, pollution assessment, environmental and health risk assessment, bioremediation, and waste-to-energy bioprocesses.

The course is framed by the European Commission’s Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability, which sets out Europe’s zero pollution ambition, to better protect citizens, animals and the environment from harmful substances. Upon completion of this course, students will be able to demonstrate a holistic understanding and approach of water pollution, and apply nature-based solutions to real-life problems.

The course will involve both virtual and face-to-face activities, including field trips and laboratory work. Hands-on class will be central for the students’ training.

• Water, energy, and climate change
  
• Chemicals strategy for sustainability
• Water quality standards
• New ecological approaches to assess water quality
• New chemical approaches to assess water quality
• Green and nature-based solutions for pollution remediation including bioenergy production from biowaste

This Blended Intensive Programme will equip Master's and PhD students with the knowledge and skills required to address the pressures that anthropogenic chemicals pose to aquatic systems on the path to 2030 and beyond, according to the Green Deal objectives and the UN 2030 Agenda. This will be achieved by adopting challenge-based approaches in order to address current societal challenges.

Students will be able to understand and apply innovative approaches to assess the source and fate of pollutants, their risks for ecosystems and human health, and remediation capabilities of natural microbial communities. They will acquire skills in the main principles of chemical, biotechnological and microbiological waste-to-energy processes.

Thanks to hands-on-learning activities and a strong interaction with fellow students and teachers, the students will be able to:

• critically discuss literature data;
• suggest suitable monitoring and bioremediation strategies for different case studies;
• design site- and pollutant-specific protocols for the assessment and recovery of polluted waters using ecological and multidisciplinary approaches.

They will also understand updated concepts and methodologies to address major environmental challenges, acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to achieve sustainable development goals. Moreover, enhanced opportunities for international exchange will be achieved.

The physical mobility part will take place between 14 - 18 June 2027, in Rome. The interactive activities supporting the course's objectives will comprise:

1. Practical lectures addressing the themes of the programme:


• water quality evaluation and remediation/ bioremediation, Nature based solutions
• energy valorisation of waste

• case studies/ examples, methods 

2. Workshops and practical classes on research design 

3. Students’ group-work 

4. Stakeholder seminars (and visits) 

5. Field trips, field and laboratory activities

Students with different backgrounds and nationalities (European and African) will be divided in small multidisciplinary groups (for simulating team working). Each group will be asked to develop a project focusing on one of the specific issues developed during the programme and to propose practical activities/ solutions for sustainable water management.

The daily tentative program is:


Day 1: Registration and Welcome


• icebreaker activities;
• introduction to lectures aimed to water quality evaluation and remediation of contaminated waters;
• case studies/ examples of water quality evaluation or water remediation/ bioremediation/ green chemistry/ energy from waste and other NBS;
• introduction to the field trip.

Day 2: field trip, sampling 

Day 3: Sapienza University Labs – introduction to practical activities; analyses of samples collected during the field trip. 

• Rome tour on the theme of water.

Day 4 – IRSA-CNR / ENEA (Visit) Discussion with stakeholders. Practical lab activities on Pollution, Energy, Nature based solutions 

Day 5 - Final discussion regarding the BIP's themathics, laboratory and field activities, and students’ project plan. How to develop a project. How to make a poster.

• projects will be then developed and discussed in online sessions after the mobility;
• final greetings.

The virtual module will take place between 7 - 30 June 2027. The course will comprise two phases of virtual teaching activities:

1. Before the physical mobility. Online meetings will be held between 7-12 June 2027, 10:00 AM to 12:30 AM CEST

The daily tentative programme is:

Day 1

Prof. Maria Letizia Costantini, Sapienza Università di Roma

• Welcome to the CIVIS BIP and general introduction to the programme  

Prof. Michelle Bloor, UofG

• Chemical Policy (Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability)
• Chemicals and sustainability 

Day 2 - lectures 

Prof. Delia Popescu, UNIBUC


• Introduction to sources, properties, occurrence, and health impacts of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) and endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on water quality 

Prof. Anna Barra Caracciolo, IRSA


• Emerging contaminants and One Health approach 

Day 3 - lectures 

Prof. Carmen Chifiriuc, Ilda Barbu, Irina Gheorghe-Barbu, UNIBUC

• Antimicrobial resistance from the clinical to aquatic reservoirs 

Prof. Maura Manganelli, ISS


• Cyanobacteria and Cyanotoxins as emerging contaminants 

Day 4 - lectures

Invited speakers, IRSA
 

• Introduction to Nature Based Solutions for pollution remediation 

Prof. Manoko Maubane-Nkadimeng and invited speakers University of the Witwatersrand 

• Chemical solutions for pollution remediation 

Day 5 - lectures 

Prof. Antonella Marone, Valentina Mazzurco Miritana and Giulia Massini, ENEA


• Application of Microbial Electrochemical Technologies (METs) for wastewater treatment and energy recovery
• Biodegradation of pharmaceuticals and other emerging contaminants during energy valorisation of waste (Hydrogen and biogas)

*Q&A sessions after each lecture

2. After the physical mobility.  Short online group meetings will be held between 21-30 June 2027 with the assigned tutors to finalize and discuss the projects, which will be evaluated in a final online meeting.

The assessment will include:

• Students will present and discuss their case study projects with fellow students and their teachers. The presentations will take place post-mobility, during the final online session.
• Over the course, participation in online and face-to-face activities will also be evaluated.

Motivation Letter

CV

All applications will be evaluated based on their CV and the quality and clarity of the motivation letter.

Sapienza Università di Roma

• Maria Letizia Costantini is Associate Professor of Ecology and Applied ecology at Sapienza Università di Roma (SUR). The main focus of her research is the relationship between biodiversity and functioning in aquatic ecosystems. Currently the research interests are food webs in Mediterranean and Polar habitats, impact of alien species, use of stable isotopes for environmental monitoring. 
• Edoardo Calizza is Associate Professor of Ecology at Sapienza Università di Roma (SUR). He is interested in the study of species interactions in ecological communities through stable isotope analyses. Research includes the Mediterranean and polar areas, focusing on the effects of climate change. The general aim of his research work is to better understand mechanisms of biodiversity organization along natural and anthropic gradients of disturbance.
• Simona Sporta Caputi is Post-doctoral Researcher in Ecology at Sapienza Università di Roma (SUR). Her research focuses on the effects of climate change and anthropogenic impacts on aquatic ecosystems in Mediterranean and polar areas. 
• Giulia Massini has been senior researcher at ENEA since 2025. She teaches Bioremediation of contaminated aquatic and terrestrial environments at Sapienza Università di Roma (SUR). She has experience in ecology, microbial ecology and ecology applied to the study of fermentation, anaerobic digestion and biogeochemical cycles. She carries out research in the field of energy valorisation of waste biomass with the production of biogas, biomethane and biohydrogen.
• Anna Barra Caracciolo, PhD in Ecology. She is Head of Research at the Water Research Institute of the National Research Council (IRSA-CNR). She studies the fate of organic contaminants, the role of natural microbial communities in degrading and removing chemicals and bioremediation strategies. She taught Bioremediation at SUR. She is member of the SETAC Europe, of the EcotoxicoMic Network and of the NORMAN Network.
• Antonella Marone is Researcher at ENEA research center. Her research activities encompass all mixed-culture bioprocesses applied to treatment of solid and liquid waste and products recovery (renewable energy and chemicals): bioelectrochemical systems, fermentation, anaerobic digestion and designing biorefineries. She was awarded with an EU Marie Curie Grant and Beatriu de Pinos fellowship.
• Valentina Mazzurco Miritana is a researcher at ENEA. With a PhD in Ecology and Management of Biological Resources, she studies biotechnological processes for the energy valorisation of waste biomass through a microbial ecology approach. Her work focuses on fermentation and anaerobic digestion, applying bioaugmentation strategies to enhance process performance. She also has experience in bioremediation techniques under both anaerobic and aerobic conditions.

University of Bucharest

• Carmen Chifiriuc is Full Professor at the University of Bucharest (UB), Department of Microbiology, corresponding member of the Romania Academy, pro-Rector, coordinator of the Research Institute, member of the taskforce for research within CIVIS (WP4) and member in RIS4CIVIS. Fields of expertise: investigation by phenotypic and genotypic approaches of resistance and virulence in bacterial strains isolated from clinical sources and from the aquatic environment, complex pathogen-host interrelation, evaluation of novel antimicrobial and anti-virulence strategies.
• Delia-Laura Popescu is Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Interdisciplinary Studies (UB). She has earned MSc in chemistry and PhD in green chemistry and homogeneous catalysis from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), USA. Her current research focuses on porous materials with environmental applications, supramolecular hybrid metal-organic materials, and coordination systems with biological properties.
• Irina Gheorghe-Barbu is Associated Professor at the Department of Botany and Microbiology (UB). She has a background on the antimicrobial resistence in strains belonging to GNNF, mediated by mobile genetic elements (plasmids, integrons and transposons). She optimized a series of protocols working techniques (PFGE, MLST, Mapping PCR, Southern Blot hybridisation) during mobility fellowships in China and Portugal Universities and national projects.
• Ilda Czobor Barbu is Associate Professor at the Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Biology (UB) and holds a PhD in Biology. Her research focuses on antimicrobial resistance, particularly in Gram-negative ESKAPE pathogens, examining resistance gene transfer in clinical and environmental contexts. She has expertise in molecular microbiology, bacterial genomics, and molecular epidemiology. Recently, she has expanded her work to explore the potential of bacteriophages as alternative therapies to antibiotics

University of Glasgow

• Michelle Bloor is a Professor of Environmental Science and Risk at the School of Social and Environmental Sustainability, University of Glasgow, U.K. Her research expertise is within the arena of chemicals, waste and pollution prevention. She is the Research Director for Scotland’s National Centre for Resilience, Co-Lead of the University of Glasgow’s Global Health and Environment Interdisciplinary Research, Editor in Chief of Sustainable Environment  journal and Editor for the book series Issue on Environmental Science and Technology. She is also a Senior Fellow of the University of Glasgow’s Center for Public and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Stockhom University

• Ann-Kristin E Wiklund is Associate Professor of Environmental Science and Head of Education at Stockholm University (SU). She earned a PhD in Ecotoxicology and has an extensive experience in experimental ecotoxicology in laboratory and field environments. She has been working with both legacy contaminants (metals, PAH:s, and PCB:s) as well as emerging contaminants (pharmaceuticals, microplastics, and artificial sweeteners).

University of the Witwatersrand (SA)

• Manoko Maubane-Nkadimeng is a Senior Instrument Scientist and Associate Researcher at the University of The Witwatersrand. Her main research focuses on the conversion of waste to high end, nanostructured materials. Her current research includes the synthesis and characterization of nanocarbons for application in water purification, electrochemistry, solar cells and sensors.

Other trainers

• Maura Manganelli, PhD in Ecology, is Senior Researcher at the National Istitute of Health, Dept. of Environment and Health. She works in the field of water quality and human health risk assessment. She also carries out institutional activities (formulation of opinions) as experts in aquatic microbial pathogens, toxic cyanobacteria and harmful algae.
• David Rossi, PhD in Earth Sciences, is a Researcher at IRSA-CNR. His research activity includes hydrology and hydro-geology; groundwater reconstruction and drainage processes; mapping in 2D and 3D of water body using echosounder single beams and multi beams; relationships between geological complexity and ecosystem fragility.