Water scarcity and droughts are becoming increasingly frequent and widespread in the European Union. According to official data, 38% of Europeans already suffer from these climate change-induced phenomena more or less regularly, especially in those member countries located in the southern part of the continent, such as Spain, Portugal, France, Greece, and Italy.

The European project CisWEFE-NEX, funded with €9.6 million by the Horizon Europe program and supported by the Circular Cities and Regions Initiative (CCRI), proposes a circular production system to close the loops in the value chains of food, water, and nutrients, with a self-sufficient renewable energy system and a zero balance of Greenhouse Gas emissions. (GEI). This integrated and sustainable circular economy approach, called WEFE-Nexus (Water-Energy-Food-Ecosystem Nexus), will be tested in five regions of southern Europe, including Andalusia, selected for their climatic and geographical similarities.

Specifically, the WEFE-Nexus approach analyzes the interdependence between water, energy, and food security and the ecosystems that sustain this security, while providing highly valuable scientific information for the development of policies that maintain the integrity and sustainability of ecosystems. From a practical standpoint, this will be achieved through the CisWEFE-NEX demonstrator, which will not generate waste and can be monitored and controlled by an artificial intelligence and machine learning system called iSYS.

In turn, among the project’s objectives is also the creation of a network of key stakeholders and interested parties that facilitates the exchange of knowledge and best practices during and at the end of the project, June 2029, and to promote public policies and governance models that include the circular approach in integrated water management. The CisWEFE-NEX project, coordinated by BIOAZUL and driven by a collaborative consortium of 27 entities, recently held its launch meeting online, where medium-term actions were planned and the roles of each partner were presented.

CTA role

CTA has a cross-cutting role in CisWEFE-NEX, as it will participate in developing the replication strategy of the demonstrator in the scalability phase, dissemination, and transfer of the results of the case studies. Simultaneously, the foundation, as a “CCRI Fellow,” will contribute to positioning and projecting the initiative in interest working groups. The CTA team consists of Macarena Ureña, International Project Manager, Julia Vélez, R&D&I Project Technician, and Manuel Silva, Communication Technician.

The CisWEFE-NEX consortium is formed by the following entities:

• BIOAZUL (Spain).
• Asociación de investigación metalúrgica del noroeste (Spain).
• ECOFILAE (Spain).
• INOVA+ (Portugal).
• WME (Denmark)
• Università degli Studi di Palermo (Italy).
• ULTRAWAVES (Germany).
• MORE (Portugal).
• LANDING (Netherlands).
• IGFF (Denmark).
• OVERDI (Italy).
• IN LOCO (Portugal).
• DARIACORDAR (Portugal).
• COOPERNICO (Portugal).
• IDAD (Portugal).
• Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia (Greece).
• Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (Greece).
• Éa éco-entreprises (France).
• Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía (Spain).
• REQUIMTE (Portugal).
• IQ Consult GmbH (Switzerland.
• CCDR Algarve (Portugal).
• CCDR Alentejo (Portugal).
• Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias (Spain).
• CM Tavira (Portugal).
• CM Olhão (Portugal).
• INNOBOOST (Switzerland).