CYCLOLIVE is a collaborative effort with 9 diverse partners from Italy, Germany, Morocco, Spain, Tunisia, France, Jordan, and Turkey. The project aims to tackle energy and environmental challenges linked to olive oil production biowastes in the Mediterranean region. These wastes are typically underutilized or managed inadequately, and CYCLOLIVE strives for a sustainable "zero waste" approach, focusing on the following key objectives: Environmental Monitoring: Objective 1 (OB1) assesses river basin quality near olive milling sites in Italy, Morocco, and Tunisia, measuring the impact of olive mill wastewater (OMWW). The project will then establish three mesocosms, which will serve as experimental platforms to simulate the impact of OMWW discharge under controlled conditions. Energy and Sustainability: CYCLOLIVE will execute three OMWW treatment demonstration cases with enhanced CWs integrated with biochar and solar aeration power (OB2). Additionally, it will carry out three demonstration cases in Italy, Morocco, and Tunisia for converting OMSW into biochar for water treatment, using either solar-based or conventional energy systems (OB3). Two more demonstration cases in Morocco and Italy will focus on transforming OMSW into biochar for use as a slow-release bio-based fertilizer in both field and soilless agriculture (OB4). Furthermore, a demonstration case in Turkey will convert the same OMSW into water-absorbent biopolymers (WABs) for field and soilless agriculture (OB5). Waste-to-Value – To implement three demonstration cases in Italy, Morocco, and Tunisia for the OMWW reuse and/or biochar/WAB application for the field or soilless production of edible crops important in the Mediterranean context using modern and tailored decision support tools (OB6). Sensible soil bioindicators will be used to study soil effects due to the introduction of CYCLOLIVE products in agriculture. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA): Objective seven (OB7) evaluates the life cycle of materials produced within the CYCLOLIVE project using the LCA approach. This assessment will provide insights into the environmental sustainability of the project's innovations. Health and Quality Assessment: CYCLOLIVE will conduct comprehensive monitoring of inorganic and organic micropollutants across the agricultural chain to evaluate potential risks to human health related to food consumption (OB8 and OB9). The project will also assess food quality, including essential primary and secondary metabolites like sugars, polyphenols, and glucosinolates. Stakeholder Engagement: The tenth objective (OB10) emphasizes active engagement with local industrial and commercial stakeholders and end-users from the project's early stages. A participatory approach will ensure that the innovations meet practical needs and are readily adopted. Policy Advocacy: The eleventh and final objective (OB11) focuses on collaborating closely with policymakers. The project will share its results and outputs to advocate for adopting best management practices related to ecosystem resources and waste management. The project studies real and reconstructed ecosystems. Reconstructed ecosystems are tested with OMWW/OMSW to simulate uncontrolled discharge, assessing various biological and chemical parameters, including emerging and priority micropollutants. OMSW is used to produce biochar for water treatment and eco-friendly polymerization techniques create biochar and WABs for agriculture. These are tested at three sites for soilless crop production, growing olives, rockets, strawberries, tomatoes, maize, and peppers with modern irrigation. LCA assesses environmental impact. Food safety monitoring covers various contaminants in the agricultural production chain, and food quality assessment focuses on primary and secondary metabolites. The project also addresses social aspects like consumer acceptance and farmer concerns about unconventional water sources for irrigation.

Water scarcity has various negative side-effects on river ecosystem and riverine biodiversity with the deteriorated water quality and quantity. Due to global climate change, a continuous increase in the proportion of intermittent rivers and aquifers is envisaged that will make them the dominant water bodies in the Mediterranean basin. To our best knowledge, hydrological, physico-chemical and ecological processes in intermittent rivers are scarce and not sufficiently supporting specific management options under the characteristic flush and drought conditions of intermittent rivers. The INWAT project aims at estimating intermittent river and groundwater quality and evaluating environmental problems associated to water scarcity in the seven Mediterranean catchments (Spain, France, Italy, Turkey, Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria) representing a wide range of management scenarios to ensure the transferability and further impact of the developed decision-support system from EU members to EU associated and MENA countries. Specific objectives are: (i) To develop innovative methods for hydrological monitoring and innovative hydrological modelling tools tailor-made to intermittent rivers representing the widest possible diversity of management scenarios under water scarcity conditions, such as sea intrusion and groundwater recharge, groundwater water quality issues. (ii) To improve the knowledge and capacity on pollution sources and processes naturally attenuating contamination by chemicals in intermittent rivers and aquifers. (iii) To develop methodologies for monitoring and assessing the ecological status of intermittent rivers with a particular focus on the development and refinement of novel biological indicators including metagenomic approaches. (iv) To develop a decision-support system with stakeholders involved in water management for the design of management actions to help minimizing and mitigating the effects of global change in water-scarce regions.