Contributing to the CCRI project portfolio, CisWEFE-NEX will demonstrate the implementation of a circular systemic WEFE Nexus, an innovative, fully integrated, & sustainable approach applying the principles of circular economy for closing loops in the key value chains of food, water & nutrients in severely water stressed regions: 1. Water: - A net positive freshwater balance to the water cycle (JRC 2021) will be achieved through combining olive mill wastewater reuse (as a co-product from biophenols extraction) with saltwater desalination at scale without using fossil fuels for use as drinking & irrigation water. - Waste streams from desalination (brine & bitterns) will be repurposed in nature-based solar saltworks as table & Epsom salt, made possible because of zero chemical use in the desalination process. 2. Energy: - Cutting-edge renewable energy technologies will be developed & demonstrated to achieve a net-zero direct fossil GHG emissions process. - Agri-photovoltaics (crops under PV panels) and biogas from advanced (ultrasonic cavitation assisted) anaerobic digestion fed from olive mill & other biowastes. 3. Food: - Innovative nature-based techniques will be demonstrated to enable truly sustainable, healthy, and fresh food & seaweed (containing bioactive compounds for pharma use) production at scale. - Saltwater integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (free of growth hormones, antibiotics, synthetic fertilisers, & preservatives). - Regenerative agriculture (organic permaculture reusing precious water & nutrients) and extractive reuse of biophenols from olive mill waste as bioactive products of very high nutri-pharmaceutical value. 4. Ecosystems: - Monitoring of traditional & emerging (micro)pollutants using cutting-edge analytics will prevent harmful impacts on the environment & food grown from it with predictive alerts & remedies through a mobile controlled cavitation unit providing (waste)water treatment services (advanced oxidation processes, disinfection).

The overall objective is to minimise the leakage of materials from the linear economy and work towards a circular economy. Specific objectives are to: • Engage cities, enterprises, citizens and academia in 16 participatory value chain based partnerships to create and develop eco-innovative solutions together. • Develop 10 viable end-markets by demonstrating new applications for plastic waste, metals (EEE devices), biowaste and wood waste. • Develop a governance model for cities based on value chain based partnerships. • Develop decision support tools and assess the actual impact by use of Big Data. • Ensure replication through the FORCE Academy aiming at enterprises, citizens and policy makers. The eco-innovative solutions will be demonstrated across four cities (Copenhagen, Hamburg, Lisbon and Genoa) and using the four materials: Flexible plastics: Recycling and upgrade of 5,000 tonnes of flexible plastic from enterprises and private households will enable virgin material substitution, corresponding to preventing emissions of 12,500 tonnes of CO2. Metals: Citizens will be mobilised to reclaim an additional 2 kg/capita of WEEE (app. 3,600 tonnes). A communication campaign will reach 100,000 citizens and support at least five SME’s that repair damaged EEE devices so that 10-20% of the collected WEEE can be redistributed. Wood waste: additional 12,000 tonnes wood waste from urban and mountain areas will be collected. 8-10,000 tonnes of brushwood will be used for compost production, and 14-16,000 tonnes will be processed into wood particles. Biowaste: around 7,000 tonnes of biowaste from the municipal mixed waste stream will be recovered: 3,000 tonnes coming from restaurants and hotels, and 4,000 tonnes coming from households. The partnerships will result in the creation of viable eco-innovative market solutions, exploited by the partners. Replication in other cities will be incentivised thus ensuring competitiveness of European Circular Economy and green growth.