EU funds two research projects with Freiburg participation to support the European Green Deal
Freiburg, Nov 05, 2021
Within the framework of the EU research and innovation program “Horizon 2020,” the European Union is funding 73 research projects in support of the European Green Deal - scientists from the University of Freiburg are involved in two of them: “SUPERB – Systemic Solutions For Upscaling Urgent Ecosystem Restoration For Forest Related Biodiversity And Ecosystem Services” and “PAUL – Pilot Application In Urban Landscapes, Towards Integrated City Observatories For Greenhouse Gases.”
SUPERB aims to create a sustainable environment for a shift towards large-scale forest restoration and forest landscapes in the context of climate change. The forest restoration targets biodiversity and the provision of ecosystem services, including climate protection. The project will empower decision-makers in different regions of Europe to implement recovery measures as quickly as possible, based on a scientific basis and together with stakeholders. The European Forest Institute (EFI) in Finland is coordinating the project. It will start in December 2021 and run for four years. From the Department of Environment and Natural Resources of the University of Freiburg, Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bauhus and Dr. Metodi Sotirov are involved. SUPERB will receive 20 million euros, of which 732,500 euros will be allocated to the University of Freiburg.
The PAUL project aims to develop new technologies for direct measurement of greenhouse gas emissions and reductions in cities. The project coordinator is the European research infrastructure “Integrated Carbon Observation System” (ICOS) in Finland. PAUL already started in October 2021 and will run for five years. From Freiburg, Prof. Dr. Andreas Christen from the Institute of Earth and Environmental Sciences is involved, coordinating a work package to develop and establish atmospheric observatories in different European cities to determine emissions and their reductions. PAUL will also have integration sites with Christen’s project “Urbisphere”, for which Christen has secured an ERC Synergy Grant from the European Research Council. Both projects will conduct measurements in the atmosphere in the city of Paris and strengthen each other in terms of content and logistics. PAUL receives 13 million euros, of which 495,166EUR is allocated to the University of Freiburg.
The European Green Deal is the European Commission’s roadmap for a climate-neutral, sustainable EU economy. This goal is to be achieved by seeing climate and environmental challenges as opportunities for innovation and by making the transition to a climate-neutral economy inclusive across all sectors.
For more information:
Press release of the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts Baden-Württemberg
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Jürgen Bauhus
Institute of Forest Sciences
University of Freiburg
Tel.: 0761/203-3677
E-Mail: waldbau@waldbau.uni-freiburg.de
Prof. Dr. Andreas Christen
Institute for Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Freiburg
Tel.: 0761/203-3591
E-Mail: andreas.christen@meteo.uni-freiburg.de
Christian Jäger
Head of the EU Office
Freiburg Research Services
University of Freiburg
Tel.: 0761/203-8845
E-Mail: christian.jaeger@zv.uni-freiburg.de
Bastian Strauch
Office of University and Science Communications
University of Freiburg
Tel.: 0761/203-4301
E-Mail: bastian.strauch@pr.uni-freiburg.de