SEA4VALUE wants to deliver a Multi-mineral Modular Brine Mining Process (MMBMP) for the recovery of valuable metals and minerals from brines produced in sea-water desalination plants. The project will proof the feasibility of the next generation technologies (including advanced concentration and crystallization processes and highly selective separation processes) for recovery of Mg, B, Sc, In, V, Ga, Li, Rb, Mo and set the basis for their future assimilation in already existing SWDP and those yet to come. The EC and national public officials are well aware of the economic importance and supply risk of CRM and non-CRM, and are promoting new solutions for the recycling, exploration and mining of raw materials needs. SEA4VALUE puts together an industrially and user-driven consortium of 15 members that represent the whole value chain (from Water Infraestructure Operator to Processing Industry) who will extensively work during four years to proof that the measures presented are competitive, technically feasible, contribute towards circular economy strategies and sustainability goals. SEA4VALUE will upscale 10 technologies by developing novel selective membranes; producing new 3D printed selective adsorbents; applying advanced metallurgical solutions including solvometallurgy, ionic liquids and supported liquid membranes; improving membrane crystallization; and, developing thermally-conductive polymer composite materials for the heat exchangers to be used in multi-effect distillation while building confidence for the market uptake of the recovered elements, and therefore considerably reducing the arrival into the market and its uptake of brine as new source of raw materials.

As climate change progresses irrevocably, urgent measures are needed for building resilience and adaptive capacity. In the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, effective climate resilient regions cannot be built at expense of productive sectors, or without fair societal consensus. IMPETUS will develop and validate a coherent multi-scale, multi-level, cross-sectoral climate change adaptation framework to accelerate the transition towards a climate-neutral and sustainable economy. IMPETUS Resilience Knowledge Boosters (RKBs) will build a robust Quintuple Helix stakeholders' community (human dimension) complemented with reliable data and assessment methods to support decision and policy making (digital dimension). This will result in a community empowerment to co-design, assess, deploy, and monitor climate adaptation Innovation Packages, including R&I methodological, technological, governance, awareness, behavioural, economic, financial and pathway components. IMPETUS RKBs will be deployed and validated in all 7 EU biogeographical regions (Continental, Coastal, Mediterranean, Atlantic, Arctic, Boreal, Mountainous) covering all Key Community Systems, climate threats, and multi-level governance. IMPETUS consortium is made of selected local, regional and national public authorities; R&D organisations; SMEs and large enterprises; and international organisations, to build upon, upscale and demonstrate a wide range of R&D solutions. IMPETUS has a clear earmark to ensure continuity after the project lifetime through consolidated and interconnected RKBs and communities at different scales.

This project aims to provide for real-world implementations of Water Framework Directive (and other water related legislation), as well as the Circular Economy and EU Green Deal packages by showcasing and validating innovative next generation water resource solutions at pre-commercial demonstration scale. These solutions combine WATER management services with the recovery of value added renewable resources extracted/MINED from alternative water resources ("WATER-MINING"). The project will integrate selected innovative technologies that have reached proof of concept levels under previous EU projects. The value-added end-products (water, platform chemicals, energy, nutrients, minerals) are expected to provide regional resource supplies to fuel economic developments within a growing demand for resource security. Different layouts for urban wastewater treatment and seawater desalination are proposed, to demonstrate the wider practical potential to replicate the philosophy of approach in widening circles of water and resource management schemes. Innovative service-based business models (such as chemical leasing) will be introduced to stimulate progressive forms of collaboration between public and private actors and access to private investments, as well as policy measures to make the proposed water solutions relevant and accessible for rolling out commercial projects in the future. The goal is to enable costs for the recovery of the resources to become distributed across the whole value chain in a fair way, promoting business incentives for investments from both suppliers and end-users along the value chain. The demonstration case studies are to be first implemented in five EU countries (NL, ES, CY, PT, IT) where prior successful technical and social steps have already been accomplished. The broader project consortium representation will be an enabler to transferring trans-disciplinary project know-how to the partner countries while motivating and inspiring relevant innovations throughout Europe.