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The “Ripple” project in Ballina wins a New European Bauhaus Prize
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The “Ripple” project In Ballina, County Mayo, won the New European Bauhaus (NEB) prize for 2023 in the category “Reconnecting with nature”. The project aims at making connections between water and climate change in town. Winners receive €30,000 each.
Ripple proposes a collaborative place-based approach to climate resilient green space in towns. The team worked with a community in Ballina that had faced socio-economic challenges to see if a model of respectful support, listening and engagement could generate a positive ripple-effect.
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Together they created the Paradise Garden, a haven for humans and wildlife where rainwater is slowed through a series of rills, wells and natural attenuation on its way to the adjacent river.
In June, the European Commission announced 15 winners of the NEB Prizes 2023, and 14 selected projects benefiting from €65 million of investments from the first European Urban Initiative - Innovative Actions call. The award ceremony took place at the ‘NEB in Regions and Cities' event in Brussels.
There were over 1,400 applicants from Member States and - for the first time - the Western Balkans for the third edition of the prizes. The prizes celebrate and award inspiring examples of existing projects and ideas from young talents to make Europe more sustainable, beautiful, and inclusive. Besides the monetary prize, the winners will benefit from a communication package to help them further develop and promote their projects and concepts.
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Soils in Southern and Eastern Ireland have nitrogen surplus
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In Ireland, about 80 % of agricultural areas have nitrogen levels which can produce significant environmental impacts, according to the data of the EU Soil Health Dashboard, a new tool which maps the state of soil health across Europe. The data is particularly high in Southern Ireland, as well as in Eastern Ireland, where 83% of areas are above the threshold.
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Nitrogen is an essential nutrient for plant growth, and as such nitrogen-containing fertilisers and organic inputs are extensively used in agriculture worldwide. However, excessive nitrogen in soil is a major source of soil pollution, with consequences also for air, water quality and public health and contributes to greenhouse gas emissions. When nitrogen surplus exceeds 50 kg ha-1 per year in an agricultural land area, the environmental impacts might be significant.
The dashboard highlights the location and estimates the extent of unhealthy soils in the EU, as well as the degradation processes behind them. It was recently included in the EU Soil Observatory, developed and run by the JRC.
A staggering 61% of EU soils are in an unhealthy state, according to the dashboard. Most of them are subject to more than one type of soil degradation. The EUSO soil health dashboard is based on a set of 15 indicators of soil degradation processes, covering the following nine topics: soil erosion, soil pollution, nutrients, loss of soil organic carbon, loss of soil biodiversity, soil compaction, soil salinization, loss of organic soils and soil sealing.
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The forest fires season in Ireland in 2022 was in line with previous years
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The total burnt area of 3,409 hectares from 69 fires mapped in Ireland in 2022 was close to the average of the last few years, according to the data of the advance report on Forest Fires in Europe, Middle East and North Africa for 2022. As usual in Ireland, the main peak of activity was in March and April. Around 40% of the burnt area (1,352 hectares) was recorded in Natura2000 protected sites.
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The JRC report provides an overview of the fire season of 2022 based on the data of the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS). It precedes the annual report for the 2022 that is published with the national contributions from the countries in the Commission Expert Group on Forest Fires. The next report will be published in October 2023.
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JRC’s data on raw materials in Ireland
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The Country Report on Ireland of the JRC Raw Materials Information System (RMIS) is one of the supporting documents of the JRC’s latest research on the “Supply chain analysis and material demand forecast in strategic technologies and sectors in the EU”.
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The newly-revamped RMIS provides knowledge on raw materials, both primary (extracted/harvested) as well as secondary (from recycling, for example). It provides information for all EU Member States on specific materials, as well as for different sectors and technologies. These data support the EU Critical Raw Material act, recently presented by the European Commission.
In order for the European Union to achieve the ambitious targets it has set for the energy and digital transitions and its defence and space agenda, it needs undisrupted access to critical raw materials and to many products which contain them. Europe can take action now to avoid being dependent on individual countries.
The latest JRC research includes analyses for both supply as well as current and future demand. Demand for materials that drive the green and digital transitions is expected to increase significantly. It presents a systematic analysis of the complete value chains, from raw and processed materials to components, assemblies and systems, for 15 key technologies across five strategic sectors: renewable energy, electro mobility, industrial, digital, and aerospace/defence.
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Food waste in Ireland is above the EU average
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In Ireland, about 150 kilograms of food are wasted yearly per inhabitant, according to the Eurostat data used by the JRC in its recent estimates of the impact of decreasing food waste in the EU. Total food waste in Ireland was about 770.000 tonnes of fresh mass in 2020. Households and the processing and manufacturing sectors were the highest producers of food waste.
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In 2020 in the EU, nearly 59 million tonnes of food went to waste. That is 131 kg wasted food per each of us living in the European Union or roughly 10% of all food supplied to restaurants, food services, retail and households. Households in the European Union could save 220-720 euros on average every year by reducing food waste. This would mean an over 6% decrease in the share of food expenditure in total household expenditures.
Households are responsible for over half (53%) of food waste in the EU, followed by the processing and manufacturing sector (20%), the primary production (10%), restaurants and food services (9%). Looking at what makes up the EU food waste, fruits and vegetables take the largest portion in the bin, accounting for 27% and 20%, respectively. Cereals (13%), meat (10%) and potatoes (10%) have a considerable share as well.
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People feeling lonely in Ireland
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Approximately 20% of respondents in Ireland to the JRC Pilot Project on Loneliness feel lonely most of the time or all of the time. The figure for Ireland is the highest among EU Member States. The lowest levels are observed in the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Croatia and Austria (all below 10%).
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The JRC Pilot Project on Loneliness has involved gathering data on loneliness across the EU, synthesising and enhancing existing evidence, and exchanging on best practices on intervention measures to combat loneliness. The survey was conducted in 2022 on more than 25.000 respondents.
Loneliness is not only a problem among the elderly. Young people have actually a higher incidence of loneliness compared to older generations. This finding, in line with previous research, does not imply that loneliness among the elderly is not a problem, as the consequences of loneliness can vary by age.
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