The mission of the ENGAGE Project is to operationalise an innovative vision for the future of multi-scale nutrient management in small to large river basins in Europe, to help relevant actors and stakeholders co-design management and development strategies. The project intends to provide a computational tool supporting pollutants management in large river basins, allowing for the definition and test of alternative scenarios, for which the tool will calculate scenarios at the water basin level. The project wants to contribute towards the maximization of provisioning ecosystem services, such as water supply and food, regulating ecosystem services, like water purification, supporting ecosystem services, e.g., nutrient cycling, and cultural ecosystem services, such as recreation.
Feb. 2025 - Jan. 2028
Leader: UÉvora, Portugal
Financial and legal management of the project, as well as developing a data management plan to ensure quality and coherence of publication strategy. WP1 will also be responsible for the administration, monitoring and reporting of project progress.
Feb. 2025 - Jan. 2028
Leader: NIBIO, Norway
Aims to engage a wide range of stakeholders in a collaborative process to co-design, develop, and evaluate effective, scalable nutrient management strategies across targeted European river basins. This process aims to foster knowledge transfer and ensure robust integration of solutions within an adaptable decision support tool (DST).
Feb. 2025 - Oct. 2027
Leader: UÉvora, Portugal
Aims to develop land-to-ocean simulations across the case study regions by combining data collection, terrestrial hydrological-biogeochemical modelling, remote sensing, and river mouth/near-shore simulations.
Feb. 2025 - Oct. 2027
Leader: BSC, Latvia
Aims to ensure that the DST reflects a comprehensive understanding of the socio-economic dynamics influencing nutrient pollution and incorporates the diverse perspectives and needs of all stakeholders involved.
Feb. 2025 - Jan. 2028
Leader: Swedish Univ. Agric. Sciences
Will identify pathways for sustainable river basin governance and management across the different river basins.
Feb. 2025 - Jan. 2028
Leader: MRU, Lithuania
WP6 is designed to coordinate and facilitate the communication, dissemination and exploitation activities of ENGAGE’s project.
The University of Évora, established in 1559, stands as Portugal's second-oldest university. Initially managed by the Jesuits, it was closed in 1779 following their expulsion and later reopened in 1973, reclaiming its historical role in Portuguese higher education. Today, the university offers a diverse array of over 150 programs across various disciplines, including bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees. Its academic structure encompasses schools of Arts, Sciences and Technology, Social Sciences, Health and Human Development, and Nursing, providing education in fields ranging from architecture and veterinary medicine to artificial intelligence and tourism.
The Polytechnic Institute of Beja actively contributes to the generation and dissemination of knowledge in the research fields of agriculture and environmental sciences. The ENGAGE´s IPBeja team has strong experience in research activities in the areas of water quality assessment, and ecological and chemical classification of water bodies, with high number of field works and publications on the Guadiana Basin, with emphasis on projects such as ALOP, AquaQ2, SOLVO, INCOME and FitoFarmGest.The IPBeja team will assist in the analysis and integration of nutrient data from field studies, helping to calibrate and validate hydrological-biogeochemical models of nutrient flux, allowing the development of tools to improve multi-scale basin management.
The Baltic Studies Centre is a private non-profit research organisation with a strong background in social sciences, sustainable agriculture, food supply chains and other related fields. Since its establishment in 1991, BSC has contributed to more than 40 research projects, fostering collaborative relationships with producer organisations, policymakers, SMEs and research and advisory bodies, both nationally and internationally. Of particular relevance to ENGAGE, BSC implemented the TOOLS2SEA for assessing how national regulatory traditions, individual attitudes and human behaviour shape nutrient management policies. Also, in PlusChange, BSC focuses on land use strategies and decision-making processes to help meet climate, biodiversity and well-being objectives.
Mykolas Romeris University is the largest social-science-specialised university in Lithuania, involved in international and national projects financed by European and national funds. MRU’s Environmental Management Research Laboratory (EMRL) is coordinating research fields related with terrestrial and marine ecosystem services, ecosystem condition, nature-based solutions, and land use changes. MRU researchers have participated in high impact national and European projects focused on broad-scaled ecosystem service assessment and mapping. MRU is currently working in several HORIZON-RIA projects focusing on forest, agricultural, and urban ecosystems. MRU has an extensive experience in organising stakeholder events, including the governmental sector. MRU researchers are focused on high level academic publishing and science communication.
The Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research is a public research institute that has been responsible for the Norwegian Agricultural Environmental (soil and water) Monitoring programme across Norway, also conducting water-related national and EU projects. NIBIO has developed decision support tools (DSTs) related to water quality and has established a group for “environmental modelling and measures”. Projects include evaluating/optimising nutrient management strategies and nature-based solutions with respect to their combined impact on environmental indicators and ecosystem services, using management and hydrogeochemical mathematical models, and the developement and application of a “Cost-effect calculator for agricultural measures” to assess the cost-effectiveness of options for soil tillage, vegetated buffers and wetlands.
The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences’ extensive research focuses on a critical assessment of the range of issues facing decision-makers, including the importance, status, trends and threats to biodiversity and ecosystem services, as well as policy and management response options available to address these challenges effectively in various contexts. Particularly, the group led Chapter 4 of the assessment conducted by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), where both direct and indirect drivers of change in biodiversity and ecosystem services have been accessed in Europe and Central Asia. SLU's research efforts have concentrated on conducting comprehensive studies related to the planning, management, and governance of blue-green infrastructure in different contexts in Europe.
This section will contain downloadable documents created during the course of the project.
The ENGAGE project involves 3 different case studies.
Agriculture occupies approximately half of the Iberian Peninsula, exerting significant pressure on the Guadiana River basin. The intensification of farming practices and extensive fertilizer use have contributed to rising nitrate concentrations. Although the Alqueva Dam, completed in 2002, supports irrigation and energy production, it faces increasing nutrient loads, resulting in eutrophication and raising critical water quality concerns.
The Gauja-Koiva basin is an important hydrological and ecological system in the Baltic region, encompassing a network of watercourses that traverse Latvia and Estonia. Around half of the area is made up of forests, containing several protected nature areas. Yet, there are challenges, such as the legacy of former fertiliser storage facilities, and the ecological ramifications of water abstraction and damming.
The Hobølelva river basin is a relativelly small basin south of Oslo. It is mainly occupied by forest and agricultural areas, and drains into Lake Vansjø and the Oslo Fjord. It has been monitored since the 1980s and the focus on several international and national projects with strong connections to - and involvement of - local, regional and national stakeholders. Mitigating nutrient pollution in the Oslo Fjord is a national priority, emphasizing the basin's importance.
