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Objectives:

- To contribute to the increase of European competitiveness and availability of raw materials, and to improve the welfare of society in general;

- To ensure the integrity, resilience and environmental sustainability, aiming to allow ecosystems and society to adapt to climate change and other environmental changes;

- To promote the preservation of abiotic resources and biodiversity (reducing environmental impacts) and the recovery of degraded areas;

- Particularly, through methodologies for sustainable natural resource management and study of environmental risks and impacts, waste management  waste-water and chemicals, planning and land management, water resources management, valuation and valorisation of ecosystem services, and promotion of the urban and rural environment quality;

- To develop materials that 1) minimize environmental impact during the manufacturing process, distribution, use and end of life-cycle, 2) present structural reliability, reusability and recycling ability, chemical stability and biological safety;

- In particular, recycled materials, renewable materials, materials for residues treatment, biodegradable materials, materials that promote the well-being and health, materials for energy efficiency and materials for "green" energy;

- Design of products and processes following approaches that respect the environment, looking for innovative solutions that minimize the environmental impact by using manufacturing processes that require less energy (more efficient ) and less toxic materials;

- To design products that reuse and/or re-utilize other materials, that are more durable and function better, generating less waste accumulation;

- To promote the adoption of sustainable building materials, based on local resources, and the use of recyclable materials and waste;  

- To promote energy efficiency in buildings, optimizing insulation and favouring renewable energy resources, and the efficient management of water;

- To develop tourist products based on the basic principles of eco-tourism, making use of local resources, and developing animation activities in rural areas consistent with the cultural values ​​of the people involved;

- Integrated development of rural and natural areas.

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Projects:

Climate Action, Environment, Resource Efficiency

- Protection of olive groves in a sustainable production mode in a global climate change scenario: linking ecological infrastructure and ecosystem functions.

- CROSS-Fire: Cooperation of online resources for supporting forest fires simulations: a grid platform for integrating web geo-referenced services for real time management.

- Risk of soil degradation associated with the production of biomass and soil use changes in the Alqueva dam.

- Regulatory role of Holm oaks in the spread of forest fires: definition of measures for development and management at the landscape scale.

- BIOURB: transnational bio-construction diversity, bio-climatic construction and its adaptation to modern architecture and urbanism.

- Cultibos, Yerbas i Saberes: Biodiversity, sustainability and dynamics in Tierras de Miranda.

- IND_CHANGE: Modeling tools based on indicators to predict changes in the landscape and promote the application of socio- ecological research in adaptive land management.

- SIMWOOD: sustainable innovative mobilisation of wood.

- Degradation of organic pollutants by catalytic oxidation with hydrogen peroxide of carbon materials.

- Coffee grounds: horticultural conversion program and consequences to the quality and safety of the produced plants.

- 2GAZ: Development of a testing prototype for replacement of HFC by natural gases.

- COLDBENCH: Development of a HVAC demonstration and simulation installation.

- EcoDeep: eco-efficiency and eco-management in the agro-industrial sector.

Raw Materials

- OLIVPOL: Polyurethane foams and thermoplastic composites based on oxipropylated olive stones.

- Development of water-based adhesives free of NMP and compatible with food products.

- Molecular engineering, synthesis and testing of water compatible smart polymers.

- Kinetic Modeling of the Molecular Architecture of Polymer Networks Formed in the Radical Cross-Linking Copolymerization of Acrylic/Trivinyl Monomers

- Hybrid Models for Tailoring Nano-Architectures of polymers

- RL2_P3 Polymer Reaction Engineering

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Researcher Profiles:

(If you are a researcher at IPB and would like to publish a profile please contact the Research Support Office) 

Topics	Target Sectors/Organisations
Urban environmental quality, including monitoring using multiple sensors that provide data that is later analysed with GIS Software. Land Use Planning and Urban Issues such as: urban climate, noise, air pollution and waste management. Environmental management: energy and materials balances, life cycle analysis. +INFO.	Local and Regional Administration; Food Industries; Industry in general.
Bioclimatic solutions on traditional architecture. Buildings energetic performance. Rehabilitation and maintenance for bioconstructive diversity. Analisis of the Bioclimatic constructive solutions on traditional buildings and its future integration on contemporary construction techniques. +INFO.	Construction companies.
Structural Engineering: solid mechanics, computational mechanics and structures, use of different numerical and analytical models, and advanced computational simulation. Safety engineering. +INFO.	Mechanical Engineering; Structural Engineering; Civil Engineering.
Development of sustainable materials from renewable sources and/or with functional properties: polymer synthesis and characterization, materials and chemicals from biomass, microencapsulation, functional coatings, biodegradable products. +INFO.	Footwear; Food; Cosmetic; Textile; Adhesives.
Nanostructured materials and heterogeneous catalysis. Development and characterization of catalysts for application in environmental catalysis and energy production (biofuels). Development of new liquid-phase treatment technologies based in advanced oxidation processes. +INFO.
Soil processes monitoring and sustainability in uplands: assessment and monitoring of soil degradation processes, including physical degradation, erosion, quantitative and qualitative runoff water losses, soil carbon stocks, quality and resilience, for sustainable management of upland agroecosystems, with field appraisal methods, model and lab supported. +INFO.	Viticulture; Olive production and forest sectors; Animal production sector (authoctonous cattle breeds).
Wildlife management and public welfare: wildlife-habitat relationships in mediterranean areas, ungulate feeding behaviour and diet. Forest and land birds comunities characterisation, bird ringing, environmental education and human activity impacts on wild areas. +INFO.
Performance assessments, data mining, data analysis and statistic methods and demand planning. +INFO.	Health; Retail; Energy; Mobility; Manufacturing.
Measuring GHG and air pollutants fluxes through the atmosphere/vegetation/soil system, by means of micrometeorological (eddy covariance, concentration gradient) and chamber methods. Monitoring and modeling air pollution and air quality. Studies on carbon cycle and dynamics, especially related to CO2 and H2O exchange measurements in soil/vegetation/atmosphere system, both in urban and rural environments. Studies on urban system issues, with special focus on environmental functions of urban green spaces. life cycle analysis of food products. +INFO.	Local and Regional Administration; Food Industries; Industry in general.