We have expertise on continuous monitoring of aerial pollutant emissions and are looking for partners contributing to the use of crop wastes in animal bedding or animal waste lagoon and to the effect of atmospheric contamination on plants and/or soil.
In view of the increased demand for animal by-products, livestock production in intensive systems, i.e., sealed buildings, has grown significantly, increasing the concern with generation of solid and atmospheric wastes.
Technical literature has pointed out in the direction of identifying and collecting data on emissions of aerial pollutants. The air pollutants in animal buildings very negatively affect the health of animals and users in livestock buildings.
Investing in mitigation solutions to reduce aerial pollutant emissions in and from animal houses has received great attention. Furthermore, for a solid proposal to mitigate emissions in animal buildings, a consistent program for monitoring indoor air quality using robust electronic devices is necessary, which allows versatility and agility in the collection of different gas samples and which results in the accuracy of the collected data. Thus, the identification and quantification of emissions become clear, and a set of data is available that will lead to greater reliability to choose the best mitigation solution.
Moreover, we have been working on concepts that lead animal buildings to be characterized as near-zero energy and emissions farming (NZƎEF), considering as parameters the typology of buildings, the concepts of energy sustainability in farms, and indoor air quality through continuous monitoring of emissions. In turn, the concept of NZƎEF could adjust to the crop-livestock farming synergy, raising the project proposal, mainly through some objectives as crop and animal wastes for energy generation in situ, composition of new materials for animal bedding and/or physic-chemical treatment of animal manure indoor or in lagoons, or effects of spreading emissions from animal sheds on surrounding crops.
Our working group currently has researchers from Spain – University of Navarra – and Brazil – Federal University of Santa Catarina – and has maintained efforts on the continuous monitoring of aerial pollutant emissions (gases and particulates) using several equipments that fits the quality requirements of measurements as set out above. In this way, we can attend the two points b) and c) of the call scope to the construction of the proposal.
In this perspective, our team is looking for partners preferentially from EU Member States (MS) or Associate Countries (AC) with expertise in one of the lines below or both: 1- use of crop wastes in animal bedding or animal waste lagoon; 2- effect of atmospheric contamination on plants and/or soil. The final proposal may contain one or both lines.

We are offering 2 potential partners, University of Navarra in Spain and Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil, in synergic collaboration to participate in a proposal for the call.

The University of Navarra (UNAV) is a private non-profit Spanish higher education centre with more than 13,000 students in 5 international campuses. It is considered one of the top universities in Spain. UNAV leads the ranking for teaching of Spanish Universities according to Times Higher Education’s report of 2018, and is number 8 in Europe. The Department of Construction, Building Services and Structures in the School of Architecture has a main research line titled “Integration of Building Services and Energy Systems in Architecture and Urbanism”. It counts with several researchers with experience in complex building projects such as hospitals, auditoriums or museums. It is necessary to understand that the group is formed of architects (not only engineers) with an important built experience capable to integrate sophisticated technological systems in buildings, so they become ideal end-users to guide the objectives of the project and analyse its results. Furthermore, the group has developed several research projects granted by regional, national and international calls.
With a history of 60 years, Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC) is located in the state of Santa Catarina, south of Brazil, and has the mission of producing, systematizing, and socializing philosophical, scientific, artistic, and technological knowledge and, for that, it offers several teaching, research, extension, and innovation activities. Currently, there are more than 50 thousand people, including teachers, researchers, staff, and students spread over 5 campuses on approximately 450 thousand square-km. There are 120 undergraduate courses and 59 doctoral courses. UFSC delivers free and public education and is placed among the 8 best universities in Brazil (according to THE / RUF / MEC). UFSC has more than 415 research groups, bringing together professors, researchers, technical staff, and students, who develop approximately 3,200 projects and thousands of publications in international scientific journals. At the international level, 373 partnerships with countries on all continents are maintained through cooperation with teaching and research institutions.