In the afternoon of Wednesday, October 6, 2021, TANIA partners will meet again in Florence in hybrid mode (onsite and online presence) for the kick-off meeting of the "second life" of the project. In fact, in accordance with the application of the 5th call ("Call for additional activities") launched by Interreg Europe on the 1st of April, the TANIA partners submitted their application which was successfully accepted (a more detailed article on this is available here).

TANIA partners decided to take the opportunity to apply for funding for in-depth activities linking environmental remediation issues with those related to the current global pandemic emergency. The acceptance of the application has led to an extension of the project activities with an additional year from September 2021 to August 2022

Specifically, there are two complementary issues relevant to the TANIA partners in relation to the relationship between the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) virus in soils and the relationship between new remediation techniques and the virus. The first is the fate of the virus in anthropised soils, as it can reach the soil surface where it can be destroyed, immobilised, transported or confined. The second issue is the impact of the treatment of polluted soils on the fate of viruses. Testing with replacement viruses, both internal and external, is necessary but not easy.

The work plan of the meeting will feature key regional stakeholders involved in the extended activities. Environment, recycling are the main proposed themes on which TANIA's participation focuses.