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Sewage sludge handling is becoming a concern in Europe due to its increasing amount and the presence of contaminants, such as heavy metals and pharmaceutical and personal care products (PPCPs). Currently, over 70% of sludge in Europe is treated thermally by incineration or used as fertilizer in agriculture. New thermochemical methods are under development and are expected to be implemented in the near future. This paper considers the life cycle environmental impacts of the following five alternatives for sludge handling, taking into account the presence of heavy metals and PPCPs: i) agricultural application of anaerobically digested sludge; ii) agricultural application of composted sludge; iii) incineration; iv) pyrolysis; and v) wet air oxidation. The results suggest that anaerobic digestion with recovery of nutrients and electricity has the lowest environmental impacts in 11 out of 18 categories considered. For the mean to maximum resource recovery, composting is the worst alternative, followed by pyrolysis with lower recovery rates. Agricultural application of anaerobically digested sludge has the highest freshwater ecotoxicity due to heavy metals, unless their concentration is in the lowest range, as found in some European sewage sludge applied on land. Therefore, stricter control of heavy metals in the sludge is needed for this option to limit freshwater ecotoxicity to the levels comparable with the thermal processes. The results also indicate that PPCPs have a negligible contribution to freshwater ecotoxicity when compared to heavy metals in the anaerobically digested sludge. Since thermal processes are currently drawing attention due to their potential benefits, the findings of this work suggest that their adoption is environmentally beneficial only if high resource recovery rates can be achieved. Image 1 • Environmental impacts were estimated for five sewage sludge treatment techniques. • Composting is the worst alternative, followed by pyrolysis for lower resource recovery. • Anaerobic digestion has the lowest impacts but the highest total freshwater ecotoxicity. • Heavy metals pose much higher freshwater ecotoxicity than PPCPs. • Thermal processes are environmentally beneficial only at high resource recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In various research fields, from archaeology to landscape history and ecology, it is important to know the date of the origin of historical settlements (i.e. towns, villages, hamlets, isolated farms) as precisely as possible. In Central Europe, there are two primary ways to obtain the date when a settlement was founded: "historical dating" (based on historical written sources) and "archaeological dating" (based on archaeological findings). Historical dating usually does not reflect the real time of origin, since the first reference to a settlement in written sources can be recorded many years after the real origin of the settlement. However, the time lag is unknown. Until now, no study has attempted to show exactly how the time lag differs in different centuries, or whether the time lag has been affected by any geographical factors. This paper compares the dates of origin from archaeological data and from written sources of medieval and early modern settlements (n = 527, AD 850–1600) in the present-day Czech Republic. We also tested the influence of local environmental conditions on the time lag. Our comparison shows that the time lag has been decreasing with the passing of calendar years (from a time lag of 250 years for AD 1000 to approx. 80 years for AD 1400). Towns and places close to major towns also have a shorter time lag in their historical dating (the difference is almost 100 years). These results make an interpretation of the historical dating of medieval towns and villages more complicated. The length of the time lag and its dispersion means that, for the purposes of settlement dating, historical dating needs to be combined with other dating methods (especially in the medieval period). Our results also identify a possible bias in the chronology of landscape transformation. • Written sources are not reliable for dating medieval settlements in Central Europe. • We have assessed the concordance between written sources and archaeological data. • The usual time lag in written sources decreases with increasing calendar year. • Around AD 1200, the typical time lag of written sources is 150 years. • Around AD 1600, written sources agree with archaeological data in 70% of the cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Council of European Aerospace Societies (CEAS) Aeroacoustics Specialists Committee (ASC) supports and promotes the interests of the scientific and industrial aeroacoustics community on a European scale and European aeronautics activities internationally. In this context, "aeroacoustics" encompasses all aerospace acoustics and related areas. Each year the committee highlights some of the research and development projects in Europe. This paper is a report on highlights of aeroacoustics research in Europe in 2018, compiled from information provided to the ASC of the CEAS. In addition, during 2018, a number of research programmes involving aeroacoustics were funded by the European Commission. Some of the highlights from these programmes are also summarised in this article, as well as highlights from other programmes funded by national programmes or by industry. Furthermore, a concise summary of the CEAS-ASC annual scientific workshop: "Future Aircraft Design and Noise Impact" held in the Netherlands Aerospace Centre (NLR) – Amsterdam in September 2018 is included in this report. Enquiries concerning all contributions should be addressed to the authors who are given at the end of each subsection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine an example of a conservation conflict that is encountered in Ireland arising from the designation of Special Protection Areas (SPAs) for the Hen Harrier under the European Birds Directive (Directive, 2009/147/EC) and the consequent restrictions that are placed on forestry activities within these SPAs. We examine the causes of the Hen Harrier-forestry conflict; identify what stakeholders believe are the policy instruments and management strategies that may be useful in managing the conflict and finally identify plausible solutions that may be relevant to similar conflicts around multi-functional forests elsewhere in Europe and globally. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with key actors in this conflict. Drawing on Walker and Daniels' conflict triangle theory, a qualitative analysis of the transcripts of these interviews revealed that the conflict between Hen Harrier conservation and forestry in Ireland has a number of deep-rooted dimensions including those relating to the substance (e.g. restrictions on forest management activity in the SPAs), as well as procedural (e.g. lack of stakeholder engagement) and relationship dimensions (e.g. lack of trust). The polarisation of views in this conflict testifies to how entrenched stakeholders can become through lack of communication and trust. The policy instruments that stakeholders identified as having potential to address the conflict include the introduction of incentives/compensation scheme; changes to restrictions; more data and research on Hen Harrier bird surveys; implementation of landscape management models; and better communication and stakeholder engagement. The study highlights that conservation conflicts persist due to the multi-functional nature of forests and also due to repeated mistakes in terms of the lack of engagement with local stakeholders. Increasing the involvement of local actors has important substantive and instrumental benefits including improving the quality of decisions, as well as creating a greater chance of policies being better socially and politically acceptable. The need for more and better capacity-building across EU Member States for statutory and government agencies to learn from one another in terms of how to avoid repeating the same mistakes from one site to another is highlighted. • A forestry and conservation conflict is examined. • The conflict has substance, procedural and relationship dimensions. • Stakeholder hold very polarised views. • Lack of communication and trust are major issues. • Stakeholders share a common interest and goal in terms of conservation and incentives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydro-meteorological hazards (HMHs) have had a strong impact on human societies and ecosystems. Their impact is projected to be exacerbated by future climate scenarios. HMHs cataloguing is an effective tool to evaluate their associated risks and plan appropriate remediation strategies. However, factors linked to HMHs origin and triggers remain uncertain, which pose a challenge for their cataloguing. Focusing on key HMHs (floods, storm surges, landslides, droughts, and heatwaves), the goal of this review paper is to analyse and present a classification scheme, key features, and elements for designing nature-based solutions (NBS) and mitigating the adverse impacts of HMHs in Europe. For this purpose, we systematically examined the literature on NBS classification and assessed the gaps that hinder the widespread uptake of NBS. Furthermore, we critically evaluated the existing literature to give a better understanding of the HMHs drivers and their interrelationship (causing multi-hazards). Further conceptualisation of classification scheme and categories of NBS shows that relatively few studies have been carried out on utilising the broader concepts of NBS in tackling HMHs and that the classification and effectiveness of each NBS are dependent on the location, architecture, typology, green species and environmental conditions, as well as interrelated non-linear systems. NBS are often more cost-effective than hard engineering approaches used within the existing systems, especially when taking into consideration their potential co-benefits. We also evaluated the sources of available data for HMHs and NBS, highlighted gaps in data, and presented strategies to overcome the current shortcomings for the development of the NBS for HMHs. We highlighted specific gaps and barriers that need to be filled since the uptake and upscaling studies of NBS in HMHs reduction is rare. The fundamental concepts and the key technical features of past studies reviewed here could help practitioners to design and implement NBS in a real-world situation. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditional exposure studies provide valuable insights for epidemiology, toxicology, and risk assessment. Throughout their lives, individuals are exposed to thousands of stressors in the environment which are not static, but influenced by environmental, temporal, spatial, and even socio-demographic factors. Existing exposure studies have usually focused on specific stressors for a constrained period of time. In response, the concept of the exposome has been raised, which is defined as the totality of exposure experienced from conception until death. The EU FP7-ENVIRONMENT research project HEALS was launched with the aim of incorporating a series of novel technologies, data analysis, and modelling tools to efficiently support exposome studies in Europe. The authors have developed a framework of modelling tools for estimating the long-term external exposure of selected population groups to multiple stressors through different pathways. As the starting point, the stressors, including electromagnetic fields (EMF) and ultraviolet light (UV) through dermal uptake, phthalates (DEHP, DIDP, and DINP) through inhalation, as well as chromium, mercury, and lead through food intake, have been selected. The simulation for multiple stressors has been realised by developing a probabilistic model that integrates the micro-environment approach, time-activity patterns, and a life course trajectory model. The methodology has been applied to a selected sample of subjects enrolled in the Italian Twin Registry (ITR). The results show that long-term exposures to multiple stressors are affected by factors including age, gender, geographical location, and education level. The methods developed in this paper extended the temporal and spatial scales of exposure modelling in Europe. Moreover, the application of our methods provided a novel approach and crucial input data for future work on environment-wide association studies. • A model is developed to simulate the lifelong exposure to multiple stressors. • The exposures via different pathways are simulated simultaneously. • The exposures are affected by socio-demographic characteristics. • Large variances are revealed among different European countries. • Infants and children are the most vulnerable against heavy metals via ingestion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Technological and behavioural developments in Europe at 400,000 years ago. • Model of landscape and resources shaping development of localised material culture. • Model of population movement triggered by shifts in climate or environment. • Estimates of social group and territory size for Middle Pleistocene Europe. Identification of cultural groups is rare in the early Palaeolithic due to site formation processes including taphonomy and the effect of raw material and site function. This paper reviews a critical period in Europe at about 400 ka (MIS 11) when we may be able to identify such groups. This period, sees more sustained occupation and evidence of new technologies, including bone and wooden tools, hunting and fire-use. Importantly, brain size had begun to approach modern capacity. The fine-tuned record from Britain enables correlation of sites and new models of human behaviour to be developed. Millennial-scale changes in material culture can now be recognised, which can be interpreted as brief incursions by different cultural groups into Britain from mainland Europe. We suggest that population movement was primarily driven by changes in climate and environment. We further propose that variation in material culture is a reflection of local resources and landscape and that during stable environment localised expressions of culture emerge. This can be applied to Europe, where it is suggested that a complex mosaic of small-scale cultural groupings can be identified, some with and some without handaxes, but underpinned by a common set of technologies and behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recently published guide " Environmental Noise Guidelines for the European Region" provides evidence of the non-auditory effects of environmental noise on population health. This guide reflects the current state of knowledge about how traffic noise affects cardiovascular diseases among others. Despite the valuable contributions of this document in terms of current knowledge, there are different points of improvement in terms of implementation of the guide for all Europe. The studies related to Southern Europe have little presence, probably due to the lack of research in this issue, it means, there are few studies that evaluate short-term effects of noise on morbid-mortality. In this sense, it would be advisable to include the most recently published papers on the subject. Due to the aforementioned, the noise exposure assessment should be considerate at the short and long term to evaluate completely the noise effects on health, specially taking into account the characteristics of countries in which leisure-related noise is especially problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legislation at the national level in Europe as well as that developed by the European Union (EU) generally permits release and commercialization of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). However, only 10 plant/event combinations were registered as of 2002: three maize events (Bt176, Mon810, and Bt11), with the other seven divided among carnation (3), oil-seed rape (2), tobacco (1), and raddiccio (1). Of these, only one maize event (Bt176) has been registered as a legal variety, and this was in Spain, where 22,000 ha have been planted annually since 1998. In this paper, we first provide an overview on the complexity of EU GMO legislation. Then we discuss the minor role that results of EU-funded biosafety research have had on governmental policy. Finally, we provide information about initiatives for post-commercialization monitoring plans of Bt maize in Europe. As a result of the slow progress to date, we conclude that commercialization of GMOs will be seriously delayed in the EU for the next several years. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Overfishing is one of the main impacts on the marine environment and multiple-use Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) could be a useful tool to conserve biodiversity and promote sustainable resource exploitation. However, ensuring a high level of protection on the ground is a difficult task. This work contributes to the analysis of the causes at the root of MPAs' ineffectiveness by examining the management of Paracentrotus lividus fishery in an Italian MPA, employing a multidisciplinary approach built on biological and socio-economic competences. This sea urchin species has a determinant ecological role in structuring infralittoral benthic assemblages and is the most exploited echinoid in Europe. From 2010 to 2018, underwater sampling was conducted over 39 monitoring sites to define P. lividus spatial and temporal trends. Declared catches and semi-structured interviews with local stakeholders were used to define the socio-economical context, underline existing conflicts among them, as well as to trace the historical evolution of sea urchin fishery. The results show that the management of sea urchin fishery is not sustainable, primarily because of the stakeholders' non-compliance with the rules. P. lividus stock is progressively declining (−73% in 9 years), showing no difference between MPA (0.5 ± 0.15 ind./m2) and control sites (0.3 ± 0.04 ind./m2). Moreover, fishermen dominate the social arena while scientists, civil society and local press have little relevance. Additionally, the untruthfulness of catch declarations was proved, the IUU fishery is relevant and the black market is hiding the actual economic value. This work offers management solutions that may be useful in other areas that show similar compliance issues. • Multidisciplinary research is key in examining fishery sustainability in an MPA. • Regulatory capture and coordination issues limit the institutions' effectiveness. • IUU fishing and the black market hide the real economic value of sea urchin fishery. • Stock decreased by 73% in 9 years and unreported catches compelled its management. • Short and long-term actions with feedback controls can fix compliance gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A series of meetings on the topic of children’s exposure to the marketing of food and beverages was held between researchers and government officials based in Europe and the Americas during 2010–2011. The meetings resulted in a number of outputs, including observations from policy-makers on the types of evidence they needed to strengthen policy-making. Their observations on the definitions of a child, the specification of foods using nutrient profiling schemes, the types of media carrying marketing messages, and the related policy implementation problems, are summarised in this Short Communication. The paper highlights the need for research which can directly support policy-making and which can evaluate its effectiveness. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Defining the degree of host specificity in host–parasite studies can greatly inform cophylogenetic history. In a recent paper, cast doubt on some points and conclusions drawn from a cophylogenetic study between European bats and Spinturnicid mites (). Here we answer their criticisms and discuss the notion of specificity in Spinturnicid mites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Recently, used phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial sequences of European Spinturnicidae parasitizing bats to assess the coevolutionary relationships between host and parasite lineages. Despite being a good investigation into bat ecology and exhibiting an indisputable competence in molecular data analysis, the paper reflects a lack of knowledge of the basic biology and ecology of Spinturnicidae. This shortcoming arises from the fact that the authors do not appropriately review earlier important studies, so that they reach dubious conclusions. Here we comment on their findings and suggest references related to their hypotheses. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Reports on the interdisciplinary meeting of historical geographers, historians and archaeologists on European urbanism in the period 100-1600 AD, held at the University of Birmingham in England on April 1996. Papers presented during the congress; Speakers; Sessions.