Past projects 
\ Research for Global Challenges

NANOFASE - Nanomaterial Fate and Speciation in the Environment

Ca’ Foscari researchers have been involved in the Nanomaterial Fate and Speciation in the Environment ­NANOFASE project (Leadership in Enabling and Industrial Technologies), funded by Horizon 2020.
Progress is needed in the prediction of environmental distribution, concentration and form (speciation) of nanomaterials, to allow early assessment of potential environmental and human exposure and risks, to facilitate safe product design and to include these aspects in nano regulation.

Project website / EU Cordis database
Researcher: Antonio Marcomini
Duration: 01/09/2015 - 31/08/2019
Funding:Horizon 2020 Industrial Leadership: Leadership in enabling and industrial technologies – Nanotechnologies

Reevaluating minor rivers as cultural landscapes

The project "EUWATHER - European Waterways Heritage: Reevaluating European minor rivers and canals as cultural landscapes" is funded by the EU Joint Programming Initiative on Cultural Heritage and aims to promote a knowledge of the unique cultural heritage of minor waterways and historical canals in 4 European pilot regions located in Italy, Spain, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.
The overall objective is to develop a better governance, focusing on new opportunities for sustainable development and ecotourism.

Website
Researcher: Francesco Vallerani
Duration: 01/09/2015 - 31/08/2017

NANORESTART - Nanomaterials for the Restoration of works of art

Funded by Horizon 2020, "NANORESTART - NANOmaterials for the REStoration of works of ART" ­will develop a new framework with respect to the state of the art of conservation science.
It is devoted to the development of nanomaterials to ensure the long­term protection and security of modern/contemporary cultural heritage by taking into account environmental and human risks, feasibility and the cost of materials.
The project brings together centres of excellence in the field of the synthesis and characterization of nanomaterials, world- leading chemical industries and SMEs operating in R&D and International and European centres for conservation, education and museums.
They will assess new materials through their use with artefacts in urgent need of conservation and then disseminate the resulting knowledge internationally.

Project website / EU Cordis database
Researcher: Antonio Marcomini
Duration: 01/06/2015 - 30/11/2018

Aristotle in the Italian Vernacular

Funded by an ERC Starting grant, this project aims to offer the first detailed and comprehensive study of the vernacular diffusion of Aristotle through a series of analyses of his primary texts.
Works that fall within the two main Renaissance fields of speculative philosophy (metaphysics, natural philosophy, mathematics and logic) and civil philosophy (ethics, politics, rhetoric and poetics) will be studied.
In light of their respective competencies, two research teams in Venice and at the University of Warwick will each generally focus their investigation on one of these two bodies of work.

Project website / EU Cordis database
Researcher: Marco Sgarbi
Duration: 01/05/2014 - 30/04/2019
Funding: European Research Council (ERC)

Coping with rising damp in buildings

The aims of the project "EMERISDA - Effectiveness of methods against rising damp in buildings: European practice and perspective", within the framework of JPI Cultural Heritage, is to achieve a scientifically based evaluation of the effectiveness of different methods against rising damp and develop a decision ­support tool for the knowledgeable selection and successful application of these methods in the practice of conservation.
These aims will be achieved by gathering and sharing existing knowledge, until now scattered across the EU, and by acquiring new knowledge through the application of selected methods in case studies.

Website
Researcher: Elisabetta Zendri
Duration: 01/02/2014 - 31/01/2017

Europeana Space

The aim of the Europeana Space project is to create new opportunities for employment and economic growth within the creative industries sector based on Europe’s rich digital cultural resources.
It will provide an open environment for the development of applications and services based on digital cultural content.
The use of this environment will be fostered by a vigorous, wide­ranging and sustainable programme of promotion, dissemination and replication of the Best Practices developed within the project.
The extensive resources and networks of the Europeana Space consortium will be drawn on to ensure the success of the project funded under the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP).

Website
Researcher: Leonardo Buzzavo
Duration: 01/02/2014 - 31/01/2017

SEREASTO - Sea grass recolonization in the venetian Lagoon

SERESTO - SEagrass RESTOration, funded by LIFE programme: this project aims to trigger a process of aquatic angiosperm recolonization in the environment “Northern Lagoon of Venice” environment, mainly through the transplantation of Zostera marina and Nanozostera noltii to small sites distributed throughout the area.
The technique, however, would also be suitable for large­scale application, in order to consolidate and restore the aquatic habitat and contribute to the achievement of a positive ecological status in transitional bodies of water.

Project website / EU LIFE Public database
Researcher: Adriano Sfriso
Duration: 01/01/2014 - 30/04/2018
Funding: LIFE

Mental Mapping and Historical Imagination in the Baltic Sea and Mediterranean Region

The Baltic and the Mediterranean Seas are focal areas of regional imagination that have been affected by the new post­-1989 geography.
The project analyses the meanings attached to these areas, their political uses as well as migration, island identities and mental maps.
The program contemplates workshops on area studies, mental maps, conceptual history, and other related topics.
It is a cooperation of Ca’ Foscari University with Södertörn University Stockholm financed by Swedish Östersjöstiftelsen.

Website
Researcher: Rolf Petri
Duration: 01/01/2014 - 01/01/2019

PREFACE - Predicting Tropical Atlantic climate and its impacts

PREFACE - Enhancing prediction of Tropical Atlantic climate and its impacts - is a climate change FP7 project with 28 partners across 18 countries in Europe and Africa, and 3 associate partners directly involved in the sustainable management of the three Eastern boundary large marine ecosystems of the Tropical Atlantic.

Ca’ Foscari leads the work package "Statistical methods to assess and improve forecast of Tropical Atlantic variability (TAV)".

Project website / EU Cordis database
Researcher: Angelo Rubino
Duration: 01/11/2013 - 31/10/2017
Funding: Seventh Framework Programme (FP7)