K2 Solutions Foundation: Established Partner in Tools4CleanBANOS Project
K2 Solutions Foundation is a regular and committed partner in the Tools4CleanBANOS project, directly responding to the EU HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-02 call within Horizon Europe’s Restore our Ocean and Waters Mission by 2030. The project builds on successful preliminary studies focused on marine ecosystem health and previous EU-funded initiatives to reduce marine litter. With a budget of nearly €5.5 million, this Innovation Action advances Technology Readiness Levels from 6 to 8, delivering a user-centric toolbox for public authorities and stakeholders. The focus is on combating marine plastic litter through an integrated land-to-river-to-sea approach in the Baltic and North Sea basin, where riverine inputs challenge marine ecosystems.
Tools4CleanBANOS equips decision-makers with evidence-based tools to map and mitigate plastic pollution. Core elements include advanced monitoring protocols for precise detection, identification, and quantification of litter sources, pathways, hotspots, and accumulation zones in inland waters, deltas, and coastal areas. Using state-of-the-art sensors such as multispectral imaging and LiDAR, along with satellite data and in-situ sampling, we ensure accurate data collection and analysis. Analytical methods like machine learning algorithms and predictive modeling support this approach. The toolbox features cost-effective, environmentally sustainable removal technologies that minimize bycatch and ecological disruption, along with prevention strategies such as good waste management, awareness campaigns, community initiatives, educational programs, and collaborations with sectors like fisheries. All activities follow the latest Marine Strategy Framework Directive guidelines from the Technical Group on Marine Litter, ensuring data standardization and open access via the European Marine Observation and Data Network. The project directly supports the EU’s Zero Pollution Action Plan target of a 50% reduction in plastics entering the seas by 2030 and provideshigh-quality observations to the Mission’s Digital Ocean and Waters Knowledge System.
Demonstration and validation are central to the project, with at least three use cases deployed across three countries in the basin. Each use case is selected through a rigorous assessment that prioritizes ecological impact, stakeholder engagement, and logistical feasibility. Sites are chosen for high pollution levels, strategic importance, and capacity for data collection and analysis. These target high-priority locations such as river deltas, urban discharge points, and interception zones, engaging users including regional authorities, municipalities, and waterway management entities. This basin-specific approach considers unique hydrological, meteorological, and human factors, promoting cross-border coordination at all levels.
As a research institution, K2 Solutions Foundation plays an important role in the technical backbone. We lead advancements in digital architecture and integration, especially interfacing the toolbox with platforms like EDITO for scalability, interoperability, and FAIR data handling. Our expertise drives frontend and UX development (fully WCAG-compliant, cross-browser and mobile-optimized), AI-powered knowledge integration and retrieval, iterative testing (usability, performance, user feedback), and secure cloud-native deployment. We also contribute AI-driven hotspot detection and forecasting models using hydrodynamic, land-use, and real-time meteorological data, interactive visual content such as 3D infographics and animations to explain pollution dynamics, and practical decision-support modules like multicriteria matrices. All are refined through V-model engineering from requirements gathering to final validation. We invite academic partners to contribute to technical development and validation, fostering engagement and research synergies to enhance project outcomes.
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