Tools4CleanBANOS

K2 Solutions Foundation: Established Partner in Tools4CleanBANOS Project

K2 Solutions Foundation is a partner in the Tools4CleanBANOS project, responding to the EU HORIZON-MISS-2025-03-OCEAN-02 call under Horizon Europe’s Ocean and Waters Mission by 2030. The project, with nearly €5.5 million funding, builds on previous EU efforts to cut marine litter. It aims to elevate Technology Readiness Levels from 6 to 8, creating a user-focused toolbox for authorities and stakeholders. The project targets marine plastic litter through a land-to-river-to-sea approach in the Baltic and North Sea basins, where river inputs threaten marine ecosystems.

Tools4CleanBANOS provides decision-makers with evidence-based tools to map and reduce plastic pollution. It includes advanced monitoring protocols with sensors like multispectral imaging, LiDAR, satellite data, and in-situ sampling for accurate detection, identification, and quantification of litter sources and hotspots in waters, deltas, and coasts. Machine learning and predictive models support analysis. The toolbox offers cost-effective, eco-friendly removal tech that minimizes bycatch and ecological harm, along with prevention strategies such as waste management, awareness campaigns, community work, education, and sector partnerships. Activities adhere to Marine Strategy Framework Directive guidelines, ensuring data standardization and open access via the European Marine Observation and Data Network. The project supports the EU’s Zero Pollution Action Plan to cut plastics entering seas by 50% by 2030 and feeds into 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.

K2 Solutions Foundation is vital to the research infrastructure, leading advancements in digital architecture, integration, and scalability through tools like EDITO. Our expertise includes frontend and UX development (WCAG-compliant, cross-browser, mobile-optimized), AI-powered knowledge management, iterative testing, and secure cloud deployment. We develop AI models for hotspot detection and forecasting using hydrodynamic, land-use, and meteorological data, create interactive visual content such as 3D infographics to explain pollution, and develop decision-support modules like multicriteria matrices. All are refined via V-model engineering from requirements to validation. We invite academic partners to collaborate on development and validation, fostering research synergies for better project outcomes.