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Wastewater-fed aquaculture offers means to treat wastewater with integrated material-flow recycling. Several goals are achieved simultaneously: production of valuable goods (food stuff, animal feeds, raw materials, ornamental plants and animals) on one side, and production of utilizable gray water (wastewater purification and hygienisation) on the other side. The main potential of wastewater-fed aquaculture and its major advantage over conventional wastewater treatment is the large diversity of marketable products and therefore broad possibilities of income generation. The combination of the two income generating options (wastewater treatment and biomass production) is a very interesting feature and in addition complies to several global political programs (like Agenda 21). Aquaculture is facing challenges. Optimal stocking depends on biogeographical conditions (which species grow where, under what circumstances), cultural acceptance (which products are suitable and marketable) and economical conditions. Among factors limiting the potential and performance of aquaculture are: limited growth rates of organisms, insufficient knowledge of the factors that regulate the aquatic community, the presence of toxic contaminants (heavy metals, hormones) and other undesired effects (colorations) in the wastewater. Appropriate technological tools (aeration, mixing, pumping, special basin forms) can be integrated in order to intensify certain ecological processes and increase the output of the aquaculture plant. At the University of Applied Sciences Wädenswil, Switzerland, wastewater-fed aquaculture is a research focus since 1993. This paper summarises some of the results and insights gained during the past seven years and gives a short overview of literature.

In the past decades, the search for a more sustainable way of global development has increased in importance in international politics and economy. A driving force is the continuing degradation of the environment in many areas of the world, often caused or accelerated by population growth and climate change. Sustainable development is seen as key approach to mitigate these processes. It has been defined as "development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs." But how can this ambitious goal be achieved in the light of numerous global challenges? Engineering is a very influential human practice and must be addressed in this context. Engineers are crucially involved in design and construction of our built environment and thus in shaping almost its entire development. However, when designing a solution for a given problem, effects caused outside of the system borders are often not considered. If this is combined with a narrowly confined linear problem-solving approach, it is inherently prone to create new environmental challenges. We postulate that the development of a new design paradigm for engineering must be part of the progress towards sustainable development. We think that this new paradigm needs to integrate a sound understanding of ecological principles, processes, and interdependencies as well as thorough system thinking. We call this ecology-inspired approach to engineering "ecological engineering" and redefine it as follows: Ecological Engineering integrates ecological principles, processes, and organisms with existing engineering practice to a holistic approach for problem-solving. In this paper, we explore the historical development of earlier definitions of Ecological Engineering in the light of their underlying value systems. Based on this analysis, we propose a new conceptual approach for Ecological Engineering and define seven principles that point the way towards a future label that can be conferred to Good Ecological ...

Urban farming is becoming a buzzword nowadays. It started as a grassroots movement, and entered the political agenda since early 2000. To establish urban farming on a sustainable scale beyond the pilot projects that seem to flourish in nearly every city with some self-respect, several components are necessary: social, economic, ecological. Visionary and provocative schemes such as Vertical farms (Despommier 2010) and utopian renders by architects like Callebaut (DD 14 New Worlds, 2005) are widely disseminated and evidence public interest, but do not provide practical tools to address the situation with the technologies that are available now. While recent accentuations seem to focus on social aspects, the scientific base for these endeavours should be strengthened as well. If food is to be grown in the city, it should be of high quality, not loaded with pollutants of both urban and agricultural origins. Innovations are required that simplify successful operations in urban gardening and enable cost-effective urban farming, while making these products safe for human consumption: new planting techniques, new varieties of produce, biological pest control, irrigation techniques, and integration with existing building infrastructures. Aquaponics has the potential to contribute to all these aspects.

The authors gathered information on perceived impact of current legislation on entrepreneurial possibilities in developing commercial aquaponics in Europe. The paper highlights the detected obstacles, and the solutions developed to address the legislative issues. Three main issues outlined are: administration, environment, and safety.

The authors gathered information on perceived impact of current legislation on entrepreneurial possibilities in developing commercial aquaponics in Europe. The paper highlights the detected obstacles, and the solutions developed to address the legislative issues. Three main issues outlined are: administration, environment, and safety.

Aquaponics is a rapidly emerging agricultural practice, which combines recirculating aquaculture systems (the RAS technology) with the soil-less (hydroponic) cultivation of vegetables. The advantages in terms of productivity and efficient use of resources are huge. Aquaponics contributes to the solutions of some of the crucial problems our planet is facing: availability and use of potable and irrigation water, pollution of surface waters through animal farming, and management of fertilizer resources. It has been described as one of the "Ten technologies which could change our lives".

In recent years, aquaponics has been receiving increased interest globally as a commercial food production technology and aquaponics start-up companies have been formed in most European countries. Between 2014 and 2018, the European-funded COST Action FA1305 "The EU Aquaponics Hub-Realising Sustainable Integrated Fish and Vegetable Production for the EU" created a strong network of researchers and entrepreneurs. However, surveys show that the aquaponic production in Europe is still very limited, and very few companies are economically viable. In order to obtain insights into the barriers to early development of commercial aquaponics, two surveys were carried out—one in Europe, which included France, and one in France alone, with a different protocol. Henceforth, for simplicity, the former will be referred to as Europe and the latter as France. The results reveal that the development of commercial aquaponics has hit the level of "disillusionment", caused by numerous challenges facing commercial food production. As the understanding of the processes involved in aquaponics is increasing, it will be very interesting to follow the developments in the field over the coming years in order to ascertain whether aquaponics will follow the phases outlined by the "Gartner's Hype Cycle" and thus proceed to become an established technology, or whether it will remain an "one hit wonder" and disappear in the "Trough of Disillusionment".

Prehranska varnost je v skupni kmetijski politiki pridobila na pomenu v Evropski uniji (EU) in tudi na nacionalni ravni. V zadnjih dveh finančnih perspektivah so še zlasti izpostavljene kratke prehranske verige in lokalna pridelava tudi v luči omejevanja izpustov toplogrednih plinov z zmanjševanjem transporta, ki je zaradi nizkih stroškov fosilne energije in poceni delovne sile na obrobju Evrope in izven nje omogočil dobavo poceni hrane z globalnega trga. Različne krize (finančna, prehranski škandali), podnebne spremembe in vse večje zavedanje prebivalcev EU o pomenu kakovostne in varne hrane za zdravje ter zavedanje o številnih okoljskih problemih povezanih s kmetijstvom, so razlogi za spremembe prehranskih politik v okviru novega Zelenega dogovora« EU in strategije EU za prehrano in kmetijstvo »From Farm to Fork« ter za biotsko raznovrstnost do leta 2030. Med cilji do 2030 najdemo tudi zmanjšanje uporabe pesticidov za 50 %, mineralnih gnojil za 20 %, zmanjšanje porabe antibiotikov v reji živali in povečanje obsega ekološke pridelave na najmanj 25 % kmetijskih obdelovalnih površin v EU.

Aquaponics is a modern and sustainable food production technology. This paper reviews different policies relevant to aquaponics in order to create a clear picture on how aquaponics can contribute to achieving European goals and how the policies and strategies can provide support and opportunities for this sector. Because aquaponics falls into fish as well as plant production relevant policies are the Common Agriculture Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy, the European Union (EU) Food Safety and Nutrition Policy, and the EU Environmental Policy. Goals of these policies that are related to aquaponics include promoting innovation, increasing competitiveness and sustainability, improving access to space and water, welfare of fish, prevention of waste, and promoting resource-efficiency and low-carbon economy. Aquaponics contributes to achieving these goals by minimising water and nutrient use, utilising areas unfit for other food production systems, facilitating local food production and thus providing new business opportunities. The EU provides various frameworks for financial support for the different components of aquaponics, resulting in a range of opportunities for the newcomer as well as the already established aquaponics entrepreneurs. Financial support mostly targets research projects, while the sector also needs assistance in the commercial development.

Aquaponics is a modern and sustainable food production technology. This paper reviews different policies relevant to aquaponics in order to create a clear picture on how aquaponics can contribute to achieving European goals and how the policies and strategies can provide support and opportunities for this sector. Because aquaponics falls into fish as well as plant production relevant policies are the Common Agriculture Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy, the European Union (EU) Food Safety and Nutrition Policy, and the EU Environmental Policy. Goals of these policies that are related to aquaponics include promoting innovation, increasing competitiveness and sustainability, improving access to space and water, welfare of fish, prevention of waste, and promoting resource-efficiency and low-carbon economy. Aquaponics contributes to achieving these goals by minimising water and nutrient use, utilising areas unfit for other food production systems, facilitating local food production and thus providing new business opportunities. The EU provides various frameworks for financial support for the different components of aquaponics, resulting in a range of opportunities for the newcomer as well as the already established aquaponics entrepreneurs. Financial support mostly targets research projects, while the sector also needs assistance in the commercial development.

Aquaponics is a modern and sustainable food production technology. This paper reviews different policies relevant to aquaponics in order to create a clear picture on how aquaponics can contribute to achieving European goals and how the policies and strategies can provide support and opportunities for this sector. Because aquaponics falls into fish as well as plant production relevant policies are the Common Agriculture Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy, the European Union (EU) Food Safety and Nutrition Policy, and the EU Environmental Policy. Goals of these policies that are related to aquaponics include promoting innovation, increasing competitiveness and sustainability, improving access to space and water, welfare of fish, prevention of waste, and promoting resource-efficiency and low-carbon economy. Aquaponics contributes to achieving these goals by minimising water and nutrient use, utilising areas unfit for other food production systems, facilitating local food production and thus providing new business opportunities. The EU provides various frameworks for financial support for the different components of aquaponics, resulting in a range of opportunities for the newcomer as well as the already established aquaponics entrepreneurs. Financial support mostly targets research projects, while the sector also needs assistance in the commercial development. ; Agriculture, aquaculture, aquaponics, EU policy, fisheries

Aquaponics is treated under the common EU policies related to fisheries, agriculture, food safety and environment. Because aquaponics falls into fish as well as plant production relevant policies are the Common Agriculture Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy, the EU Food Safety and Nutrition Policy and the EU Environmental Policy. However, as a modern food production technology, aquaponics supports several development goals set by different fields of EU policies. Goals related to aquaponics in these policies include promoting innovation, increase competitiveness, improve access to space and water, welfare of fish, prevention of waste, and promoting resource-efficiency and low-carbon economy. Aquaponics provides solutions to these goals by minimising water and nutrient use, utilising areas unfit for other food production systems, facilitating local food production and thus providing new business opportunities. The EU provides various frameworks for financial support for the different components of aquaponics including the Seventh Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, EIP-AGRI, SME-instrument, PRIMA Initiative, EMFF and the COST Action FA 1305 – EU Aquaponics hub.

Aquaponics is a modern and sustainable food production technology. This paper reviews different policies relevant to aquaponics in order to create a clear picture on how aquaponics can contribute to achieving European goals and how the policies and strategies can provide support and opportunities for this sector. Because aquaponics falls into fish as well as plant production relevant policies are the Common Agriculture Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy, the European Union (EU) Food Safety and Nutrition Policy, and the EU Environmental Policy. Goals of these policies that are related to aquaponics include promoting innovation, increasing competitiveness and sustainability, improving access to space and water, welfare of fish, prevention of waste, and promoting resource-efficiency and low-carbon economy. Aquaponics contributes to achieving these goals by minimising water and nutrient use, utilising areas unfit for other food production systems, facilitating local food production and thus providing new business opportunities. The EU provides various frameworks for financial support for the different components of aquaponics, resulting in a range of opportunities for the newcomer as well as the already established aquaponics entrepreneurs. Financial support mostly targets research projects, while the sector also needs assistance in the commercial development.

Aquaponics is a modern and sustainable food production technology. This paper reviews different policies relevant to aquaponics in order to create a clear picture on how aquaponics can contribute to achieving European goals and how the policies and strategies can provide support and opportunities for this sector. Because aquaponics falls into fish as well as plant production relevant policies are the Common Agriculture Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy, the European Union (EU) Food Safety and Nutrition Policy, and the EU Environmental Policy. Goals of these policies that are related to aquaponics include promoting innovation, increasing competitiveness and sustainability, improving access to space and water, welfare of fish, prevention of waste, and promoting resource-efficiency and low-carbon economy. Aquaponics contributes to achieving these goals by minimising water and nutrient use, utilising areas unfit for other food production systems, facilitating local food production and thus providing new business opportunities. The EU provides various frameworks for financial support for the different components of aquaponics, resulting in a range of opportunities for the newcomer as well as the already established aquaponics entrepreneurs. Financial support mostly targets research projects, while the sector also needs assistance in the commercial development.

International aquaponic production has increased over the past decade, but less is known about research activities and production facilities operating in Europe. We conducted an online survey to get a better idea about research and production in Europe, focusing on five areas of aquaponics (i.e., demographics, facilities used, fish and crops produced, funding sources, and personal or company priorities for further development). The 68 respondents were distributed among 21 European countries, 43% were working at a university, and 19% were commercial producers. Only 11.8% of those surveyed had sold fish or plants in the past 12 months. Most respondents were male (66.2%) and had a post-graduate degree (91.7%). Facilities were generally new (74.5% constructed after 2010) and self-designed. Production figures were modest, with less than 10 respondents producing more than 1000 kg of fish or plants per year (mostly tilapia or catfish and herbs or lettuce). Systems were often funded by government grants (35.3%). The great majority of respondents (80.4%) stated that aquaponics was not their main source of income. Most respondents prioritized using aquaponics for educational purposes, while few (25%) used it to produce their own food or improve their health. Questions related to personal knowledge about aquaponics underlined the need for more training about fish diseases and plant pests.