Project LIFE PHOENIX has been presented at the ENSOr "International workshop on Emerging challenges on New SOil contaminants" event, hosted in Brussels on the 19 and 20 of November 2018.

The topic of emerging contaminants and the growing concern of their environmental presence, have attracted attention not only of the scientists and insiders, but also of institutions for the complexity and the great relevance of the problem. Consequently, the policy makers at national, regional and local level are being challenged to set the right priorities and create an adequate regulatory framework in the short and medium-long period.

This first edition of the workshop organized by OVAM - the principal authority in the Flanders Region of Belgium for sustainable management of waste, materials and soils - has been a fruitful moment of networking focused on International cooperation, combined with a multi-stakeholder bottom-up approach.

The two-day workshop has been focused on emerging contaminants in soil and groundwater proposing different case studies and mitigation strategies. During the first day different plenary sessions were presented focusing on sharing knowledge, experiences and challenges between researchers, policy-makers, experts and stakeholders. The second day, divided in parallel sessions, was useful to draft a methodology as first step toward a common policy that can be benefit for the community.

The LIFE PHOENIX Project, introduced during the first day of works, has found considerable interest for its pragmatic and interinstitutional approach proposing an effective and prompt strategy regarding environmental emergencies, in particular from short-chain PFAS. The exchange of experiences with other international realities with their different approaches toward the emerging contaminants issues, in particular PFAS, was very interesting and useful. Moreover, the presence of the European Commission, represented by DG Environment, has underlined the need of an action at community level.