On 7 October 2026, the SSbD4CheM project participated in “The Future of Plastic (R)evolution” conference at Center Rog in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The event, organised by the National Institute of Chemistry (Kemijski inštitut – NIC) under the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters”, marked the final conference of the EU-funded Horizon Europe REMEDIES project and the launch of its successor initiative, REMEDIES 5.0.

Bringing together 152 in-person participants and 35 online attendees, the conference gathered representatives from research, industry, innovators, (local) public authorities, civil society as well as the European Commission to discuss solutions to address plastic and microplastic pollution across the full product lifecycle. Throughout keynotes, demonstration sessions, and the concurrent 10th REMEDIES Cluster Meeting, participants evaluated deployed technologies for ocean waste collection and circular material valorisation, addressed standardising marine litter monitoring across regions like the Northern Adriatic, and established a transition framework into REMEDIES 5.0 to scale waterfront restoration, community engagement, and circular blue economy practices across European coastal cities and river basins.

 As part of the event’s live innovation demonstrations in the Small Hall, SSbD4CheM showcased cosmetic products containing nanocellulose, developed by AHAVA with support from NIC team. These products demonstrate the potential of microplastic-free alternatives in cosmetics, helping prevent microplastics from entering aquatic ecosystems. 

Ondrej Panák presented the SSbD4CheM solutions to participants, while Uroš Novak contributed to the organisation of the event and participated as a speaker in discussions related to the REMEDIES project.

The demonstration highlighted how the Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) approach can support the development of innovative products that address environmental challenges while considering safety and sustainability from the earliest stages of product design.

The participation in the conference provided SSbD4CheM with an opportunity to present project results to a broad, multidisciplinary audience and raise awareness of practical alternatives to microplastics. By showcasing solutions developed within the project, SSbD4CheM contributes to advancing safer and more sustainable products and supporting the transition towards a cleaner aquatic environment.

From 23 to 25 September 2026, the Science Garden Festival returned for its second edition, building on the success of its inaugural event at Graz University of Technology (TU Graz) in 2024. Organized together with Styrian researchers, educational institutions and businesses, the festival celebrated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) under the motto “ALL EYES ON STEM.” 

The festival is part of the Science Garden initiative, coordinated by innoregio styria and its network partners. Over the past two years, the project has provided more than 500 STEM experiences for children and young people aged 3 to 19 throughout Styria via the Science Garden platform. In collaboration with all nine Styrian universities, the Styrian Federation of Industry, the Styrian Chamber of Commerce, the Styrian Business Promotion Agency (SFG), and the Association for Location and Society, the initiative aims to inspire the next generation by making mathematics, computer science, natural sciences and technology accessible, engaging and fun. 

In the facilities of the FH JOANNEUM in Graz, across 5,000 m2 and featuring around 100 interactive stations, the festival welcomed school classes, families and visitors of all ages to explore, experiment and discover the fascinating world of STEM through hands-on experiences. Around 5000 people attended the event. 

Brightcon 2026 brought together researchers, practitioners, developers and other stakeholders working on quantitative sustainability assessment and life cycle assessment (LCA). The conference focuses on fostering an open and collaborative ecosystem around LCA tools, data and methods, providing a space for participants to exchange knowledge, explore new approaches and work together on the further development of sustainability assessment.

The 2026 edition, held in Aalborg, Denmark, from 20 to 25 September, was themed “Collaboration: Mixing Tools, Data and People”. The programme featured presentations, workshops and keynote sessions and was preceded by courses and a hackathon. The event welcomed 93 onsite and 129 online participants, with attendees from universities, research institutes, industry, government and other organisations across Europe and beyond.

Thomas Arblaster from Leiden University’s Institute of Environmental Sciences (CML), representing SSbD4CheM, presented “Formalising product systems which represent dispersed functions with metabolic time-explicit LCA” in the T2 – Methods & Frontiers session on September 24^th.

The presentation built on previous SSbD4CheM work exploring how prospective and time-explicit LCA can support Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD). It addressed conceptual and practical challenges emerging from recent developments in LCA tools and datasets and discussed potential directions for future tool development. The presentation also highlighted the need for a common and internally consistent conceptual foundation to ensure that new developments in ex-ante LCA can effectively support SSbD.

Instead of conventional presentation slides, a Jupyter notebook was used to demonstrate the underlying concepts and methods. The presentation built on previous SSbD4CheM work exploring how prospective and time-explicit LCA can support Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD).

The presentation is publicly available in Zenodo (DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.23062032). A recording of the presentation is also planned to be made publicly available online.

The presentation was followed by a valuable discussion with members of the LCA community, providing a range of perspectives and inputs for the project’s ongoing work. Participation in Brightcon also offered an opportunity to connect with stakeholders from different sectors and gain insights into current developments in LCA.

How can we design the chemicals and materials of the future to be safe and sustainable from the very beginning?

In this interview, Milica Velimirovic (VITO), coordinator of the SSbD4CheM project, introduces the project and discusses its role in advancing the Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) approach.

Milica answers three key questions:

• Why is SSbD4CheM important?
• What makes the project different from previous SSbD initiatives?
• What impact can SSbD4CheM have on European innovation and competitiveness

Discover how SSbD4CheM is working to support the development of safer and more sustainable chemicals and materials while contributing to a more innovative and competitive European industry.

The SSbD4CheM project participated in NanoInnovation 2026, held from 14–18 September 2026 in Rome, Italy. The conference brought together researchers, scientists, regulators, academia and industry professionals to exchange knowledge on the latest developments in nanoscience and nanotechnology and to foster cross-disciplinary dialogue.

On 16 September, Milica Velimirovic (VITO) represented SSbD4CheM with an oral presentation entitled “Advanced Analytical Strategies for Reliable Exposure Assessment of Micro- and Nanoplastics”. The presentation provided an overview of state-of-the-art approaches for the detection, characterisation and quantification of microplastics (MPs) and nanoplastics (NPs) in environmental and biological matrices.

Particular attention was given to challenges in assessing human and environmental exposure, including the detection of small particles at environmentally relevant concentrations. The presentation covered advanced sampling and sample preparation methods as well as emerging analytical techniques for water, air, soil, food and biological samples, with a focus on mass spectrometry approaches such as spCIP-MS and Py-GC/MS.

For nanoplastics, where reliable exposure assessment remains particularly challenging due to their small size, low concentrations and complex interactions with environmental matrices, Milica highlighted the importance of harmonised approaches, quality assurance and quality control (QA/QC), reference materials and standardised protocols to ensure robust and comparable results.

The presentation concluded with future perspectives on advancing analytical strategies for micro- and nanoplastics.

A key message of her presentation was that reliable exposure assessment requires the integration of advanced analytical techniques, rigorous quality control and standardised methodologies to support robust environmental and human health risk assessment.

In her presentation, Milica also acknowledged the EU-funded projects InPlasTwin, Remedies, SSbD4CheM, Upstream and VisionAir.

This video briefly shows the PFAS-free bio-based coatings for textile functionalisation that have been developed within the SSbD4CheM project by by the project partners KORTEKS, NOVEX, and WOOD K plus.

These coatings combine hydrophobic, self-cleaning, and antimicrobial properties with solvent-free atmospheric pressure plasma polymerisation.

On 17th June 2026, the SSbD4CheM project contributed to stakeholder dialogue on data-driven Safe and Sustainable materials design with its active participation in the stakeholder event “Advanced Materials: How to Go from Data to Design through the Scope of SSbD?”, organized by the CheMatSustain project following its 5th General Assembly in Valencia. The event brought together experts from EU research projects, industry, and academia to explore how data, databases, artificial intelligence (AI), and Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) principles can accelerate innovation in advanced materials.

SSbD4CheM was featured in the latest edition of the BNN QUARTERLY 02/2026, entitled “Women at the Forefront of Science & Innovation” with three articles:

1. “SSbD4CheM: Women Driving Safer and Sustainable Innovation”
2. “Recap of the 2nd NSC Workshop on ‘SSbD Scenarios,’ Held on 5 December 2025”
3. Interviews with Yvonne Kohl and Tassos Papadiamantis

Read the BNN QUARTERLY here:
https://lnkd.in/dkp3gHUQ

On 7 July 2026, Milica Velimirovic (VITO) participated in the kick-off event of the Belgian Plastic Pollution Research Community (BPPRC) held in Ghent, Belgium. The event gathered over 40 experts from 10 Belgian universities, research institutes, and 3 policy-related bodies.

The BPPRC is a collaborative network of Belgian researchers dedicated to understanding, monitoring, and addressing plastic pollution in Belgian ecosystems and beyond. Their mission is to bring scientists, policymakers, and other relevant stakeholders together to advance knowledge on plastic pollution, understand environmental and human health effects, support risk assessment and mitigation measures, as well as evidence-based solutions for a litter-free environment, and advance the scientific state-of-the-art.

In the meeting, Milica engaged with this interdisciplinary platform in thematic focus groups mapping Belgian expertise in microplastics, ecotoxicological effect studies, and human health risk assessments. By participating in these discussions, Milica also in front of SSbD4CheM advocated for the integration of Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) principles early in the lifecycle of materials to mitigate the very plastic pollution and toxicity challenges highlighted by the community. 

Read the whole recap on the website of the Belgian Plastic Pollution Research Community.