The members of the LIFE project, Terraforming LIFE, met at the kick-off meeting of the project in Þorlákshöfn on 17th August 2023.

The project is coordinated by First Water with partners Orkídea, SMJ engineering firm (Denmark/Faroe Islands), the Farmers’ Association of Iceland and Ölfus Cluster. Blue Ocean Technology in Norway is also involved in the project as a consultant and associated partner.

Terraforming LIFE has received funding of around €6 million from the European Union’s Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA) and it is the first LIFE project grant for an Icelandic project signed and approved by the EU.

The project aims to develop a new method for producing fertiliser and biogas from the organic waste from land-based aquaculture and from agriculture from the regional farming sector. It strengthens the circular economy of domestic food production, while reducing the carbon footprint and contributing to significantly more positive environmental impacts in both agriculture and aquaculture.

The Terraforming LIFE project underlines the importance of regional co-operation surrounding the utilisation of bio-waste towards increasing the resilience of the Icelandic food production and its dependency on imported fertliser. “The project involves a lot of knowledge and technology development for the implementation of the circular economy, which gives us all very exciting possibilities and opportunities for innovation and business development in South Iceland,” says Sveinn Adalsteinsson, manager of Orkidea.