Conditions and concepts for interdisciplinary urban metabolism research–the case of an inter-project collaboration on biowaste

Abstract

Given that many voices have argued in favour of combining insights on urban metabolism from different disciplinary angles, there seems to be no lack of general willingness to engage in interdisciplinary research on urban metabolism. Instead, we argue, the central problem lies in the nitty-gritty and mundane practicalities of working across research teams, departments and temporalities. In this paper, we offer a detailed description of an interdisciplinary collaboration that has occurred in practice: a joint effort on the study of potential transition scenarios regarding the metabolism of biowaste in the city-region of Brussels. This interproject collaboration involved four different research teams from three faculties and two universities, each with a specific set of expertise and interests. Biowaste metabolism and nutrient recirculation is a recurring theme in the literature on urban metabolism. It relates to early studies on urban metabolism and concerns about the depletion of soil fertility and different forms of pollution. The paper describes each research project point of departure in order to allow readers with different disciplinary backgrounds to apprehend the distance that separated the projects before they decided to work together on the urban biowaste metabolism. Furthermore, we present moments of convergences that helped to bring these research processes together. Finally, we offer a critical reflection, suggesting both enabling factors and limits of the inter-project collaboration on biowaste metabolism in Brussels. Titre (FR): Conditions et concepts pour la recherche interdisciplinaire sur le métabolisme urbain-le cas d'une collaboration inter-projets sur les biodéchets à Bruxelles Résumé (FR) Étant donné que de nombreuses voix se sont prononcées en faveur de combiner différents angles disciplinaires sur le métabolisme urbain, le problème central de la recherche interdisciplinaire sur le métabolisme urbain n'est pas à trouver dans le manque de volonté des De plus, nous présentons des moments de convergence qui ont permis de rapprocher ces processus de recherche. Enfin, nous proposons une réflexion critique, revenant à la fois sur les facteurs favorables et les limites de la collaboration entre projets sur le métabolisme des biodéchets à Bruxelles.

Phosphorus and energy flows through the food system of Brussels Capital Region

“…These values can be used, for example, as targets or benchmarks against which progress towards better P-management and a more circular food system can be measured. Realistic and implementable scenarios for the organic waste system in Brussels have been generated within the Opération Phosphore project and can be found in (Bortolotti et al, 2019(Bortolotti et al, , 2018bDe Muynck et al, 2019).…”

A memetic algorithm for solving rich waste collection problems

“…The scenarios under investigation are based on the treatment scenarios proposed by Bortolotti, Kampelmann, Muynck, Papangelou, & Zeller (2019) and differ with respect to three distinct components. First, the BCR's authorities are interested in the impact of an increased food waste collection rate.…”

An exact routing optimization model for bio-waste collection in the Brussels Capital Region

“…This research was motivated by the challenge of the Brussels Capital Region to reform the municipal bio-waste collection and treatment system, managed by the Brussels' waste collection authorities, to meet the new EU regulations for 2023. Bio-waste treatment scenarios were developed by Bortolotti et al (2019) for which appropriate collection systems are proposed and evaluated in this case study. First, in close collaboration with the Brussels' waste collection authorities the actual bio-waste collection has been analysed.…”