Urban Micropollutants in the One Health Context – Together for Sustainable and Biocide-Free Cities in the Upper Rhine Region Midterm forum ReactiveCity 18/09/2025
Dear colleagues, elected officials, urban actors, and citizens,
We are pleased to invite you to a special event hosted on the 18th September 2025 at the Forchheim Wastewater Treatment Plant, a symbolic site where urban life, science, and environmental health converge. This meeting is part of the ReactiveCity initiative, bringing together researchers, practitioners, city services, and public decision-makers to discuss a pressing and complex challenge: micropollutants in urban environments.
Today, cities are both sources and sinks of emerging contaminants—pesticides, pharmaceuticals, PFAS, antibiotics—that silently pass through our soils, waters, and treatment systems. Their cumulative impact on ecosystems and human health is now recognized as a shared concern. But beyond diagnosis, this event is about collective response and opportunity.
We will showcase cutting-edge interdisciplinary work from across the Upper Rhine:
- Freiburg – exploring the fate of TFA and PFAS in atmospheric and water systems
- Landau – assessing ecotoxicological risks and thresholds for aquatic ecosystems
- Strasbourg – tracing micropollutant and antibiotic transformations, and co-developing urban trajectories toward a biocide-free city, in close collaboration with wastewater operators and city planners.
Together, these initiatives outline not just the scientific frontiers, but the vision of a resilient urban metabolism—one that integrates One Health principles, embraces climate adaptation, and builds water governance on knowledge and collaboration.
This field dialogue invites you to take part in an open, action-oriented exchange on:
Urban scenarios for reducing dependence on harmful biocides
Strategies for mitigating chemical exposure in times of climate stress
Bridging science, policy, and service innovation to build healthy cities
We believe the shift toward a more sustainable urban future starts with meetings like this—on the ground, across disciplines, and in dialogue with those who shape public decisions. Your presence and voice are essential.
Let’s reconnect science and city. Let’s shape a safer water future—together.
With our best regards,
The organizing team – ReactiveCity
Below you will find further helpful information on the organisation of the forum, please pay particular attention to the information in the official invitation email regarding travel and logistics.
