UPCOMING!

SWACCS December workshop 2025 on chemicals & circular economy

KTH Royal Institute of Technology invites to the workshop December 11th-12th, lunch to lunch

Location: KTH Innovation, Campus Valhallavägen; Teknikringen 1, 114 28, Stockholm

Who: Researchers and professionals interested in how chemicals may be handled in a circular economy.

Why: One of the key obstacles to a circular economy is toxic chemicals. We invite you to learn and share your experiences during a two-day workshop focused on how chemicals can be reconciled with a circular economy. Invited experts such as Åsa Stenmarck (Naturvårdsverket), Daniel Slunge (FRAM/Gothenburg University), Maria Larsson (MTM/Örebro University), Nils Johansson (KTH) and others will discuss which chemicals are of particular concern in a circular economy, how they are dealt with in practice, which regulations are needed and how the (non-)toxicity of circular materials can be assessed and certified.

Organised by: KTH Royal Institute of Technology in collaboration with SWACCS.

The workshop is free of charge. The workshop dinner on December 11th at restaurant Syster O Bror is at the participant's own expense.

Places are limited and registration will close when the maximum number of participants has been reached.

A detailed workshop agenda is provided on the registration homepage.

Link for registration

Warm welcome!

Sabina Du Rietz Dahlström and the organising committee

SWACCS December workshop 2024

Interdisciplinary collaboration for a safe and sustainable future

Örebro University invites to the workshop December 10-11, lunch to lunch

Location: Örebro University, P204 Prismahuset

Day 1 (13:00-17:00)

13-13:15 Welcome

13:15 Perspectives on interdisciplinary collaboration for a safe and sustainable future – How to optimize research and societal interaction?
Presentations by RECETOX representative (Dr. Martin Scheringer (Masaryk University, Brno; ETH, Zürich, Scheringer_pdf1), Stockholm Resilience Center, SU (TBA) and Platform for sustainable future, ORU (Frans Prenkert, ORU)

14:00 Questions and remarks to the panelists.

14:15 – 15:05 Start of WS with refreshments

15:15 Reporting back and an interactive open discussion

15:45 Leg strecher

16:00 Case studies/projects
WATCH Research school, Dr. Ida Andersson (ORU); Biosphere programs and initiatives - Experiences (TBA); New technology challenges, wind (Dr. Helen Karlsson (LiU)/Dr. Joachim Sturwe (GU).

17:00-ish End of the day 1 

Joint dinner (at our own cost)

Day 2

08:30-10 Societal Competence Provision Needs in Risk Assessment and Communication

Presentation of the stakeholder competence needs in the Nordics (TBA) incl. the life-long learning perspective (Dr. Jana Jass, ORU). Followed by time for group discussions. The groups will receive questions to discuss for 60 minutes and then we have feedback at 10 with in plenum discussion for in total 30 min.

10:30-11:0 Break

11:00 Chemical pollution in focus: UN Science to Policy Platform, Dr. Martin Scheringer (Chair of International Panel on Chemical Pollution (IPCP))

Open In Plenum discussion

12:00 End of WS

Kind regards,
Organising team at Örebro university
(Jana Jass, Nikolai Scherbak, Åke Bergman, Leo Yeung and Ingrid Ericson Jogsten)

SWACCS December workshop 2023

AI and Chemical Safety - opportunities and challenges

Uppsala, Sweden

Dates: December 11th-12th 2023
Time: 11:30 – 17:10 (Day 1) & 09:00-12:30 (Day 2)
Venue: Lärosal 4, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala University, Uppsala (Norbyvägen 18C, 752 36 Uppsala)

Welcome to the SWACCS December workshop 2023, a scientific and networking event for everyone within the SWACCS network, which has become a tradition over the past years! This year, the SWACCS December workshop will be held at the Evolutionary Biology Centre of Uppsala University on December 11th-12th, 2023 with focus on “AI and chemical safety: opportunities and challenges”.

New for this year is a mingle with SWACCS alumni who are not working in academia, an opportunity for junior SWACCS members to get inspired for possible career paths.

The program is now set and the registration is open! Please, use the form below to register:

https://doit.medfarm.uu.se/bin/kurt3/kurt/96146

Looking forward to seeing you all in Uppsala in December!

click here for more information about the program and the speaker:

Program - SWACCS December workshop 2023

SWACCS’s Annual Workshop 2022

The workshop is held on December 12-13 at Karlstad University, lunch to lunch, with dinner in the evening in central Karlstad. Two themes will be discussed. During day 1, we will focus on research communication, i.e., how we reach different recipients with our research. To help, we have Vetenskap och allmänhet (https://v-a.se) who will lecture and lead discussions in the field. During day 2, we will present upcoming EU calls and then work on establishing strong interdisciplinary research groups that can write impactful applications.

Day 1:

During the first day we will focus on Research communication. The session begins with two inspiring lectures followed by a workshop lead by the non-profit organization Vetenskap & Allmänhet:

Ellen Bruno, Stockholm University:
- Are knowledge brokers the key to bridging the gap between science and policy
Jonatan Klaminder, Umeå Universitet:
- Are biases in research communication undermining public trust in science?

Vetenskap & Allmänhet (https://v-a.se) is leading a workshop where we get to discuss and reflect on the researcher's role(s) in society and in the public conversation. The workshop is based on current research and your own experiences of research communication. It is led by Cissi Askwall, Secretary General at Vetenskap & Allmänhet, former journalist and communications manager.

Day 2:

During the second day we will continue on a successful SWACCS tradition to discuss ideas on upcoming EU calls. At the moment there are drafts circulating for two relevant calls with realistic deadlines:

HORIZON-CL6-2023-ZEROPOLLUTION: Safe-and-sustainable-by-design bio-based platform chemicals, additives, materials or products as alternatives. Deadline 28 March 2023 (First Stage) & 26 September 2023 (Second Stage)

HORIZON-HLTH-2024-ENVHLTH-2.06: The role of environmental pollution in non-communicable diseases: air, noise and light and hazardous waste pollution. 19 Sep 2023 (First Stage), 11 Apr 2024 (Second Stage) Another group will discuss ideas for a communication project proposal to Formas (deadline usually in September). Additionally, groups can form to discuss other project ideas, you are welcome to propose topics ahead of or at the workshop.

Preliminary schedule:

Måndag 12 december

11.30 – 13.00 Lunch at Restaurang Solsta Inn, Karlstads universitet, Hus 1

13.00 – 13.15 Welcome and introduction

13.15 – 16.30 Workshop on Research Communication incl. fika

Tisdag 13 december

09.00 – 09.30 Update on SWACCS activities

09.30 – 10.00 Introduction to the group discussions

10.00 – 11.00 Group discussions incl. fika

11.00 – 11.45 Reporting back from discussion groups

11.45 – 12.00 Concluding remarks

12.00 – 13.00 Lunch at Restaurang Solsta Inn, Karlstads universitet, Hus 1

Please sign up on https://swaccs2022.axacoair.se, not later than Friday December 2.

Warmly welcome,

CG Bornehag and Joëlle Ruëgg

Chemicals in our waters – What research is needed to secure a clean water environment and safe drinking water for the year 2099?

When: December 15:th 2021, 11:00 to December 16:th 14:00.
Where: Conference Centre Wallenberg, Medicinaregatan 20A, Gothenburg.

Welcome to the 2021 SWACCS workshop that will be held in Gothenburg in collaboration with the Centre for Future Chemical Risk Assessment and Management Strategies (FRAM) at the University of Gothenburg. The theme of this year’s workshop is “Chemicals in our waters – What research is needed to secure a clean water environment and safe drinking water for the year 2099?”
The workshop will focus on group discussions addressing future needs in the monitoring of chemicals in waters and the biological effects of these chemicals. Representatives from Swedish associations and agencies; Swedish water (Svenskt vatten), the Swedish Agency for Marine and Water Management (Havs och Vattenmyndigheten), and the Swedish Food Agency (Livsmedelsverket), will give their views on the topic. Researchers will present ongoing research. The main aim of the workshop is to discuss if we are focusing on the most serious problems regarding chemicals in waters and what gaps need to be filled.
The meeting will be organized as a hybrid meeting so most parts will be possible to join digitally. On the evening of December 15:th, there will be a workshop dinner, at your own expense, for mingle and a long-awaited get together.

NOTE: there is a limited number of seats covered by the FRAM centre so please register directly to ensure your free registration to the workshop.

Swaccs annual December workshop, December 15, 2020

When: December 15th, 2020, 09:30 -16:10

Where: Zoom

Aim of the workshop: From 1st of January 2021, Swaccs’ structure will change, from a centralized coordinating hub to local activity nodes that interact via the steering committee and topical working groups (WGs). More information is found in the attachment. The focus of this year’s December workshop is to fill the new structures with life and engagement. It is clear that the prerequisites to build up the university nodes and to engage in WGs vary between individuals and universities. But every contribution count! The workshop aims at providing inspiration on how to build up local nodes balancing effort with gain, and how even small contributions in a WG can have impact and strengthen Swaccs.

Please see the attached document on Swaccs 2019-2020 and structure from 2021.

Agenda

09:30 Welcome and introduction to the day Background on establishing Swaccs, vision and goals. Results of Swaccs 2019-2020 (Åke Bergman och Carl-Gustaf Bornehag).

09:55 Swaccs into 2021 and onwards (Joëlle Rüegg)

10:15-10:45 Poll among the participants for who is going where of the groups: Themes 1-3:

• Theme 1: Communication and societal interaction

• Theme 2: Research interaction and infrastructure

• Theme 3: Educational cooperation, development and competence provision

10:15 How to establish strong university nodes at partnering universities within Swaccs. Introduction with examples from current work at some universities. (Joëlle Rüegg)

10:30 Short break

10:40 Zoom Breakout Group discussions on how to build strong university nodes – thoughts and ideas.

11:45 Lunch

12:30 Plenary report from the first group work. Discussion and conclusions.

13:30 Introduction to some intended working groups within Swaccs. (Joëlle Rüegg)

13:45 Zoom Breakout Group discussion on working groups, their activities, crew etc. We plan six discussion groups with three themes already presented.

15:00 Plenary report from the second group work. Discussion and conclusions.

16:00 Final words from Åke Bergman

16:10 Closure and end of the WS

SWACCS workshop: Chemical mixtures – where do we stand, what’s next?

16 DECEMBER @ Stockholm University

The Swedish Academic Consortium for Chemical Safety (SWACCS) welcomes you to a first SWACCS December workshop (successor of the Swetox annual workshop) entitled “Chemical mixtures – where do we stand, what’s next?”. SWACCS has since January 2019 taken over the role of Swetox with the ambition to join forces in the fields of chemicals, environment and human health. A major aim is to create openings for networking and interdisciplinary science bringing together researchers, policy makers and stakeholders from authorities, industry and civil society.

Exposure of complex chemical mixtures and related health effects has been recognized as a pressing issue in the field of risk assessment that requires novel strategies and transdisciplinary approaches. On the first SWACCS December workshop we will address this issue. The aim is to introduce the current state and ongoing research projects and then proceed to discussions on how to move forward research and science to policy efforts in this field.

Presentations include the governmental investigation on chemical mixtures launched in October this year by Professor Christina Rudén (SU and head of the investigation) as well as speed-talks of recently funded Formas-projects addressing the topic. They will be followed by sessions for discussions and networking.

Schedule

10:00 Welcome from Swaccs
10:10-12:00 Speed talks by PIs of Formas funded projects in “Nontoxic environment 2018 – combination effects”

• Anders Glynn, SLU – ”Combination effects of toxic chemical compounds and elements on child/adolescent health - an integrated epidemiological and bioactivity testing approach”

• Jana Weiss, SU – ”Risk modeling of mixtures of endocrine disrupting chemicals relevant to human exposure, using zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo as model organism (RiskMix)”

• Maj Rundlöf, LU – ”Exposure and effects of chemical mixtures on bees (MixToxBee) - supporting pesticide monitoring and bee risk assessment”

• Jonathan Martin, SU – ”Toxicity of personalized contaminant mixtures in human blood by nontarget exposomics and high-throughput in vitro screening”

• Petter Melin, RISE – “Smart, benign and synergistic antifouling cocktails for achieving a non-toxic environment: formulation and ecotoxicological evaluation"

Stretch your legs

• Oskar Karlsson, SU – “The chemical exposome and male reproduction: sperm alterations and effects on child health”

• Johan Lundqvist, SLU – ”Effect-directed analysis as a tool towards a non-toxic environment - identification of mixture effects and toxicity drivers in water (DANTE)”

• Maria Kippler, KI – ”A systems toxicology-based approach to reveal early-life dysregulation of body functions by combined exposures to toxic metals”

• Carl-Gustaf Bornehag, KAU – ”RACH-Mix, New tools for risk assessment of chemical mixtures”

• Pauliina Damdimopoulou, KI – “Phthalates in female reproduction –impact of mixture composition on hazard characterization”

12:00 LUNCH with sandwiches
13:00-13:15 Annika Hanberg, KI - “European Partnership for Chemical Risk Assessment”
13:15-14:30 Group discussions: Knowledge gaps and challenges in chemical mixture research
14:30 COFFEE BREAK with fruit
15:00-16:10 Plenary discussion based on the group work achievements
16:10-17:00 Presentation and discussion of “The governmental investigation regarding combination effects and group wise assessment of chemicals: From word to action”, Christina Rudén, ACES, SU
17:00 Concluding remarks