Engineering Nature-based Solutions to Tackle Antimicrobial Resistance

一项全球调查显示，如果情况保持不变，每年可能有近1000万人死于抗菌素耐药性(AMR)。英国在全球抗击AMR的斗争中走在了前列，并设定了到2040年遏制和控制AMR的愿景。参照世界卫生组织(WHO)的AMR行动计划，开展全球AMR监测方案，以了解AMR的趋势，监测干预措施，并制定AMR的经验性治疗指南。然而，在水部门，AMR监测工作主要集中在常规处理阶段，不包括基于自然的解决方案(NBS)基础设施。DEFRA的25年环境计划、水务行业的国家环境计划和环境署2025年计划创造了一个独特的机会，可以考虑将人工湿地(CWS)作为国家湿地来提供废水处理，同时提供环境和社会共同效益。所有水务公司都已部署策略，进一步在污水处理厂推广水煤浆。因此，了解CW作为污水处理厂三级处理的一种新兴的首选绿色方法，是否可以作为天然水域的最终保障，以减轻此类风险，同时保持共同利益的贡献，这一点至关重要。从全球AMR行动中吸取的经验和教训可以极大地促进国家统计局目前缺失的AMR监测重点领域。合作伙伴沃尔什教授在AMR监测计划和欧洲联合计划方面与世界卫生组织合作，特别关注AMR。她的专业知识和经验将加强这个项目团队对AMR的发生、传播和消除机制的关键知识。国家统计局的AMR调查最近得到了关注，但缺乏国际规模的评估，数据集有限。合作伙伴Carvalho博士正致力于欧盟自然项目，以评估来自欧洲大陆的不同CW对AMR的去除，结果将与该项目共享。在这个项目中，Pi Dr Lyu将在两个行业合作伙伴(盎格鲁水务和威尔士水务)的支持下，在英国进行第一次实地调查，从英格兰和威尔士的四个不同的应用CW收集证据。结合文献和项目合作伙伴网络的现有数据集，该项目将作为国家污水处理系统在CWS中进行AMR去除的国际比较研究。此外，该团队还将评估被低估的活性氧物种的贡献，并指出CWS在促进根际激活的自由基氧化AMR方面的适应性。最终，该项目旨在通过分享经验、发现知识差距、探索技术创新和支持循证决策，在国际学术界和行业从业者之间建立独特的合作伙伴关系，以开发基于国家统计局的弹性废水处理基础设施，以减缓AMR的传播。

A global survey showed that nearly 10 million people could die each year as a result of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) if the situation is left unchanged. The UK is at the forefront of the global fight against AMR and setting the vision to contain and control AMR by 2040. With reference to the World Health Organisation (WHO) AMR action plan, the global AMR surveillance programme is conducted to understand trends, monitor interventions and develop empiric treatment guidelines for AMR. However, in the water sector, this AMR surveillance effort mainly focuses on conventional treatment stages and does not include nature-based solutions (NbS) infrastructures. Defra's 25-Year Environment Plan, the Water Industry's National Environment Programme, and the Environment Agency 2025 Plan have created a unique opportunity to consider constructed wetlands (CWs) as NbS to deliver wastewater treatment with the provision of environmental and societal co-benefits. All water utilities have deployed their strategies to further promote CWs in sewage works. Therefore, understanding if CW, as an emerging preferred green approach for tertiary treatment in wastewater treatment plants, can act as the final safeguard of natural waters to mitigate such risks while maintaining the contribution of co-benefits is crucial.The experience and lessons learned from the global AMR action could significantly facilitate the current missing NbS focus area on AMR surveillance. Partner Prof Walsh has worked with the WHO on the AMR surveillance programme and the European Joint Programme with a specific focus on AMR. Her expertise and experience will strengthen this project team with key knowledge of the occurrence, transmission, and removal mechanisms of AMR. The AMR investigation in NbS is recently getting attention but suffers from a lack of international-scale assessment with a limited dataset. Partner Dr Carvalho is working on the EU NATURE project to evaluate AMR removal in different CWs from mainland Europe, and the findings will be shared with this project.In this project, PI Dr Lyu will conduct the first field survey in the UK to collect evidence from four different applied CWs in England and Wales with the support of two industrial partners (Anglian Water and Welsh Water). Together with available datasets from the literature and the project partners' network, this project will conduct an international comparative study of AMR removal in CWs as NbS for wastewater treatment. Moreover, the team will also assess the undervalued contribution of reactive oxygen species and indicate adaptations of CWs toward promoting rhizosphere-activated free radicals to oxidise AMR. Ultimately, this project aims to establish a unique collaborative partnership between international academics and industrial practitioners, through sharing experiences, discovering knowledge gaps, exploring technology innovation, and supporting evidence-based policymaking, toward developing a resilient wastewater treatment infrastructure based on NbS to mitigate the spread of AMR.