After a year of intensive collaboration, PLANETS partners gathered on 15–16 October 2025 for the M12 General Assembly in the historic and picturesque city of Utrecht, the Netherlands.

During the Assembly, all project partners shared updates on the progress achieved across the various work packages over the last 6 months. The sessions fostered constructive discussions on key developments and strategic directions for the next six months of the project.

In addition to the work package updates, dedicated parallel sessions were organised for the case studies on surfactants, flame retardants, and plasticizers. These sessions focused on technical progress, data collection, and coordination of ongoing activities.

Aligned with the General Assembly, a joint session with the sister projects was held— AlchemiSSts, BIOSAFIRE, DESIDERATA, and RADAR. Each project gave a brief presentation to lay the groundwork for closer future collaboration. PLANETS will be introduced as well during the next GA of each sister project.

The agenda also featured a presentation by Ronald Flipphi from the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, who provided valuable insights from a policymaker’s perspective on Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD). 

Special thank you goes to our colleagues at TNO for hosting an excellent meeting and extending warm hospitality, allowing all participants to experience a touch of Dutch culture throughout the meeting.

Some impressions from the meeting:

After the six first months of active collaboration, PLANETS partners met on 8-9 April 2025 for the General Assembly at M6, in the historic and beautiful city of Gdansk (Poland) with a hybrid format allowing both in-person and virtual participation.

All project partners presented the progress made in the different work packages during the last months, reflecting on key developments, and engaging in lively discussions on how to move forward in the next six months of the project.

In addition, internal training activities took place on the first day to deepen partner knowledge and strengthen the internal collaboration:

• SSbD Training Session: Led by our colleagues from QSAR Lab, this hands-on workshop focused on intermediate and full assessment (Tier 2-3), including QSAR models for hazard prediction. Participants explored existing tools for predicting physicochemical properties and biological activities of chemical substances, key elements in the Safe-and-Sustainable-by-Design (SSbD) approach.
• Case Study Sessions: Each of the three PLANETS case studies held a special session to assess the current progress, refine the SSbD workflows, and define next steps, ensuring that each case study is aligned with the overall project strategy while maintaining a focus on their specific challenges and goals:
  • Surfactants Case Study, led by Pierre-Emmanuel Dufils (SYENSQO)
  • Fire Retardants Case Study, led by Carl-Christoph Höhne (Fraunhofer ICT)
  • Plasticizers Case Study, led by Raphaël Croiber (IPC)

Special thanks to our colleagues from QSAR Lab for hosting a fantastic meeting and welcoming partners with exceptional hospitality, bringing us the Polish culture and food closer to all of us!

Some impressions from the meeting: