The aim of CEAMaS is to bring about a major improvement regarding the widespread beneficial re-use of dredged marine sediments to end users. This will be accomplished by providing new and enhanced tools for the development of innovative civil engineering applications. by developing a European reuse methodology applicable to all ports and sediments types and by enhancing knowledge capitalization and awareness of sediment reuse options through a European Centre of Resource (ECR). Management of dredged sediments is already an issue for many European countries. especially for NWE countries (200 million m3 of marine sediments dredged every year). EU faces increasing demand for construction materials. which are in short supply in some areas (ref. A resource-efficient Europe flagship. Europe 2020 Strategy). The use of dredged marine sediments in civil engineering applications can provide potential solutions for both issues. Besides. existing EU legislation for handling dredged material is complex and from a policy perspective. dredged material is dealt at the intersection of EU Water. EU Waste and EU Marine Strategy Framework Directives. Procedures and contaminant thresholds to authorize dumping at sea or in land management vary considerably from one country to the other and there are no harmonized regulations at EU level. In this context. CEAMaS will promote the beneficial re-use of marine sediments in civil engineering applications. in a sustainable. economical and socially acceptable manner. This will be achieved through a multi-criteria decision analysis system for responsible end-users (e.g. sediment managers). by capitalizing on CEAMaS outputs (and other EU projects’ outputs). by providing training courses and disseminating results through the ECR. Taking into account existing EU. national initiatives and regulations. it aims to contribute to a more equitable and appropriate legislative framework through the provision of recommendations on this subject Achievements: Building knowledgeCEAMaS investigations clearly show that reuse options for sediment are relevant options for all studied countries. Despite the differences in social context, risk perception, EU directives adaptation in each countries and management strategies, opportunities, perspectives, and need for reuse options have been clearly identified in all North Western Europe countries.Spatial information, technical and regulation information and stakeholder perception of marine sediment reuse application have been collected and are shared through online tools (WebGIS and Bibliographic tool) or studies.Technical potentialCEAMaS project has clearly shown that sediment reuse may be a valid technical solution and many example of reuse possibility have been identified. The options and techniques to use vary with the sediment characteristics and the application, but many solutions are feasible.The link between sediment properties and legislation for reuse options has been investigated and demonstrated. It has been shown that within the same EU legislation, for a given sediment, countries where sediments are considered under EU Water Directives are less restrictive than countries where sediment reuse is considered under the EU Waste Directives .So, while the sediment quality standards in Flanders and The Netherlands allow higher contaminant concentrations, the application of the sediment also has to pass a second tier approach (in this case, a leaching test).Focusing on emissions instead of total sediment concentrations often increases the reusability of sediments. This facilitates a larger scale application of reused sediments.Economic opportunities & environmentThe CEAMaS studies clearly show that sediment reuse strategies can be competitive in the context of direct cost, environmental and social (job creation) impacts depending on the site conditions and project specific locations. The studies show the significant global potential benefits to be gained from the reuse of sediments which provide a strong basis to further develop sediment reuse strategies.The studies undertaken identify key parameters which have substantial impacts on economic and environmental costs:• Energy consumption for sediment transportation: the transport distances for reuse application have to be minimised (cf. the potential of GIS technologies) and the means of transportation optimised• Use of additives (e.g., cement, lime…): The environmental, social and economic impacts - benefits or costs - are very specific to individual sites and/or market conditions. Thus a general conclusion on the most effective strategy for sediment management is difficult to establish and dependent on specific conditions. The studies and methodologies developed and applied in the CEAMaS project could be implemented in all ports for optimised sediment reuse scenarios.ToolBoxLinks to major tools developed during the CEAMaS project can be found under: http://www.ceamas.eu/toolbox-introduction• multi-criteria decision-making tool• EU evaluation of legislation status for sediment tools • Making a spatial decision at strategic level with GIS – Tutorial• Sediment characteristic database• Online documents, studies & bibliography• Online GIS• Bibliographic Database