The ISLANDR Kick-off meeting was hosted by the Geological Survey of Finland (GTK) during 23 and 24 May 2023 in Espoo, Finland. On the first day, each of the partners provided an introductory presentation in which they outlined their role in the project, the composition of their team and key expertise brought into the project. Each partner also stated their expectations and foreseen benefits from the project. A brainstorming, moderated by Paul Bardos (r3) on the workflows between the individual work packages followed the presentations of the Work Package Leaders, introducing the foreseen tasks, with particular focus on the research activities planned during the first 12 months. Another brainstorming followed, moderated by Anna Spiteri (IRMCo) on the expectations and aspirations of the 7 ISLANDR Test Areas, in which the participants explored the added value of the Test Areas to the research tasks, and also vice versa, how the research outputs could bring added value to the ISLANDR Test Areas. The second day comprised more formal sessions and was organized as a hybrid event. The ISLANDR Project Manager Juha Kaija (GTK), invited Saku Vuori, Director of Science and Innovations at GTK, Kirsti Loukola-Ruskeeniemi, ISLANDR Project Coordinator, and Béla Atzél, Project Officer within the European Research Executive Agency to give their welcome addresses to the participants. This was followed by the session entitled “ISLANDR planning - the way forward” which was chaired by Kirsti Loukola-Ruskeeniemi (GTK), and included presentations on the following topics:

• Overview of soil pollution in Europe – overview, tasks and discussion – Timo Tarvainen, GTK, Finland
• Risk-based contaminated land assessment for the promotion of soil health – overview, tasks and discussion – Anne-Lise Gautier, French Geological Survey BRGM, France
• Sustainable and risk-based remediation – overview, tasks and discussion – Paul Bardos, R3 Environmental Technology Limited, UK
• Financial models for decontamination and reuse of land – overview, tasks and discussion Jenny Norrman, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden
• Spatial planning models, prioritization and approaches for contaminated soil and land reuse – overview, tasks and discussion – Linda Maring, Stichting Deltares, Netherlands
• Policy support and dialogue – overview, tasks and discussion – Jaana Sorvari, Finnish Environment Institute SYKE
• Communication, dissemination and exploitation – overview, tasks and discussion – Dirk de Ketelaere, Integrated Resources Management Company Limited IRMCo, Malta
• Ethics in EU projects – Satu Pitkäaho, University of Oulu, Finland

Concluding the second day of the Kick-off Meeting, the project’s Technical Advisory Board Members provided their own views and expectations of ISLANDR, which was organized as a panel discussion.