Portsmouth University is currently working on a Ä1.74million (£1million) contract from the European Union (EU) to find ways of using bugs to clean stonework.

The project has the title of Bioremediation for Building Restoration of the Urban Stone Heritage in European States, otherwise known as Biorush.

The University is the co-ordinating institute for a consortium of six partners in five countries. Dr Eric May in the School of Biological Sciences is managing the programme.

The problem being addressed is that of the formation of crusts caused by the enrichment of salts and the formation of a biopatina.

The Biorush project is seeking ways of using microbes to remove these salt crusts and consolidate the masonry of old buildings.

The process is known as bioremediation and the consortium looking into the matter will carry out both laboratory and field tests in northern and southern Europe.

The goal is to use biotechnology to provide a safe, effective, environmentally friendly process for the restoration and conservation of stone in important buildings and monuments.

The hope is that the research will enhance existing conservation strategies and lead to new products for use by the heritage industry.

Other British educational establishments have also been contributing to the international heritage debate and in April an international group of scientists, researchers and other experts gathered in Venice to discuss the sustainable development of European cities.

The conference was jointly hosted by professors and researchers from leading European universities, including the British School of Construction & Property Management at Salford University.

The meeting called for greater understanding of city sustainability and for more \'joined-up thinking\' by policy makers and city authorities.

It also sought to stimulate concerted action by Europe\'s city designers, planners, architects, developers and constructors.

"Sustainable development is a misunderstood and highly contentious concept," says Steve Curwell, Salford\'s lead researcher on sustainable urban development and a director of the pan-European Bequest programme (Building Environmental Quality Evaluation for Sustainability Through Time), the concept for which Salford was instrumental in conceiving in 1994.