Projects overview

Project title

Project description

Research cluster

Contact

ACER 

ACER aims to develop new cross boundary adaptation strategies for the Rhine basin under climate change (till the year 2050) and to investigate the robustness of these strategies.

ADAM

ADAM is an integrated research project running from 2006 to 2009 that will lead to a better understanding of the trade-offs and conflicts that exist between adaptation and mitigation policies. ADAM will support EU policy development in the next stage of the development of the Kyoto Protocol and will inform the emergence of new adaptation strategies for Europe.

The Andhra Pradesh Water Management project aims at increasing the water use efficiency and productivity within the agricultural sector in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. The project focuses on participatory research activities aiming at the implementation of improved land and water management practices in farmers fields and improved water management practices at distributory canal command level.

Water

AquaStress was an EU funded integrated project (IP) -  sixth EU Framework Programme delivering interdisciplinary methodologies enabling actors at different levels of involvement and at different stages of the planning process to mitigate water stress problems.

Water

The aim of this project is to evaluate the meteorological effects of man–made oasis-like constructions in the coastal desert of Saudi Arabia, under present day climate under varying monsoonal influences, and under changed climate.

BRIDGE is a European project within the 7th Framework Programme that started in 2008. Goal of the project is to develop a decision support system (DSS) for sustainable city management. The DSS builds on ideas from industrial ecology, and includes knowledge on energy and material flows, hydrology, CO2 and other emissions.

The Bsik ME2 project aims to develop an advanced GHG information system - consisting of a comprehensive set of monitoring systems, combined with a complementary suite of 3D models – that is able to quantify the magnitude, trends and associated uncertainties of the biogenic and antropogenic greenhouse gas budgets high spatial an temporal resolutions. While doing so it will develop a protocol to provide an independent reference estimate for the verification of national emissions reported by the parties in the UNFCCC and Kyoto framework.

CAMELS (2003-2005) aimed to produce best estimates and uncertainty bounds for the contemporary and historical land carbon sinks in Europe and elsewhere, isolating the effects of direct land-management.

Wageningen UR, in collaboration with ASARECA and IUCN, organized a workshop for capacity development for policy makers in agriculture and NRM, for adaptation in climate change in East Africa in June 2008. Over 30 participants, from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and Ethiopia actively engaged in the discussion. At present, follow up activities are formulated, aiming at involvement of politicians at a higher level, and development of a course on climate change adaptation.

The overarching goal of CARBOEUROFLUX programme is to improve our understanding on magnitude, location, temporal behaviour and causes of the carbon source/sink strengths of terrestrial ecosystems which can be used to improve the negotiation capacity of the European Community in the context of the Kyoto protocol. 

CarboEurope-IP aims to understand and quantify the present terrestrial carbon balance of Europe and the associated uncertainty at local, regional and continental scale. It determines the European carbon balance with its spatial and temporal patterns, tries to understand the controlling processes and mechanisms of carbon cycling in European ecosystems and how these are affected by climate change and variability and human management.

The project "Carpathian integrated assessment of vulnerability to climate change and ecosystem-based adaptation measures" aims to assess the vulnerability of the Carpathian region to climate change in combination with other anthropogenic pressures. Based on this vulnerability assessment an inventory will be made of potential and already implemented adaptation measures.

To set-up and operate at the Cabauw site an observational facility with a comprehensive set of remote sensing and in-situ equipment to characterize the state of the atmosphere, its radiative properties and interaction with the land surface, for the study of physical and chemical processes, climate monitoring and validation studies.

The CHIOTTO project objective is to build an improved infrastructure for the continuous monitoring of the concentrations of greenhouse gases on the European continent above the surface layer using existing and new tall towers.

The objectives of the EU-FP5 funded study Climate and Land Degradation (1998-2001) were to investigate the climatic responses associated with land cover change in semi-arid regions - particularly land surface degradation using a range of numerical models, contrasting the influence of sea surface temperature anomalies on the likely climate variability in the Iberian Peninsula and the Sahel, with the influence of scale and degree of degradation on the climatic response.

The establishment of a European Clearinghouse on adaptation and impacts is one of the key elements of the recent EU White Paper on climate change adaptation policy. Alterra staff contributes to two projects to support the development of such a clearinghouse: “Preparations for the establishment of European Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation Clearinghouse”, and “Design of guidelines for the elaboration of Regional Climate Change Adaptations Strategies”.

The Climate Atlas project develops a shared knowledge base on climate change impacts at local/regional level. The project develops an online geoportal with relevant knowledge on climate change impacts, providing the regional govern-ments easy access to scientific information. Read more.

The effectiveness of adaptation measures needs to be quantified. To this end, simulation models for urban climate can serve as valuable tools. Such a tool is lacking in The Netherlands. The project therefore aims to develop a model framework covering the different scales of the urban environment in the Netherlands.

The objective of the project was to support the development of a European Climate Change Adaptation Strategy by assessing how European policies in areas other than climate change, such as the Common Agricultural Policy and the regional structural funds, can be made “climate-proof”. Read a news article.

The Climate Water Adaptation project for DG Environment contributes to the EU Adaptation Framework by linking climate change impacts in Europe with potential response measures and strategies for sectors at basin and NUT's level. It does so by putting in place an integrated assess-ment framework which combines relevant climate and development scenarios with potential measures through existing models, datasets,and stakeholder judgments.

The European integrating project COMBINE brings together research groups to advance Earth system models (ESMs) for more accurate climate projections and for reduced uncertainty in the prediction of climate and climate change in the next decades. COMBINE will contribute to better assessments of changes in the physical climate system and of their impacts in the societal and economic system. The proposed work will strengthen the scientific base for environmental policies of the EU for the climate negotiations, and will provide input to the IPCC/AR5 process.

Directly outside the dikes of the Wadden sea (Northern- Netherlands), generally salt marshes are present. They are the result of the deposition of sand, silt and clay and subsequent establishment of vegetation. Salt marshes are of great international importance for both flora and fauna, and contribute to water safety as they reduce direct wave impact on dikes and the hinterland. In recent decades a significant area of saltmarshes has disappeared along the Wadden sea near Terschelling. More recently, attempts to control and stop this disappearance seem successful. Therefore, stakeholders from the Knowledge for Climate Hotspot Wadden asked to explore opportunities, limitations and questions regarding salt marsh formation along the flood defences of Terschelling (Wadden). In close cooperation with the municipality of Terschelling, Waterboard Fryslân, the Province of Fryslân and DLG a quick scan is executed.

Membership of the COP includes technicians, policy workers, communication experts and scientists all having experience in the field of urban water systems and climate change. The COP studies every three month an actual case and reflects on lessons to be learned and knowledge to be created. This co-creation of knowledge enhances the professionalism of the COP members themselves, and contributes through publications to the urban water sector as a whole.

The Delta Alliance is an initiative to promote international cooperation of experts, water managers, other practitioners and their governments. It aims to raise awareness, share information and develop tools for sustainable development of low-lying areas in times of a changing world and a changing climate. 

This project aims to develop and test a system to generate high quality estimates of regional (European) scale soil moisture content, and assess the improvements it can cause in predicting drought or flood events or climate models.

Functional Diversity: An ecological framework for sustainable and adaptable agro-forestry systems in landscapes of semi-arid and arid ecoregions. The purpose of this project is to do research on C dynamics in relation to specific trees in silvo-pastoral systems of Nicaragua, Senegal and Mali.

Land-atmosphere interactions

The Natural Carbon Observatory of the GEOLAND integrated project (ONC-GEOLAND) aims at producing a pre-operational global carbon accounting system in which the description of natural carbon fluxes and stocks are fully consistent with soil water content and water vapour fluxes.

Sustainable development of the Singapore coastal zone with a focus on the development of natural shorelines by developing locally usable best practices for decision making, design and realisation of eco-hydraulic works. The special emphasis is on land reclamation, coastal defence and costal zone development. We facilitate embedding of Building with Nature ideas, developments and Eco Dynamic Desing (EDD) in the decision making process on- and management of marine infrastructure.

The HighNoon project aims to assess the impact of Himalayan glaciers retreat and possible changes of the Indian summer monsoon on the spatial and temporal distribution of water resources in Northern India. The project further aims to provide recommendations for appropriate and efficient response strategies that strengthen the cause for adaptation to hydrological extreme events through a participatory process.

IC12 is a policy studies project within the Climate changes Spatial Planning Programme. There is a lot of research on adaptive solutions, and the next question is: are Dutch governments and other organizations capable of implemen-ting those solutions once they are found? And how does this fit into the trend towards more interactive governance?

Human

Judith Klostermann

Knowledge for Climate is a research programme for the development of knowledge and services that makes it possible to climate proof the Netherlands. Governmental organisations  and businesses participate through the input of additional resources. Knowledge is developed to be able to assess investments in spatial planning and infrastructure for the coming twenty years. 

The CARBONSINK-LBA project and the LBA-hydrology project are embedded within the LBA programme. The strategy of LBA for dealing with the spatial variation in the Amazon Basin has been to measure along East - West and North - South transects to capture variations in climate, vegetation and soil.

Since 1994 Alterra is running a flux / weather station at the Loobos site near Kootwijk, the Netherlands. In 1996 this site became part of the Euroflux project and CO₂-flux and profile measurements CO₂ and H₂O were added. In 2000 the site became part of the Carboeurope project. These projects were / are funded by the European Commission.

Land-atmosphere interactions

Assessment of climate change impacts, vulnerability and adaptation requires a combination of generic and context-specific knowledge. Currently, the availability of such knowledge in Europe is fragmented and incomplete. MEDIATION addresses this challenge through six activities: (i) analysis of the decision-making context; (ii) inventory, review and improvement of methods and metrics for impacts and vulnerability analysis; (iii) likewise for costing of impacts and adaptation options; (iv) development of an overarching integrated methodology; (v) development of a flexible, interactive common platform for knowledge sharing; and (vi) dissemination of this knowledge and training.

MIND has two long-term key objectives: to investigate the potential effects of increasing drought on Mediterranean terrestrial ecosystems at the process, ecosystem and regional scales and to assess ecosystem vulnerability in response to changes in rainfall patterns.

The central theme of the NeWater project is a transition from currently prevailing regimes of river basin water management into more adaptive regimes in the future. Managing the systems will be more difficult due to increasing complexity and uncertainty.

Human

The proposed project contributes to the objectives and priorities of the “Aktieplan” priority B-1, as its long term aim is to help improve the use and management of forests. In the project information and expertise on the CO₂ sequestration of the taiga ecosystem will be gathered and exchanged. This will be used to develop recommendations for integral management practices improving the carbon sequestration of these ecosystems.

This Project is part of the "Ramin project" or "The management of sustainable Peat swamp forest with special interest to Ramin (Gonystylus bancanus)".  It was implemen-ted under the framework of the Malaysian-the Netherlands Joint Workgroup on Sustainable Forest Management.

Land-atmosphere interactions

From 2000-2003 the LAI team coordinated the EU-FP5 project “Regional assessment and monitoring of the carbon balance within Europe” (RECAB). The RECAB objectives were to quantify the contribution of fossil fuel and biospheric sources and sinks of CO2 in Europe to the atmospheric concentration at the regional scale by using a generic, coupled biosphere atmosphere modelling and experimental approach.

Climate change and, linked to that, the enhanced sea-level rise, extreme summer rain, extreme river discharges, developments in economy, demography and science lead continuously to new challenges for flood protection. By combining several functions such as housing, recreation, nature, agriculture, transport (etc.) a ‘climate dike’ seems a promising way for the Netherlands to adjust itself timely to climate change. The project aims at composing an overview of all the possible implementations of robust flood protection, and in addition to specify a procedure that allows to combine qualitative knowledge (e.g. about safety and different functions) with quantitative knowledge (e.g. costs and return periods of floods) in a structured way.  

SCENES is an Integrated Project (IP) aiming to develop a set of comprehensive scenarios of Europe’s freshwater futures up to 2025, covering all of "Greater" Europe reaching to the Caucasus and Ural Mountains, and including the Mediterranean countries of north Africa and the near East.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved a Technical Assistance (TA) project, “Strengthening the Resilience of the Water Sector in Khulna (Bangladesh) to Climate Change”. The overall objective of the project is to improve the water supply, drainage and sanitation in Khulna City to make it more resilient to climate change scenarios.

To develop ecological, technical and governance principles for an effective ecodynamic project design in the Markermeer/IJsselmeer region, based on successes and failures is past projects. And to design visions of the future of ecodynamic design for a specific water infrastructural project in this region.

The Minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment has requested the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) to report in the autumn of 2009 on scientific advances in climate science since the IPCC’s fourth Assessment Report, on the possibilities that the climate may change faster than anticipated by the IPCC (e.g., if tipping points are exceeded), and finally, if and if so how the government should respond to the possibility of such a rapid climate change.

Little is known about the occurrence of the UHI in The Netherlands. Therefore, this project aims to quantify the UHI over the city of Rotterdam, by a combination of measurements and modeling studies. The magnitude, causes and mechanisms of the actual and future heat stress problem will be assessed.

The objective of the EU funded integrated project is to analyse, quantify and predict the components of the current and future global water cycle, and related water resources status, evaluate their uncertainties, and clarify the overall vulnerability of global water resources related to the main societal and economic sectors.

The overall hypothesis of the programme is that a network of relatively undisturbed forest areas in the Amazon region can act as a buffer that mitigates regional and continental-scale changes in climate and natural vegetation resulting from climate change, land use change and regional development. The alternative of this hypothesis is that most disturbance, from deforestation or climate change leads to accelerated degradation, through positive feedbacks.