The need of an adaptive sustainable solution for the increased land scarcity, growing urbanization, climate change and flood risks resulted in the concept of the floating urbanization. In The Netherlands this new type of housing attracted the interest of local authorities, municipalities and water boards. Moreover, plans to incorporate floating houses in the urban planning have already been developed. However, the knowledge gap regarding the potential effect on the water quality halts the further development of the floating houses. This paper shows the results of a water quality measurement campaign, as part of the national program “Knowledge for climate”, at a small floating houses project in Delft and serves as a case study for addressing the environmental-ecological knowledge gap on this topic.
Urban green and shading are adaptation measures that reduce urban heat. This is evident from meteorological measurements and investigations with surveys and has been described in many papers (e.g. Klemm et al., 2015). The cooling effect of these adaptation measures is reflected by lower air temperatures and an improved thermal comfort. Shading and urban green are also experienced as cooler than impervious urban spaces without vegetation or shading. However, the cooling effect of water bodies in cities, such as rivers, lakes, ponds, canals,fountains, is not clear yet (Steeneveld et al., 2014). Several studies show that the cooling effect of water bodies in cities is small, or can even be a source of heat during nighttime. The effect depends on the characteristics of the water body and the meteorological conditions. Nevertheless, water is often mentioned as an adaptation measure to reduce urban heat.To support urban professionals in designing cooler urban environments by using water bodies, we investigated in more detail how different water types in msterdam contribute to cooling the environment. During five summer days, we measured the cooling effect of five different water bodies: a pond, a fountain, a canal, and two rivers. We used measurements from mobile weather stations (air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, global radiation and globe temperature) and collected almost 1000 surveys near the water bodies and a reference location. From these data, we could determine the effect of the water bodies on air temperature, thermal comfort and thermal sensation. The research question that we tried to answer with this study is: What is the cooling effect of different water types in the city of Amsterdam during hot days? The study has been carried out within the framework of a Dutch research project ‘Urban climate resilience – Turning climate adaptation into practice’ and supports urban professionals to decide on the right adaptation measures to reduce urban heat.
Small urban water bodies, like ponds or canals, are often assumed to cool their surroundings during hot periods, when water bodies remain cooler than air during daytime. However, during the night they may be warmer. Sufficient fetch is required for thermal effects to reach a height of 1–2 m, relevant for humans. In the ‘Really cooling water bodies in cities’ (REALCOOL) project thermal effects of typical Dutch urban water bodies were explored, using ENVI-met 4.1.3. This model version enables users to specify intensity of turbulent mixing and light absorption of the water, offering improved water temperature simulations. Local thermal effects near individual water bodies were assessed as differences in air temperature and Physiological Equivalent Temperature (PET). The simulations suggest that local thermal effects of small water bodies can be considered negligible in design practice. Afternoon air temperatures in surrounding spaces were reduced by typically 0.2 °C and the maximum cooling effect was 0.6 °C. Typical PET reduction was 0.6 °C, with a maximum of 1.9 °C. Night-time warming effects are even smaller. However, the immediate surroundings of small water bodies can become cooler by means of shading from trees, fountains or water mists, and natural ventilation. Such interventions induce favorable changes in daytime PET.
In line with the ‘Natuur- en milieubeleidsplan Caribisch Nederland 2020-2030 (NMBP)’ the consortium intends with this research proposal to contribute to a prosperous society with a resilient population and healthy natural environment. The Caribbean Netherlands are dealing with a situation where imported vegetables and fruits are mostly imported and hardly affordable. This leads to consuming unhealthy food and high obesities rates as a consequence. A lack of good agricultural practices with regard to water-smart and nature inclusive agriculture, as well as limited coping capacities to deal with hazards and climate change, results in very limited local production and interest. Initiatives that focused only on agrotechnological solutions for food resilient futures turned out to be ineffective due to a lack of local ownership, which jeopardizes sustainability. Moreover, the ‘green’ and ‘blue’ domains are not seen as attractive career perspectives among youth, hampering a bright future for those domains. The aim of this research is to contribute to water-smart and nature inclusive food resilience embedded in a local participatory perspective in the Caribbean Netherlands. To address the above challenges, a living lab approach is adopted, where youth will be trained as (co)-facilitators (WP1) who will contribute to a participatory envisioning process and an articulation of food resilient futures (WP2). Finally, based on the envisioning process local stakeholders will select and implement experiments for food resilient futures followed by dissemination of results among key stakeholders as well as children and youth at the BES islands (WP3). This project strategy will lead to a network of a living lab where professionals and youth work together on food resilient futures. Training manuals and the results of experiments with regard to water and food system alternatives will be used actively to encourage youth to be involved in sustainable agriculture and consumption.
HCA Groenvermogen NL vormt de aanleiding en het kader voor het aanstellen van Regionale Liaisons en het opstellen van Regionale Roadmapsin zes regio’s. Deze hebben als rol en functie de regio’s te mobiliseren voor Learning Communities en de uitwisseling binnen het Nationale Kennisplatform. Hierbij is Chemelot geïdentificeerd als één van die zes regio’s, en is Zuyd Hogeschool benaderd om een aanvraag voor te bereiden. ▪ Chemelot is een interessante locatie voor een doorgedreven inzet van Learning Communities op het gebied van waterstof. Waterstof is een belangrijk grondstof in de chemie en wordt vandaag geproduceerd uit aardgas. Ambitie is tegen 2050 duurzame waterstof zonder CO2- emissies te produceren. Samen met elektrificatie zal duurzame waterstof de energie- en grondstoffentransitie op Chemelot vormgeven. Daarnaast is op Chemelot reeds 10 jaar de Chemelot Innovation and Learning Labs (CHILL) actief, een publiek-private samenwerking tussen Universiteit Maastricht, Vista college, Zuyd Hogeschool en bedrijven als DSM, Sabic en Fibrant, en als dusdanig een Learning Community voor de verduurzaming van de chemie. ▪ De transitie naar een duurzame chemie is de inzet van de brede triple alliantie Chemelot Circular Hub (CCH) en haar Circulaire Economie Actieplan (CEAP). De CEAP vormt het referentiekader voor de verdere uitwerking van de Regionale Roadmap, met als focus het binden van talenten, aantrekken van gamechangers, topfaciliteiten voor onderzoek en innovatie incl. digitalisering. Het Regionale Liaisons-team is samengesteld uit experten vanuit de onderwijsinstellingen, CHILL, Brightsite en de CCH- programmamanager. Het team wordt ingebed in de CCH-governance, wat de afstemming met andere projecten binnen o.a. het Groeifonds en JTF borgt. Tot slot spiegelt onze aanpak zich aan de werkstromen binnen HCA GroenvermogenNL, dit in functie van een sterke synergie tussen regionale en nationale acties. Verdiepen van de kennisbasis, versterken van de samenwerking en versnellen van innovatieve onderwijs- en arbeidsmarktinitiatieven zijn hierin leidende principes.
