The Dutch government, in alignment with the Paris climate agreement, has expressed the ambition to reduce CO 2 emissions in the Netherlands by 49% in 2030 compared to 1990. As freight transport is recognized as a serious CO 2 emitter, this sector is confronted with a substantial part of the target. For cities, the reduction of the urban freight transport emissions is, next to the CO 2 reduction, also important to improve the air quality. Dutch municipalities take an active role in coordination, facilitation and acceleration of the emission reduction processes, not only via regulation but also by using their public procurement power. This paper describes the City of Rotterdam's experiences from the EU Horizon 2020 BuyZET project. This project was launched in November 2016 and includes the cities of Rotterdam, Oslo and Copenhagen. The project aims at understanding and optimising the impact of public procurement activities on transport patterns and emissions in cities as well as to find innovative and sustainable delivery solutions for goods and services-related transport in order to reduce emissions.
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Traditionally, most cleaning activities take place in the evening or during nighttime.In the Netherlands, day-time cleaning is becoming increasingly popular. It is however unknown how day-time cleaning affects perceptions and satisfaction of end-users. An experimental field study was conducted on trains of Netherlands Railways (NS) to determine how the presence of cleaning staff affects perceptions and satisfaction of train passengers.
Stormwater runoff can contain high amounts of Potential Toxic Elements (PTE) as heavy metals. PTE can have negative and direct impact on the quality of surface waters and groundwater. The European Water Framework Directive (WFD) demands enhanced protection of the aquatic environment. As a consequence, the WFD requires municipalities and water authorities to address the emissions from drainage systems adequately and to take action when these emissions affect the quality of receiving waters together with mitigating the quantity challenges in a changing climate (floodings and drought). NBS is the most widely used method for storing stormwater and infiltrating in the Netherlands. However, there is still too little knowledge about the long-term functioning of the soil of these facilities. The research results are of great importance for all stakeholders in (inter)national cities that are involved in climate adaptation. Applying Nature-Based Solutions (NBS), Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) or Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) are known to improve the water quality in the urban water cycle. The efficiency of NBS, such as the capability of bio swales to trap PTE, highly depends on the dimensions of the facility and on its implementation in the field [Woods Ballard, B et al, 2015]. For the determination of the removal efficiency of NBS information about stormwater quality and characteristics is essential. Acquiring the following information is strongly advised [Boogaard et al. 2014]:1. stormwater quality levels (method: stormwater quality database);2. location of NBS (method: mapping NBS in international database);3. behaviour of pollutants (method: cost effective mapping pollutants in the field). Stormwater quality contains pollutants as heavy metal in higher concentrations than water quality standards dictate. Over 500 locations with bio swales are mapped in the Netherlands which is a fraction of stormwater infiltration locations implemented in 20 years’ time. Monitoring of all these NBS would acquire high capacity and budget from the Dutch resources. This quick scan XRF mapping methodology of topsoil will indicate if the topsoil is polluted and whether the concentrations exceed national or international standards. This was only the case in one of the youngest pilots in Utrecht indicating that there are multiple factors other than age (traffic intensity, use of materials, storage volume, maintenance, run off quality, etc.). Several locations show unacceptable levels, above the national thresholds for pollutants where further research on the prediction of these levels in relation to multiple factors will be the subject of future research.The results of study are shared in 2 national workshops and valued as of great importance for all stakeholders in (inter)national cities that are involved in implementation of NBS for climate adaptation. The Dutch research results will be used to update (inter-)national guidelines for design, construction and maintenance of infiltration facilities this year. Stormwater managers are strongly advised to use this quick scan method within the first 10 years after implementation of swales to map possible pollution of the top soil and prevent pollution to spread to the groundwater in urban areas.
