Urban communities are particularly vulnerable to the future demand for food, energy and water, and this vulnerability is further exacerbated by the onset of climate change at local. Solutions need to be found in urban spaces. This article based around urban design practice sees urban agriculture as a key facilitator of nexus thinking, needing water and energy to be productive. Working directly with Urban Living Labs, the project team will co-design new food futures through the moveable nexus, a participatory design support platform to mobilize natural and social resources by integrating multi-disciplinary knowledge and technology. The moveable nexus is co-developed incrementally through a series of design workshops moving around living labs with the engagement of stakeholders. The methodology and the platform will be shared outside the teams so that the knowledge can be mobilized locally and globally.
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Lebanon’s economic crisis has disrupted the country’s energy and water sectors, highlighting their interdependence. The methodologyinvolves surveying 150 municipalities across all Lebanese governorates, ensuring a comprehensive coverage of public and private waterresources. Data on water and energy were collected before and during the crisis to explore this nexus during periods of economic turmoil.The findings reveal a decline in water provision during the crisis, with the average weekly water supply plummeting from 49 h in 2019 to 22 hin 2023. Concurrently, the use of water tankers has surged from 26 to 44%, indicating a concerning shift in water acquisition methods.Despite the crisis, conventional water sources remain predominant, while unconventional sources account for less than 1% of the totalsupply. In response to the energy shortage, renewable energy sources have gained traction in residential, commercial, and industrial sectors.The scarcity and rising cost of electricity have driven the adoption of solar photovoltaics in the water sector, reaching 4.8% for extraction fromunderground reservoirs and 2.8% for distribution. Similarly, the use of solar water heaters has increased from 7.9 to 15.4% in 2023. Thesefindings underscore the interplay between energy and water security during periods of economic instability.
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This essay is a contribution to the research project ‘From Prevention to Resilience’ funded by ZonMw. Motivated by the Covid-19 pandemic, this research project explored how public space and forms of civic engagement can contribute to working towards more resilient urban neighborhoods. The project engaged a community of practice (CoP) to inform the research and to disseminate and critically discuss research outcomes. This essay, and the bundle it is part of, is the outcome of one of these engagements. The authors of this specific essay were asked to offer their disciplinary perspective on a first version of the Human / Non-Human Public Spaces design perspective, at that time still titled Nexus Framework on Neighborhood Resilience (click here and a PDF of this version will be downloaded). The authors were asked to do so based on their field of expertise, being climate-resilient cities. The authors have written this essay in coordination with the research team. To grasp the content of this essay and to take lessons from it, we encourage readers to first get familiar with the first version of the design perspective.
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Urban professionals need streamlined methods for identifying climate risks and prioritising equitable adaptation solutions in an inclusive, participatory way. The Netherlands' national discourse on climate adaptation highlights the need to protect the most vulnerable groups. However, current adaptation conventions rely heavily on biophysical data to locate climate hazards through 'stress tests' and prioritise adaptation based on existing infrastructure projects and political agendas. This approach often marginalises vulnerable groups and evades community engagement, resulting in inequitable outcomes. ENGAGED, the Equity Nexus of Governance, Adaptation Planning & Design for Urban Climate Resilience, proposes a novel practice-oriented approach where theoretical knowledge on equitable climate adaptation is empirically tested and applied to the Dutch context, emphasising trans-disciplinarity and equity, aiming to maximise impact. We will assess neighbourhood and block-level risks by extending the 'stress tests' to include demographic, cultural, socio-economic, and health indicators along with biophysical and climate data. We will identify adaptation opportunities that align with diverse planning agendas and prioritise projects based on potential linkages-benefits, and equity considerations. By collaborating with practitioners and community groups, we aim to gain valuable insights and confirm the effectiveness of our approach. The project will explore stakeholder engagement strategies to determine suitable adaptation solutions and identify governance barriers to adoption. We aim to facilitate equitable climate adaptation governance, planning, and design supporting municipalities to serve vulnerable groups more effectively and promote climate justice. ENGAGED will build upon research into climate adaptation and socio-economic issues from a range of projects, including the ZonMW Wijkaanpak Hitte, BEAT THE HEAT, Interreg Cool Cities, Horizon Up2030, KIN Accelerating Just Climate Transitions, NWO Citizen participation in climate adaptation, Interreg Cool Towns, and Buurtdashboard, Sociale kwetsbaarheid hitte and Wijktypen (KlimaatEffectAtlas).
Via het programma “Mobiliteit in een duurzame toekomst” heeft NWO financiering toegezegd voor vierjarig JUSTNEXUS-project dat onderzoekt hoe uitdagingen in mobiliteit, energie en huisvesting samen kunnen worden aangepakt. Het consortium wordt geleid door de Universiteit Utrecht.
In dit traject bundelen NHL Stenden Hogeschool en Wetsus de krachten en gaan een lector Waterslim Waterstof aanstellen, waarmee de realisatie van een grootschalige waterstof-hub in Noord-Nederland, en daarmee de Nederlandse energietransitie, drastisch zal versnellen. Waterslim Waterstof definiëren we als waterstof gemaakt met hernieuwbare energie, uit hernieuwbare watervoorraden. Dus zonder uitputting van schaarse zoetwatervoorraden. De stand der techniek voor groene waterstof is elektrolyse van gedemineraliseerd zoetwater. Per kg waterstof is ten minste 9 kg gedemineraliseerd water nodig. Grootschalige waterstof productie concurreert met drinkwater en andere zoetwaterbronnen en vergroot de problemen rond seizoensgebonden droogte en teruglopende waterkwaliteit. In dit lectoraat worden verschillende routes ontwikkeld om waterstof rechtstreeks uit laagwaardig water te produceren, zoals zee- of brakwater. Dit zal worden bereikt door innovatieve membranen, katalytische materialen en elektrochemische celconfiguraties in te zetten voor een meer efficiënte opslag en productie van waterstof. Met name op het gebied van de productiewijze van het flowfield van de membraan gescheiden electrolyser en de keuze van de katalysatoren voor de splitsing van water in waterstof en zuurstof zijn doorbraken mogelijk. Ook op het gebied van de katalysatorbereiding zijn veel nieuwe ontwikkelingen gaande om te komen tot zeer hoge stroomdichtheden. Integratie van waterontzilting met elektrolyse voor waterstofproductie is een hele andere invalshoek. Het werkplan bestaat primair uit praktijkonderzoek, grotendeels uitgevoerd door studenten, onder begeleiding van de nieuwe lector en betrokken bedrijven. Het toegepast onderzoek bestaat uit het op lab-schaal verder ontwikkelen van veelbelovende elektrochemische systemen, en het opschalen van reeds gevalideerde oplossingen. Dit alles zal plaatsvinden in een bredere context, waar wetenschappelijke vragen worden geadresseerd door Wetsus, en de betrokken bedrijven de technologie met NHL Stenden naar commerciële toepassing brengen. In dit traject worden fundamentele kennis, praktijkonderzoek met nieuwe materialen en systemen, de training van jonge professionals in de water-energie nexus met innovatieve bedrijven bijeengebracht voor maximale impact.
