Peatlands can be found in almost every country in the world, but we areonly just starting to realise their value and how to harness their potential asa powerhouse nature-based solution. The more we learn about peatlands,the more we value the important services they provide - controllingfloods, purifying and supplying water, safeguarding species,harbouring deep cultural meaning, inspiring creativity and offeringlivelihoods to millions of people. We cannot afford to lose them or abusethem. A lack of understanding of peatlands’ vital role in the landscape, combined with outdated policies and perverse incentives, means that peatlands continue to be drained and damaged around the world. Peatlands are our largest terrestrial organic carbon stock, and if we are to meet ourglobal goals and commitments, we must work hard to understand,protect, restore, and sustainably manage these vital ecosystems. This Peatlands Across Europe: Innovation & Inspiration Guide is a valuable step towards that reality – it captures important recommendations, shares the cutting edge experiences of peatland restoration pioneers, and identifies gaps, priorities and lessons from across Europe that can be taken up by peatland practitioners around the globe.
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Thermal disinfection is probably the oldest water treatment method ever used. Similarly to other disinfection processes, it targets the inactivation of pathogenic (micro)organisms present in water, wastewater and other media. In this work, a pilot-scale continuous-flow thermal disinfection system was investigated using highly contaminated hospital wastewater as influent without any pre-treatment step for turbidity removal. The results proved that the tested system can be used with influent turbidity as high as 100 NTU and still provide up to log 8 microbial inactivation. Further results have shown energy consumption comparable to other commercially available thermal disinfection systems and relatively low influence on the investigated physical–chemical parameters.
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Land use or land-use changes can trigger or generate hazards and affect the potential consequences of these hazards. Deforestation can trigger land slides, for example, and land reclamation or levee construction can increase flood hazards downstream. New dwellings in or near forests can trigger wildfires, especially if home owners fail to prioritise fire safety measures. In addition, if land is used for industrial activities, new technological hazards, such as the risks resulting from the storage or production of hazardous materials, can be introduced into the environment. Moreover, land-use changes can increase damage potential. Residential developments in hazard-prone areas, such as areas prone to flooding or earthquakes, can negatively affect the number of properties and people exposed to hazards. Consequently, spatial planning activities that are concerned with influencing land use by locating physical structures and activities such as agriculture, recreation or industry within a territory (Couclelis, 2005; Tewdwr-Jones, 2001) can result in new or increased safety risks in a particular area.
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National forestry Commission (SBB) and National Park De Biesbosch. Subcontractor through NRITNational parks with large flows of visitors have to manage these flows carefully. Methods of data collection and analysis can be of help to support decision making. The case of the Biesbosch National Park is used to find innovative ways to figure flows of yachts, being the most important component of water traffic, and to create a model that allows the estimation of changes in yachting patterns resulting from policy measures. Recent policies oriented at building additional waterways, nature development areas and recreational concentrations in the park to manage the demands of recreation and nature conservation offer a good opportunity to apply this model. With a geographical information system (GIS), data obtained from aerial photographs and satellite images can be analyzed. The method of space syntax is used to determine and visualize characteristics of the network of leisure routes in the park and to evaluate impacts resulting from expected changes in the network that accompany the restructuring of waterways.
The objective of Waterrecreatie Nederland is to improve water recreation in the Netherlands. One of the focus points that the foundation focuses on is strengthening sustainable water recreation. With this study, Waterrecreatie Nederland wants to map the current CO2 emissions of recreational shipping (here: sailing and motor boats), in order to be able to report and communicate about this, and also as a baseline measurement for future monitoring in this area.Societal IssueShipping has a substantial impact on several environmental systems, amongst others through air and water pollution, and its contribution to climate change. The role of recreational shipping in these issues is not well known, as measurements are scarce and often partly based on assumptions. Benifit to societyThis project tries to strengthen the knowledge base on the carbon (CO2) emissions of recreational shipping in the Netherlands, and to provide detail on fuel use, fuel types, distances, etc. That knowledge can help in making more informed choices on the future development of recreational shipping, with a lower impact on climate change.
Het ministerie van Infrastructuur en Waterstaat (IenW), directie Duurzame Mobiliteit, heeft aan Breda University of Applied Sciences (BUas) verzocht om een onderzoek uit te voeren naar de CO2 voetafdruk – de zgn. carbon footprint - van de recreatieve mobiliteit in Nederland in 2023. Dit op basis van het nieuwe Nederlands Vrije-tijdsonderzoek (NVTO), wat een completer beeld over recreatieve bestemmingen moet geven dan eerder onderzoek op basis van de ‘Onderweg in Nederland’ (OdiN) dataset (Martensen et al., 2023). Het onderzoek moet de directie Duurzame Mobiliteit van IenW helpen bij de verduurzaming van recreatieve mobiliteit, als onderdeel van het behalen van klimaatdoelstellingen. Het uiteindelijk doel is om in beeld te brengen wat de carbon footprint van aan recreatie gerelateerde mobiliteit in Nederland is.De hoofdvraag luidt:“Hoe ziet de CO2-uitstoot van recreatieve reizen door de inwoners van Nederland eruit, voor verschillende recreatieve bestemmingen en reizigers(doel)groepen?”Societal IssueHet reduceren van CO2 uitstoot door personenmobiliteit is een van de werkzaamheden van de directie Duurzame Mobiliteit van IenW om aan de klimaatdoelstellingen te werken. Recreatieve mobiliteit – verplaatsingen van en naar een recreatieve bestemming door bezoekers van die recreatieve bestemming – is hier een onderdeel van. Een eerste stap in het krijgen van meer inzicht in de uitstoot van recreatieve mobiliteit vormde het rapport ‘CO2 uitstoot bij recreatieve verplaatsingen’ door het KiM (Martensen et al., 2023), op basis van de dataset ‘Onderweg in Nederland’ (OdiN). IenW wil op basis van de dataset van het NVTO extra inzicht verkrijgen in recreatief reizigersgedrag en bijbehorende uitstoot, om hiermee beleid beter te kunnen ontwikkelen en af te stemmen. IenW wil inzicht op welke manier Nederlanders, en verschillende groepen daarbinnen, naar recreatieve bestemmingen reizen en hoeveel CO2-uitstoot hiermee gepaard gaat. Benefit to societyCarbon footprint rapportages bieden bedrijven, organisaties en overheden de mogelijkheid om de consequenties van klimaatbeleid in te kunnen schatten, strategische beslissingen te nemen, en bijvoorbeeld producten en communicatie aan te passen.