NWO and the National Science Foundation China award 1.1M euro to urban resilience research
BIODIVERSITY
From flooding to heat stress or biodiversity loss: cities everywhere face challenges due to climate change. Arnold Tukker and Mingming Hu (CML) will look for solutions in the Dutch-Chinese ReSURE2 project that received 1.1M euro.
The NWO and the National Science Foundation China (NSFC) respectively provide €730.000 and 3M renminbi (the official currency of China) to the project, for a duration of 4 years. ‘We developed the relationship with China over the course of 20 years, and several successful projects have come out of it. But this is the first one with the NSFC.’ Hu, Chinese herself, is clearly proud of the collaboration.
‘We study urban resilience as a whole,’ says Hu. ‘All cities face challenges due to climate change: flooding, droughts, biodiversity loss. But there's also social effects, on people's health and wellbeing. And all those impacts can cascade again to the economy. This issue is urgent. We can't keep responding ad-hoc when a problem occurs, we need to set the standards for practice now.’
‘As the world keeps fragmenting, it matters that we keep the relation open. Ultimately, we want to work together to make the world a better place.’
From theory to practice in case studies
She explains that besides theorical analysis, the project will entail case studies in four coastal cities: Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Shanghai and Xiamen. Such cities have an important economic function. Researchers from various disciplines will look at harmonizing so-called grey and green-blue infrastructure – concrete and bricks on one hand, and flora and water on the other. ‘We need green solutions to solve urban challenges,’ Hu summarises.
Tukker illustrates this with an example: ‘Say we want more biodiversity in a city. Then we make models for a green space, analyse the risks and benefits, and calculate the cost to find the most promising solution. We do this for various scenarios, like storing water for dry times or getting rid of excess water in floods.’
Teaming up for a green transition
Both researchers agree that it's important to collaborate with China. ‘It’s always good to build relations with top groups and universities, that's mutually beneficial,’ says Tukker. ‘And as the world keeps fragmenting, it matters to me that we keep the relation open. Ultimately, as scientists we want to work together to make the world a better place.’
Hu nods and goes on to add: ‘On top of that, the potential impact of our work is much larger in China. The country is huge and they are building or expanding cities at a fast pace. If we can team up for designing future-proof cities and a green transition, the scale is enormous compared to just the Netherlands, or even Europe.’
‘I am optimistic that urban resilience is possible, but it won't happen automatically’
The researchers aim to deliver proof of concept with the case studies. ‘We don't have the money to construct a town or implement the solutions of course,’ Tukker says. ‘But if we can find viable pathways to solutions, I'm happy.’ Hu adds: ‘We interact with policymakers and local partners and advise them. Xiamen is a model city for urban greening in China, so it is likely that proposed solutions will be implemented. I am optimistic that urban resilience is possible, but it won't happen automatically.’
Read the press release by the NWO.