NWO Theme Sustainable Earth

Background

In mid-2006, a preparatory committee with academics from various disciplines was set up to develop the Sustainable Earth theme. The committee selected various subjects that were suitable for inclusion in the programme, and prepared detailed descriptions of these. This document was then sent to the Dutch Ministers of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM), Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV), Transport, Public Works and Water Management (V&W), Development Cooperation (OS), and Education, Culture and Science (OCW), where it was favourably received. It was also observed that the research in the climate field should be coordinated with the FES programme ‘Knowledge for Climate', which was in development at the time.

On 1 July 2007, Professor Gerbrand Komen (the former director of climate research at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute ) took up office as the initiator and coordinator of the theme doing the necessary preparatory work and setting the boundaries. Professor Komen’s involvement led to a comprehensive series of consultations with research leaders and government ministries. Of these discussions, four were of particular importance for the development of the research programme:

  • On 17 and 18 December 2007, consultations were held with a number of key people in the research field. This led to the approval of the broad outline of the Sustainable Earth theme. It also led to plans for the national coordination of research groups working on environmental sustainability issues. This eventually became the National Partnership for Sustainable Earth Research (NPDA). The NPDA is a partnership that aims to connect the many and various groups that are engaged in research on the effects that humans have on climate, the environment and ecosystems, allowing them to coordinate their work. The initial administration of the NPDA was carried out by the NWO.
  • On 4 March 2008, a consultation was held with the RMNO (the Dutch Advisory Council for Research on Spatial Planning, Nature and the Environment), with knowledge directions from the Dutch Ministries of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM), Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV), Transport, Public Works and Water Management (V&W), Development Cooperation (OS) and Economic Affairs (EZ). This led to these departments approving the main research topics of Sustainable Earth and agreeing that they were relevant to government policy.
  • On 21 and 22 May, two workshops took place at the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM). Here there was discussion about the extent to which the Sustainable Earth Theme would be able to fill in knowledge gaps in the fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change). The first workshop built on the conclusions made by workgroup 2 on the consequences of climate change, and the second workshop built more on workgroup 3, which dealt with how to mitigate those effects. The NPDA document was then signed by representatives of the NWO, the FES ‘Knowledge for Climate’ programme and the Sustainable Energy initiative, as well as by Minister Cramer of the VROM.
  • The initiating role and preparatory work of Gerbrand Komen came to an end with the signing of the 'Policy-relevant Sustainable Earth Scientific Research Programme’ agreement between the NWO and VROM. The agreement lays out the part that each party will play in tabling research programmes.

The final result of these consultations, and of the initial document produced by the preparatory committee, was that eleven relevant programmes were selected (7 core programmes and 4 associated programmes). The four associated programmes have already begun, as a consequence of the rapid progress made in policy and research during the initial preparation of the theme. These four programmes are the National Sea and Coastal Research Programme (ZKO), Sustainable Accessibility of the Randstad (DBR), the ERA-Net BiodivERsA project and the ESF TOPO-EUROPE programme. The programmes come under the wider umbrella of the Sustainable Earth research.