Sustainable Accessibility of the Randstad
Sustainable Accessibility of the Randstad
As part of the NWO programme Duurzame Bereikbaarheid van de Randstad (Sustainable Accessibility of the Randstad), the best academic research groups in the Netherlands were challenged to give their visions of what is necessary to guarantee the sustainable accessibility of the Randstad in the long-term and to indicate what kind of research is required.
In the first phase (2008), four interuniversity research proposals were accepted.
In the second phase (2009), a further three interuniversity research proposals were accepted. In 2010 three short projects have been added. These projects will be subjected to a closed assessment process in which the emphasis is on subjects that have particular relevance to policy: electrification of the transport system, sustainable infrastructure maintenance and reinforcement of greenport developments.
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Programme Background
The former Minister of Transport, Public Works and Water Management has taken the initiative in concert with the former Ministers of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM) and Economic Affairs (EZ) for the long-term research programme on Sustainable Accessibility of the Randstad. The former Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality LNV) also provided financial backing from the second phase onwards.
The SAR-programme is carried out by NWO (the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research). The programme is future-oriented with a timescale of over thirty years. The programme focuses on the internal and external accessibility of the Randstad, including the mainports and cities, for people, goods and information traffic, and all of this within the broad framework of long-term trends in fields such as economic development, demographics, climate and energy. The research is innovative, of a high scientific standard, multidisciplinary and internationally oriented. The research is, of course, relevant in the context of strategic knowledge demands at the participating ministries and other public parties as well as, possibly, private parties. The research meets the NWO requirements of scientific quality and practical applicability and significance.
Duration and Financing
The research programme Sustainable Accessibility of the Randstad will run for six years. During the first phase (2008), around 3.5 million euros was awarded for research. A similar amount was provided for the second phase. The total budget consists of contributions from the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment, the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation and NWO