Healthy water and subsurface systems
Water and soil are under tremendous pressure around the world in terms of quantity and quality. That is leading to major societal challenges such as prolonged drought and water scarcity, resource depletion and land subsidence, as well as excess nutrients in, and the contamination of, surface water and groundwater. There are major implications for people, nature and the economy.
Climate change and transitions in the areas of water, agriculture, energy, circularity and spatial planning are leading to far-reaching changes in coastal areas, seas, river basins, groundwater and the built environment. Drawing on our knowledge of water and soil systems, our ambition is to maintain or restore the resilience and health of water and the subsurface worldwide. Working with national and international partners, we apply knowledge and develop sustainable solutions for drought, biodiversity conservation, water scarcity, excess water, land subsidence and pollution. In this way, future generations will also have enough healthy water and vital soils.
Improvements in the health of our ecosystems are increasingly urgent. We can see how the limits of society and the environment are being reached in this respect. The Netherlands and many other European countries seem unable to comply in full with the Water Framework Directive, the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and Natura 2000 legislation, with other societal activities being hindered as a result. Examples are the crisis in the Netherlands relating to nitrogen emissions or the issues associated with PFAS. We are helping with the search for integrated solutions, innovations that optimise ecosystem services and minimise negative impacts on the environment. In addition to our deep expertise, we leverage our research and data facilities to provide administrators and policymakers with the support they need to make their plans.
We cannot do this alone, and so we are working with other scientists, policymakers and the corporate sector. The focus of our research is on the following societal agendas:
1 zero pollution and a healthy living environment
2 maintaining water availability for as many people as possible
3 a holistic system approach to the management of natural resources
4 healthy living in the city
5 the voice of nature
6 sustainable transitions at sea
Contributions to Dutch and international missions
The goals we have set for our knowledge development are based on Dutch and international missions. This is urgent: two billion people worldwide already lack access to clean drinking water. In 2019, environmental pollution was responsible for nine million premature deaths. Drought affects 1.5 billion people annually and, over the past fifty years, we have seen an average 69% decline in nature worldwide. A healthy water and soil system is a prerequisite for the maintenance of our livelihoods, in the Netherlands and elsewhere. Every year, people worldwide migrate because they can no longer make a living or because of conflicts about water, land and resources. The number of refugees has tripled during the past decade. Today, 1 in 69 of the world's people are refugees. In the areas to which they flee, this pushes up demand for water, food and housing, and this in turn puts additional pressure on the water and soil systems in those places.
