Climate projects / CME
Climate change / IPD
Climate change poses huge challenges to the civil engineering domain. The projected increase of more extreme weather events (drought, heat stress, extreme rainfall) as well as flooding and sea level rise imply that we cannot continue “business as usual”. Hence, the interplay between climate change and the built environment, including water and transport infrastructures, has become an important theme in Civil Engineering & Management research and education. Across different groups, climate change challenges are addressed in relation to various themes, such as, nature-based solutions, transport infrastructure, asphalt pavement, infrastructure management, digitalization, soil mechanics, structural health monitoring and so on.
The Integrated Project Delivery chair is committed to providing scientific and practical knowledge regarding “how” society can become more climate resilient. In doing so, we analyse and design participatory and cross-sectoral approaches that help stakeholders to address climate change alongside other societal challenges. Climate change is also central in the education that we deliver to Civil Engineering (& Management) students including the BSc Module 7 Area Development and the MSc course Urban Resilience in a Changing Climate.
Climate change activities at the University of Twente are bundled in the Climate Centre. As IPD group, we take part in this initiative. In various projects, we collaborate with colleagues of the Water Engineering & Management (WEM) cluster, the Department of Design, Production & Management (ET-DPM), the Section of Governance and Technology for Sustainability (BMS-CSTM), the Department of Urban and Regional Planning and Geo-Information Management (ITC-PGM) and DesignLab.
National projects and partners
In various research projects, we aim to better understand and to improve climate change adaptation and climate resilience at the local, regional and national, level. We conduct most of this research in collaboration with municipalities, regional water authorities, provinces, Deltares and other partners that are also part of the 4TU Centres for Resilience Engineering and the Built Environment.
As part of her PhD research (2018-2024), Franziska Baack conducted comparative research into how municipalities in Overijssel adapt to climate change, both within their organisations and beyond, and where improvements can be made to accelerate adaptation. The project was carried out in collaboration with the municipalities of Enschede and Zwolle, the Province of Overijssel, Saxion University of Applied Sciences, and regional water authority Vechtstromen.
As part of the NWO-funded project “Regional Energy Transition as Systemic Integration (RETSI, 2020-2022)”, various postdoc researchers examined the implementation of solutions that address multiple societal challenges, such as the implementation of sustainable heating systems along with more green areas for climate change adaptation. Drawing from the results of the RETSI project, Carlos Rivera-Choscó analyses and designs, as part of his PhD research (2024-2028), integrative approaches to curb climate change in the built environment.
In the context of our strategic collaboration with regional water authority Drents-Overijsselse Delta, we investigate the implementation of integrated approaches to water safety. As part of her postdoc research, Karin Snel (2021-2024) examined the challenges associated with the implementation of nature-based solutions to dike reinforcement in protected nature reserves. As part of his PhD research (2023-2027), Max de Vries investigates the implementation of flood resilient landscapes, an innovative and future-oriented spatial approach.
International projects and partners
We collaborate with a diversity of European and international partners to understand how to tackle climate challenges.
In collaboration with CSTM colleagues, we conduct research into how innovative participatory and collaborative policy instruments can contribute to a transition to more sustainable and equitable water governance. This research is part of the European project “Governance Innovations for a Transition to Sustainable and Equitable Water Use in Europe (GOVAQUA, 2023-2027)”, which includes the PhD research of Ann-Katrin Ellermann (based at CSTM).
In collaboration with WEM and CSTM colleagues, we investigate the governance and implementation of drought adaptation strategies in the INTERREG project “DIWA” (2024-2028). Our group co-supervises the PhD research of Maren Jabs (based at WEM) who develops a framework for participatory assessment, the integrated assessment of solutions and alternative futures.
The European project “SpongeWorks” (2024-2028) focuses on the development and implementation of sponge measures to improve water retention in landscapes. Our group fulfils a coordinating role and also supervises the PhD research of Kelsey Wentling into facilitating the co-creation of sponge measures and strategies in European river basins.
With an interdisciplinary team of researchers based at Auburn University, Alabama, United States, we collaborate and conduct comparative research around the topic of climate-resilient water infrastructure.
Selected publications
Vinke-De Kruijf, J., Heim LaFrombois, M. E., Warbroek, B., Morris, J. C., & Kuks, S. M. M. Climate-resilient water infrastructure: A call to action. Journal of Critical Infrastructure Policy
Baack, F., Özerol, G., Vinke-de Kruijf, J., Halman, J., & Kuks, S. (2024). Implementing climate change adaptation through mainstreaming at the local level—a comparative case study of two municipalities in the Netherlands. Regional Environmental Change, 24(2), 49.
Baack, F., Halman, J., Vinke-de Kruijf, J., Özerol, G., & Kuks, S. (2024). Dutch municipalities tackling climate change adaptation to heat stress through mainstreaming across sectors. Environmental Science & Policy, 160, 103845.
Vink, K., & Vinke-de Kruijf, J.. (2023). The Impacts of Urban Green Infrastructure on Water and Energy Resources: Lessons from and the Need for Integrated Studies. In Monteiro, C.M., Santos, C., Matos C., & Briga Sá, A. (Eds.), Urban Green Spaces - New Perspectives for Urban Resilience (pp. Ch. 9). IntechOpen.
Warbroek, B., Holmatov, B., Vinke-de Kruijf, J., Arentsen, M., Shakeri, M., de Boer, C., Flacke, J. and Dorée, A. (2023). From sectoral to integrative action situations: an institutional perspective on the energy transition implementation in the Netherlands. Sustainability Science, 18(1), pp.97-114.
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