A NWA-ORC grant of 5 million euro for the research project SOURCE: Sand nOURisment strategies for sustainable Coastal Ecosystems was awarded to Jebbe van der Werf (Faculty of ET, Marine & Fluvial Systems). This 6-years project will deliver knowledge & tools for sand nourishments strategies to adapt the coast to accelerated sea-level rise.
Accelerated sea-level rise (SLR) seriously threatens coastal areas globally. It will narrow the beach and cause increased erosion. Moreover, housing and socio-economic developments cause increasing pressure on coastal land use. Without adaptation through coastline management a so-called coastal squeeze will occur with a narrowed beach and dune system. This endangers these systems and puts coastal communities at risk of flooding. The coastal ecosystem’s response to SLR combined with human interventions will be critical for the future of our sandy coasts. Coastal sand nourishments – the addition of sand to increase the beach volume – are potentially a key method to sustainably adapt to accelerated SLR and keep the low-lying hinterland protected against coastal flooding.
Carefully planned sand nourishments now will create the required and desired resilient and dynamic multifunctional coastal landscapes of the future. However, it lacks knowledge, tools and collaboration to realize this. Therefore, the main research question of the SOURCE project is: How can we co-create multifunctional sand nourishment strategies for a resilient dynamic coast with high socio-economic and natural values?
SOURCE will deliver the scientific knowledge, models and design tools to develop and evaluate nourishment strategies in a multi-stakeholder co-creation process. This will be accomplished by a unique combination of a fundamental coastal ecosystem understanding, reliable predictive modeling of nourishment impacts, quantification of both the non-monetized and monetized social costs and benefits, and an integral nourishment design and evaluation process.
Our Living Labs are two sand nourishments along the Dutch coast. These will be co-designed, monitored and evaluated by the SOURCE researchers and 25 partners from government organizations, research institutes, nature organizations and industry. This is key for the intended societal impact: co-created multifunctional sand nourishment strategies for a resilient dynamic Dutch coastal flood defense with high socio-economic and natural values.
For more information, please contact Jebbe van der Werf, j.j.vanderwerf@utwente.nl
Consortium
University of Twente, Deltares, Utrecht University, Delft University of Technology, Wageningen University, Wageningen Marine Research, HZ University of Applied Sciences, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
Dutch partners
Rijkswaterstaat, Recreatief Zandfonds Zeeland, STOWA, Royal HaskoningDHV, Svašek Hydraulics, Hoogheemraadschap Hollands Noorderkwartier, WaterProof, Arcadis, Dunea, Gebiedsoverleg Zuidwestelijke Delta, Provincie Zeeland, Stichting De Noordzee, Van Oord, Waardenburg Ecology, Waddenacademie, Waddenvereniging, Waterschap Scheldestromen, Witteveen+Bos.
International partners
Flanders Hydraulics Research (BE), Coastal Protection Engineering (US), Coastal Science & Engineering (US), CEFAS (UK), United Nations University (DE), University of Aveiro (PT), US Army Corps of Engineers
NWA-ORC
NWA-ORC is a science-encompassing funding round from NWO (Dutch Research Council) aimed at making interdisciplinary research and innovation possible, so that scientific and societal breakthroughs come within reach. For more information see: link to NWO.
