Rotterdam researchers receive funding from NWO and the Dutch Climate Research Initiative for 'sustainable' research

Project awarded by the Sustainable Science Fund:

GENAIRE: Generative AI in Research Workflows, Measuring and Reducing Environmental Impact  - A. Polyportis, dr. D.G.E. Trottier, dr. Y. Wang (EUR)

GENAIRE develops a practical, low-threshold way for researchers to assess and reduce the expected environmental footprint of generative AI in everyday research. The project creates and pilots a digital planning tool, checklist and GENAIRE Receipt with an optional ethics addendum to help researchers decide when genAI use is proportionate, choose lower-footprint options for common tasks, and document decisions for ethics review and data management planning. The method is co-designed with researchers, the chair of the Research Ethics Review Committee, ICT and sustainability staff. Outputs will be shared openly so other higher education institutions can adapt and reuse them.

Projects awarded by the Dutch Climate Research Initiative (KIN):

Climate Adaptive Futures NL: Shaping Climate-Resilient Urban and Health Futures Through Transdisciplinary Foresight - dr. M.V. Tietschert PhD MSc (EUR), dr. P De Best (Erasmus MC), dr. M.J.J. Schrama (UL), dr. R.S. Sikkema (Erasmus MC)

Climate change challenges Dutch cities due to rising temperatures (heat), extreme precipitation, and rising sea levels, putting pressure on infrastructure, public health, and livability. These interconnected challenges require systemic, long-term transformation rather than incremental, sector-based adjustments. However, urban planning, climate adaptation and public-health policies are developed in silos, constraining effective transitions with risks of unintended health impacts. Building on the established transdisciplinary network ClimateHUB Rotterdam, Climate Adaptive Futures NL applies foresight as a transition-oriented method to explore long-term scenarios and develop robust pathways for action. The approach will be validated in Rotterdam and translated into an open-access toolkit. 

GORDIAN - GOvernance, Regulation and Design Integration to Accelerate and Negotiate Just Transitions - K.O. Dimitrova (Foundation We Are), F.C. Singleton-Clift (UvA), dr. ir. M Taanman (GovernEUR)

GORDIAN develops and tests a new transdisciplinary method to accelerate just climate transitions in legally complex contexts. Through three real-life infrastructure cases in port Amsterdam, small teams of designers, policymakers and legal experts work together to untangle regulatory, governance and design challenges. By bringing imagination, legal legitimacy and implementation realities into one process, the project explores how climate action can be both faster and more just. The project builds on the method and practice Foundation We Are, and generates practical insights, a transferable collaboration framework, and accessible public outputs to support transformative practices across climate transition domains.

The Learning Together Program: Towards a Translocal Learning System for Collaboration between Municipalities and Community Initiatives - dr. W.A.H. Spekkink (EUR), L.A.C. Meddens (Klimaatverbond Nederland)

Municipalities and community initiatives play a crucial role in addressing climate change, but collaboration between them often proves challenging in practice. Differences in working methods, responsibilities, and expectations often lead to frustrations on both sides. This project develops a translocal learning system that brings together successful collaboration practices between community initiatives and municipalities. Together with local initiatives, municipal actors, researchers, and Het Klimaatverbond, these practices are tested and refined in new contexts. By enabling shared learning across locations, the project strengthens collaboration and supports more inclusive and effective local climate action.

Transition Treatment: General rehearsal for art-science collaborations in climate transitions - GJ Deuten, MAP Nooren (Stichting Gouden Haas), TIS Fransen, Mara de Pater (EUR DRIFT)

Transition Treatment develops and systematizes The Green Clinic, an art–science intervention that invites participants to imagine a world in which systems fail and solutions no longer work. In the Amsterdam Western Port Area, a site in transition, The Green Clinic acts as a "field hospital" where participants step out of routines, embrace uncertainty, explore emotions, and rehearse new responses. Theatre collective Gouden Haas and DRIFT collaborate to make the method, design principles, and underlying logic explicit. The result is a theoretically grounded, transferable intervention that combines art and science to explore and accelerate sustainable and just transitions.