Awarded Seed Projects Climate and Biodiversity Research and Education
1. Rooted in soil: exploring how food production shapes soil and communities on the urban fringe
Healthy soils are vital for addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, yet urban sprawl continues to threaten it. This research explores how new forms of food production, like food forests and community-based farming initiatives, can improve soil health and reconnect people to the land.
The interdisciplinary project team combines expertise in spatial planning and design with visual ethnography, working closely with local stakeholders active in food production sites on the edges of the Green Heart. In this project the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Department Urbanism (TU Delft) collaborates with GovernEUR: Impact Center on Governance and Sociology (Erasmus University Rotterdam).
2. Definition Living lab Klein Bos, Campus Delft
This initiative aims to establish a new multifunctional forest, “Klein Bos”, on the south side of the TU Delft campus between Delft and Rotterdam. The forest will function as a living lab for research and education on bio-based construction, biodiversity enhancement, carbon capture, and improving air and soil quality.
The interdisciplinary project team includes (landscape) architects, Management in the Built Environment (TU Delft), Life scientists of Erasmus University College, Hortus Botanicus Delft, Zuid Hollands Landschap and the Circular Build Environment (CBE) Hub at TU Delft.
3. Quantifying evaporation of common urban trees
This project at the Green Village investigates how much water different tree species evaporate to better understand the effect of urban trees on the urban heat island effect. The results help cities address climate change and biodiversity loss by choosing the right tree species based on local water availability and cooling capacity.
It is interdisciplinary as civil and environmental engineers from TU Delft collaborate with ecologists and environmental scientists from Leiden University to connect urban designs to urban biodiversity.
4. Biodiversity Spectro-Polarimetric Monitoring (BioSPoM): advancing satellite technology for ecological targets
This project aims to initiate a joint research effort to advance satellite technology to contribute to global ecological targets. It explores the potential of SPEXone (the first spectro-polarimetric instrument launched in 2024) for biodiversity monitoring within a pilot project, and evaluates the capability of SPEXone over different area’s (incl. the Polderlab) .
The interdisciplinary project team includes climate scientists and remote sensing engineers (TU Delft), ecologists (Leiden University), space-entrepreneurship (Erasmus University Rotterdam), the Netherlands Institute for Space Research and the Netherlands Space Office.