Our research assesses the economic consequences of increased circularity and policies to increase material efficiency.
We investigate the economic consequences of increased circularity (and research efficiency) at different levels to provide tailored insights to a diverse set of stakeholders.
Extreme weather and salinisation put pressure on freshwater availability in delta areas. A robust freshwater system is necessary for agriculture, industry, nature, and tourism, thus ensuring a livable delta. Technical solutions have already been successfully tested on a pilot scale, but there are still a number of challenges to implementation, such as a lack of appropriate policy instruments, legal policy frameworks, financial and economic incentives, and an administrative partnership for managing freshwater supply and demand. STURDI-Water aims to achieve integrated freshwater management through a central, regional water bank to match supply and demand, storage and circular water treatment.
For more information, please visit the NWO-project site (in Dutch).
Contact information: Prof. Roy Brouwer and Dr Jan Brusselaers
This project, funded under Horizon Europe, will investigate endocrine-disrupting chemicals as contributors to progression of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease. IVM is responsible for characterising patient profiles, assessing public awareness and willingness to change lifestyles or behavioural patterns leading to this disease, and test different risk communication strategies to instigate behavioural change.
Contact information: Prof. Roy Brouwer and Dr Marije Schaafsma
Cleaning marine Litter by developing and Applying Innovative Methods (CLAIM) is an EU Horizon 2020 project whose remit is to find new ways of tackling pollution in marine areas, with a specific focus on the Mediterranean and the Baltic Seas.
With millions of tons of plastic litter dumped into marine environments, marine litter increased twenty-fold in the last 50 years, according to CLAIM. Now a widely known environmental issue, plastic litter has been detected worldwide in all major marine habitats, in sizes from microns to meters.
IVM is leading a work package in CLAIM with a focus on the social and economic implications of the new technologies being developed. This work package involves cost effectiveness analysis, legal and policy frameworks, stakeholder acceptance and public preferences, and novel business models. This research will culminate in an integrated assessment of environmental, social and economic impacts of CLAIM technologies. IVM has a team of four researchers working on CLAIM.
Contact information: Dr Jan Brusselaers, Prof. Roy Brouwer and Prof. Pieter van Beukering.
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