Netherlands
In 1989 the National Member Organization became the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). The NWO is the National Research Council for the Netherlands, it stimulates and co-ordinates fundamental and strategic research in all areas of the sciences.
Professor Dr. Jos J. Engelen Chairman, Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO) is the current IIASA Council Member for the Netherlands. Prof. Engelen is Chairman of the NWO Governing Board. He is also a member of the IIASA Program Committee and the Finance Committee.
Professor Joyeeta Gupta, from the Institute for Environmental Studies, Free University, Amsterdam, is a member of IIASA’s Scientific Advisory Committee.
Key Relationships and Collaborations
IIASA collaborates with a broad range of organizations in the Netherlands, select examples include:
- Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands
- Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies, Ijmuiden (RIVO)
- Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM)
- Netherlands Organization for Applied Scientific Research (TNO)
- Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL)
- University of Amsterdam
- Wageningen University and Research center (WUR)
Select Research Highlights
Land use and food security:
- Funded by the European Commission, Windsheim University and Raboud University of the Netherlands, are partners in GEOBENE Global Earth Observation - Benefit Estimation: Now, Next and Emerging project. This IIASA led study is developing tools to assess societal benefits of Earth Observation in the domains of: disasters, health, energy, climate, water, weather, ecosystems, agriculture and biodiversity. Findings may inform the implementation of international commitments, such as the Millennium Development Goals.
- Exploiting Information on Global Environmental Risks—Agriculture (EIGER-Agri): The project is a joint initiative of IIASA, the Plant Production System Group at Wageningen University, and the Sustainable Agriculture Research Division of Unilever. The project aims to increase knowledge on yield and land suitability of key agricultural crops under a changing climate.
- China Agricultural Transition: Social and Environmental Impacts (CATSEI): This EU-funded project, implemented by six prominent European, Chinese and US-based partners, including IIASA, The Agricultural Economics Research Institute, The Hague, and The Centre for World Food Studies, University of Amsterdam, investigates the impact of China’s rapid economic transition on its agricultural economy with special reference to the consequences of trade liberalization and to changing trade flows.
Fisheries:
- The Netherlands, via the Institute for Marine Resources and Ecosystem Studies, Ijmuiden and Wageningen University, are contributors to the European Research Training Network on Fisheries-induced Adaptive Changes in Exploited Stocks (FishACE). This IIASA coordinated network has been established to investigate the prevalence and consequences of fisheries-induced adaptive changes in exploited aquatic systems in European waters.
- Coordinated by Germany and involving many European countries, the Netherlands, via the Institute for Marine Resources & Ecosystem Studies at Wageningen University is also a partner in UNCOVERNone, Understanding the Mechanisms of Stock Recovery. UNCOVER is funded by the European Union and aims to identify the best strategies to recover important fish stocks in Europe.
- IIASA is a contributor to the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (IECS) the main advisory agency for managing the North Atlantic Ocean. IIASA initiated the ICES Working Group on Fisheries-induced Evolution (WGEVO) in 2010. IIASA co-chairs this expert group with one Norwegian and Adriaan Rijnsdorp from the Netherlands.
- ELOBIO: Effective and low-disturbing biofuel policies: This EU funded project coordinated by the Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands, and involving IIASA and five other partners, aims to develop least-disturbing policy options which would enhance biofuels but minimize the impacts on e.g. food and feed markets and markets of biomass for power and heat.
Air quality and GHG mitigation:
- IIASA in partnership with the Netherlands (and 10 other countries), are members of the Network for Integrated Assessment Modeling (NIAM). Established under the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, NIAM facilitates collaboration between "in-country" national activities and IIASA on integrated assessment modeling, providing a forum for discussion and enhancing the development and communication of integrated assessment modeling.
- IIASA participates in the “Arctic Initiative” involving Norway and other Arctic countries. The initiative aims to develop mitigation options for pollutants (black carbon, ozone, halocarbons, and methane) affecting the Arctic, the initiative employs the IIASA GAINS model to identify and cost mitigation options. GAINS is one of two models underpinning a report An Assessment of Emissions and Mitigation Options for Black Carbon, presented at the Arctic Council Ministerial Meeting, in May 2011.
Energy security and sustainability:
- The Netherlands are a significant contributor to the Global Energy Assessment (GEA). The GEA is a major initiative seeking to redefine the global energy policy agenda. (GEA).
- Twelve Lead Analysts or Convening Lead Analysts representing six organizations, (academic and business) from the Netherlands are involved in the GEA. Prof. Wim C. Turkenburg, Scientific Director, Copernicus Institute for Sustainable Development and Innovation, Utrecht University, is a Convening Lead Analyst and a member of the Executive Committee of GEA.
- IIASA also collaborates with the Netherlands through the European Climate Foundation office in The Hague on issues associated with energy in North Africa and associated policy development.
- IIASA Deputy Director Nebojsa Nakicenovic is a Member of the InterAcademy Council Study “Transitions to Sustainable Energy,” Amsterdam.
- IIASA, the National Aerospace Laboratories, Netherlands, and several other European partners, collaborate on MONITOR, the Monitoring System on the Development of Global Air Transport. The study aims to establish a permanent monitoring system of key factors and characteristics of strategic importance to the aviation industry, specifically with regard to estimating future likely emissions and the impact of the aviation industry on air quality.
Population and health:
- The Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute is a participant in the European Demographic Research Ensemble (EDRE), a consortium of major European demographic institutes coordinated by the Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. The VIS is led by IIASA’s Wolfgang Lutz. EDRE aims to foster comparative population studies in Europe, enhance the exchange between demographic institutes in Europe, jointly address some of Europe’s key population-related challenges, and advise the European Commission on demographic substance.
Capacity Building
IIASA’s annual Young Scientists Summer Program (YSSP) offers advanced level PhD candidates the opportunity to work with IIASA scientists over a 3-month period, with the explicit aim of refining or extending their research skills in the area of systems analysis.
Since the first Dutch participant in 1979, a total of 113 Dutch nationals, have completed the YSSP.
YSSP Special Awards
Each year two or three participants of the YSSP are recipients of the Peccei or Mikhalevich Awards, The awards recognize exceptional performance during the summer and allow recipients to return for an additional 3 months research at IIASA.
In 2007 Andries Richter from the Netherlands won the YSSP Mikhalevich Scholarship for his research on the evolution of social norms for renewable resource harvesting. In 2003 Peter van Grinsven, received the Pecceci award while an honorable mention went to Sander Lensink both from the Netherlands.
IIASA’s NMO in The Netherlands regularly sponsors postdoctoral scholarships at IIASA.