River2Coast-NL will be the Netherlands (NL) participation in DANUBIUS-RI. Contributions to three DANUBIUS-RI components are currently being developed:
- Rhine Meuse Delta Supersite
- Modelling Node
- Impact Node
The Rhine-Meuse Delta in the Netherlands is one of the best studied deltas in the world, hosting world-class research institutes. The delta has experienced a 1000-year long history of land reclamation and engineering, resulting in a near-completely cultivated, densely populated, highly industrialized, and intensively managed delta, that currently suffers from land subsidence and shortage of sediment and has become highly sensitive to flooding.
The Rhine-Meuse Delta Supersite will offer access to a combination of a unique delta-wide network for long-term field observation and state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor experimental facilities, which can be enriched with numerical model simulations. The facilities enable the collection of essential information on water movement, sediment dynamics and quality, and bio-geomorphology at the delta scale, and will provide detailed insight in the governing processes and their controls. This will enable us to fundamentally understand the functioning and the critical processes of change of deltas. That knowledge is essential to assess the resilience of delta-ecosystems, to predict the long-term effects of future interventions in deltas, and to design innovative nature-based solutions to mitigate potential impacts of future climate change and sea level rise on deltas worldwide. This will also sustain a liveable, navigable and biodiverse Rhine-Meuse Delta, protected from flooding by the rivers and sea.
River2Coast-NL aims to contribute high end modeling facilities to the Italian-led Modelling Node. This Node aims to provide: common models for representing and analysis of river-sea systems; a laboratory for researchers; a common basis of regional and local studies (Supersites); the basis for socio-economic evaluations with stakeholders.
The Impact Node will facilitate knowledge development at the interface between natural and social sciences. It develops methodologies and tools to solve management problems in highly complex and dynamic river-sea systems, and transfers scientific output and practical tools to users, including those in the NL Rhine-Meuse Delta.
River2Coast-NL applied with its proposal ‘DANUBIUS-NL’ for a position on the new Dutch, national NWO roadmap Large-Scale Scientific Research Infrastructures 2021-2024. DANUBIUS-NL is now on the Landscape, and the new roadmap will be published in 2021. Positioning DANUBIUS-NL on the NWO roadmap will greatly support River2Coast-NL in developing the NL participation in DANUBIUS-RI.
River2Coast-NL is jointly developed by scientists from key-research institutes, being all NCK partners, Radboud University Nijmegen and Erasmus University Rotterdam. Our sister organisation NCK (Netherlands Centre for River Studies) also endorses the development of River2Coast-NL.
