Benthic biodiversity near brine discharge sites in the Port of Rotterdam

The Port of Rotterdam is a heavily man-modified estuarine system, Europe's major seaport and home to a large number of chemical and petrochemical plants, many of which are supplied with distilled water from two demineralized water plants in Botlek and Maasvlakte. In this study, we assessed the ecological conditions near the brine outfalls and...

The impacts of climate change on cultural heritage in the Netherlands: A preliminary assessment of exposure

Cultural heritage provides a wide range of economic, socio-cultural and environmental benefits for current and future generations. Globally, scientific evidence shows that climate change is adversely affecting diverse tangible and intangible cultural heritage [1; 2]. Yet, in the Netherlands, there is a need for a greater understanding of the...

Housing vulnerabilities unravelled: impact of housing policy changes on Dutch households that have difficulties making ends meet

While Dutch housing policy has been moving towards ‘more market’ influences in this century, in response to the triple recession that the Netherlands underwent in the period 2009-2013, government started promoting a participation society. In order to analyse the impact in practice of these developments on vulnerabilities of households, a Dutch...

Afwijkplanologie

Niet omgevingsplannen maar afwijkactiviteiten zullen centraal staan in de besluitvorming over nieuwe ruimtelijke ontwikkelingen na invoering van de Omgevingswet. Het omgevingsplan (als opvolger van onder andere het bestemmingsplan) zal vooral als beheersregeling functioneren. De gemeenteraad is verplicht afwijkactiviteiten hierin op te nemen....

Estrogens and xeno-estrogens in the aquatic environment of the Netherlands: Occurence, Potency and Biological Effects

The ‘National investigation into the occurrence and effects of estrogenic compounds in the aquatic environment’ (Dutch acronym, LOES), is a base-line study that provides a picture of the occurrence of a number of natural and synthetic estrogens in the aquatic environment as well as a view of the associated estrogenic effects in fish in surface...