Research of the Earth Systems and Global Change Group
The Earth Systems and Global Change research aims at a better understanding of the impacts of global change on earth systems to contribute to sustainable futures. The group is divided in seven different subgroups, each focusses on a specific topic related to (Sustainable) Earth Systems and Global Change.
Our subgroups
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Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
The BES team examines interactions within and between terrestrial, aquatic, coastal and marine ecosystems, the services they provide, the biodiversity they host and their effects on human-well-being.
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Climate Services and Adaptation
Multiple sectors are increasingly aware how vulnerable our society is to the impacts of climate change. Following the rapid increase of monitoring of climate data there is a need to transform these into climate information services and adaptive planning. This includes ICT-tools, relevant products and aligned services such capacity building, education and networking to benefit society at all scales.
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Empower Sustainable Futures
The mission of the subgroup Empower Sustainable Futures is to empower society to transition towards sustainable futures in a changing global environment. We believe that empowering people to become more sustainable requires transdisciplinary and participatory methodologies, tools and approaches. They allow us to generate, communicate and implement new knowledge while fully taking into account the complexity of decision and policy challenges that societal actors face.
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Land based Mitigation and Adaptation
Water plays a vital role in land based mitigation and adaptation of climate change. Growth of natural vegetation and crops and soil organic matter decomposition are limited by water availability in many parts of the world, constraining the carbon sequestration potential of terrestrial ecosystems, both natural and agricultural.
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Nutrients, Food and Environment
Our vision is Sustainable agriculture for soil, water and air. Our ambitions are to:
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Water, Climate, Food
Sufficient water of good quality is crucial for people and the environment. Over the past decades water demand for human water uses more than tripled driven by population growth, socio-economic development, expansion of irrigated area, and climate change. Negative impacts of the overuse of water are already experienced for many regions of the world. Given the projected climate change, population growth, and socio-economic developments worldwide the pressure on our freshwater resources will continue to increase.
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Water Quality
This subgroup serves as a homebase for everyone within the ESC Group working on water quality. Water of good quality is essential for life, yet many water bodies in the world are polluted.