via: Editorial
general
Vlissingen – More than 500 million people around the world live in delta regions like Zealand. The quality of life in these delta areas is under pressure, including due to climate change, sea level rise and loss of biodiversity. The question of how we can make deltas safe and future-proof is central to the Delta Climate Centre. The new center in Vlissingen has a management team of two people. Albert Klein Tank is the Scientific Director, and Joyce ten Holter is the Business Director.
Joyce Ten Holter started in September. In the near future, she will establish the Delta Climate Center organization and provide business management for the organization. In collaboration with Professor Albert Klein Tank, she is also developing a strategy for the Center’s strong and permanent knowledge hub.
Ten Holter has significant experience in building bridges between the public sector, businesses, research and education, which is also very important at the Delta Climate Centre. In Moscow, it established a new Office of Science and Technology as part of the Global Innovation Network of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate. After working for eleven years in the public sector, Ten Holter turned to academia in 2015. She was responsible for, among other things, the establishment of the new Institute for Advanced Studies at the University of Amsterdam. She is also building something new in Vlissingen, where she now lives. “What particularly motivates me is that the Delta Climate Center is focused on making an impact, both in Zealand and around the world. An issue like climate adaptation requires far-reaching collaboration; in the knowledge chain between MBO-HBO-WO and between different fields. Certainly This is not easy, but it is the only way forward when it comes to the major transformations we face as a country. With Zealand as our living laboratory, we can create something unique with businesses, social organisations, governments and residents. Socially relevant and innovative in many areas.
Scientific Director
Albert Klein Tank will begin his position as Scientific Director of the Delta Climate Center on January 1, 2024. He translates the principles and substantive frameworks of research, education and impact into daily practice. “We want to build on the work of the six founders and many others in the region. We emphasize the multidisciplinary approach required to find innovative solutions and seize opportunities for a sustainable future,” said Klein Tank. The climate scientist is still working in the UK. He is director of the Met Centre. Hadley School of Climate Science and Services there and a professor at the University of Bristol. Before that he worked at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute. He is known internationally for his analyzes of climate trends and the creation of national climate scenarios. In addition to being scientific director of the Delta Climate Centre, Klein Tank will become a professor of “Sustainable Transformations of River Deltas In a Changing Climate” at Utrecht University. Here he focuses on the interaction between water management, food safety and energy security under changing weather and climate conditions.
Combining forces
The Delta Climate Center in Vlissingen is a collaboration between six educational and knowledge institutions, the so-called Founders: Skalda, HZ University of Applied Sciences, Roosevelt University College, NIOZ Zeeonderzoek, Utrecht University, and Wageningen University and Research. They are joining forces to contribute to a sustainable future for delta regions around the world through research and education. In the Zealand Delta, the center develops innovative solutions through co-creation with businesses, governments and residents. Researchers from a wide range of disciplines and students of secondary vocational education, higher vocational education and universities will work together on regional climate shifts. The main topics are water, energy, food and bio-raw materials.
The Delta Climate Center in Vlissingen is part of the government’s “wind in the sails” compensation package due to the failure to establish naval barracks in Vlissingen.
