The Netherlands Organization of Scientific Research (NWO) and the National Science Foundation China (NSFC) have jointly awarded a major grant to an international consortium, headed by the Erasmus Initiative “Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity”, for collaborative research on sustainable, inclusive cities.
Besides the EUR, the consortium consists of Delft University of Technology and the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (PBL) in The Netherlands and Beijing University, City University Hong Kong and Tongji University in China. The project has a duration of 4 years.
Coordinator of the work in The Netherlands is prof. Martin de Jong, scientific director of “Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity”. He explains: “To develop inclusive and sustainable cities is one of the most critical challenges of this century. Currently 4 billion people live in cities, but in 30 years that will be almost 7 billion. That means that every 5 years a number of people equivalent to the total population of the EU will migrate to cities. That will put enormous stress on sustainable urban management. This project focuses on the adverse environmental impact of the rapid growth of cities, with special attention to management of air quality and waste. Often the poorest inhabitants suffer most from these adverse effects and with our results we aim to make cities more inclusive in this respect. Fortunately, a transition towards “Zero Waste Cities” is gaining momentum in China and around the world. For instance, cities like Rotterdam and Amsterdam have also pledged to work towards zero waste. In this project we will develop analytical tools to clarify the effects of emerging waste management systems in cities, design an approach for infrastructure management that is more inclusive and validate our results in cities in the Netherlands and in China.”
The NWO committee noted that the proposal addresses a topic of high scientific importance, which is directly relevant to the needs of society. They therefore see potential for high societal impact. Regarding the consortium, they stated that it consists of very good research partners with complementary expertise from top universities with strong track records.
The funding is based on a joint call by NWO and NSFC, which will each support the research in their respective jurisdictions. The main part of the grant from NWO will be used to hire one doctoral student at the EUR and one at the TU Delft, and a postdoc with a dual appointment at both institutions. Additional support is provided for meetings, travel and knowledge transfer.
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“Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity” (DoIP), founded in 2018, is one of the three Erasmus Initiatives. It brings together a core faculty of 7 researchers, 22 associate members and 10 doctoral students from three different schools at the EUR: RSM Erasmus University, Erasmus School of Law and Erasmus School of Philosophy. DoIP addresses topics concerning inclusive cities, sustainability and ecological inclusion, and inclusive financial systems.