Presentation at EGU24

Today I had my presentation on the Green Panel research results at the EGU24 in Vienna. You can view all the slides and supplementary information on this page. 

I received good questions about the followup, how can we apply this in multiple cities, so I got to explain the LILa plans in a bit more detail (only 2 minutes for questions). I also was invited to help host the session next year. I heard from the organizers that last year there was only one panel for green infrastructure, but this year there were many more on the topic of nature-based solutions. I'm glad it is gaining in popularity, but this also calls for a better distinction in focus for next year's assembly. My own focus will be more general than towards green roofs only, and it would be good to have a whole session on e.g. the same type of method or the concept of urban and nature integration.

First session at EGU24 - LGBT pride!

Today I had my first session at the EGU24, called 'The LGBT Pride group at EGU: Current progress, and challenges for LGBT people in the Earth system sciences, and ideas for how to overcome them'. I was the first of three invited speakers to talk about my experiences at the UT and what policies were in place. Some policies work well, some don't work at all, but it is a lot better than it was 5 years ago. For anyone who wants to know more about the current policies, visit https://www.utwente.nl/en/thinkwithprideut/ Did you know you can get up to two weeks of paid leave for transitioning? Unheard of when I grew up! 

The room was packed and there were not enough chairs for everyone, so if I do end up helping to host next year's session, it will have to be in a bigger room. If this topic is relevant to 10% of the population/attendants, that means 1800 attendants, and even if that is spread out over each conference day that still means 180 people, not 60. So I can argue for it quantitatively. The discussion was very open and described various cases where work policies obstruct or support LGBT scientists, or where they are still sadly absent. My hope, as I expressed during the session, is that sharing our stories helps people with their own journey, either as inspiration or either good or bad examples. Knowing we are all together helps a lot too.

VUUT symposium on blue-green infrastructure

Our VU Amsterdam - UTwente symposium ' We’re crafting the city green' on blue-green infrastructure was held at the botanical garden in the South of Amsterdam, near the VU campus. Again, we had a packed program with participants from different fields: scientists and students, constructors, municipal employees and policymakers. 

We started the day with stories from practitioners. What did they encounted when implementing their plans, what worked well and less well? After a short break I was one of three scientists delivering a short pitch on the LILa. We then got to visit one of the blue-green roofs on a VU campus building from the Resilio project, with Ralph Lasage and Valentina Verduchi. 

 

The program finished with a round of discussions at round tables. This was a good way for people to get to know each other and their opinions better, and what was driving and holding back different stakeholders during implementation. But it also allowed for some discussion on collaboration, how could this be increased. The details of the entire program are compiled in a program report, available later.

Walk during your work day

4 April this year is national walk during your work day. According to the website, a daily 30 minute walk can reduce symptoms of depression with 36%. Even better to do it outside, in nature, as plants/trees emit chemicals that positively affect our health. It is more effective to take regular breaks to get up, than to try to compensate by doing sports an hour after work. So get up regularly and keep healthy, and why not enjoy nature at the same time. 

At our UT campus there are a lot of walking paths around the ponds and buildings. You can combine your walk with a trip to the local supermarket or to someone in another building. The campus is also located next to a park and to a forested area, so the choice is yours. On days with terrible weather, you can even walk around inside through most of the buildings as many are connected through raised passages. And of course, you can check out the progress at the LILa site while you are walking around outside East of the Horst building. Why not try the sustainability walk?