Climate Action

There is no doubt that the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases are changing our living environment. Climate change is in our hands. We need to both work on limiting it as much as we can (mitigation), but we will also have to learn to adapt to new circumstances. TU Delft will harness its innovative powers to support the world-wide transition to non-fossil resources, and adaptation of the living environment to the consequences of global warming.

The problem is complex and urgent – but we have no other choice than to be optimistic and use all of our capacity to face the challenge, through our education programs and our research.

For more information, see:

In the Climate Action research programme, we start from four themes we consider to be paramount for future Climate Action:

The TU Delft vision on Climate Action is deeply founded in preceding decades of university wide climate action research. The goal of the Climate action research programme is to build on current strengths and identify the areas where there is a need to strengthen our capacities to keep up our (inter)national reputation as climate action university.

Climate Action News

08 February 2024

How social science can make the energy transition more fair

How social science can make the energy transition more fair

‘People living near an airborne wind energy test site in Germany experience noise, ecological and safety impacts from the airborne wind energy system similar to those from the nearest regular wind farm. The airborne system did score better on visual impacts.’ These are the main conclusions from a pioneering study into the social impacts of airborne wind energy conducted by Helena Schmidt, a PhD candidate at TU Delft in collaboration with Medical School Hamburg.

01 February 2024

Minimising contrails through altitude diversions of aircraft

Minimising contrails through altitude diversions of aircraft

On 30 January 2024, PhD candidate Esther Roosenbrand’s study on contrails and air traffic management was featured in an article from the New Scientist, presenting a simple yet effective operational solution to reduce the climate impact of aviation.

30 January 2024

Art Science Festival | CityClimate meets CreativeCoding

Art Science Festival | CityClimate meets CreativeCoding

Last year, Juliana Goncalves and Carissa Champlin collaborated with City Science Lab at HafenCity University to co-curate the CityClimate meets Creative Coding festival in Hamburg. The aim of the festival was to bring science, the arts, data and planning support tools together to explore new approaches for addressing the climate crisis. I am delighted to share that the Festival was a big success!

30 January 2024

Cool down the world

Cool down the world

Heat is becoming an increasing problem worldwide, and we are getting closer to one and a half degrees of warming. But if we humans can warm up the earth, can we also cool it down? Herman Russchenberg (CEG) explains it in a new video from the University of the Netherlands.

22 January 2024

Students crafting flood resilience during hackathon

Students crafting flood resilience during hackathon

During the 182nd Dies Natalis of TU Delft, we delved into the theme of "Redesigning Deltas" to underline that we need rethink our approach to keep deltas around the world safe and liveable in the future. As part of the preceding Delta week, we organised a hackathon. On 9 January, students joined forces and took up the challenge: Crafting flood resilience in the Rotterdam region.


Climate Action News

20 September 2023

The Delft Tree Atlas: much more than maps

The Delft Tree Atlas: much more than maps

Did you know that many cities are also forests? You can see for yourself when you switch Google Maps to satellite mode. From this bird’s-eye view, you will notice that the average tree cover in cities often exceeds 40%, well above the lower limit of the ‘forest’ classification. Certain regions of Delft even reach 65%, which is more than most natural forests in Europe. But what kind of forest is Delft? Or, more accurately, which kinds?

20 September 2023

Marina Tabassum started as Professor Architectural Design for Climate Adaptation

Marina Tabassum started as Professor Architectural Design for Climate Adaptation

Living and working in Bangladesh, “Architectural Design for Climate Adaptation” is almost more of a necessity than a choice for Marina Tabassum. She brings her personal style to it, combining knowledge of local climate, materials history, culture and community. Marina Tabassum has started as Professor at our faculty on 15 September 2023.

06 September 2023

Launch Climate Safety and Security Centre

Launch Climate Safety and Security Centre

Considering geopolitical tensions and power shifts, there is an increasing need for better understanding climate safety and security

05 September 2023

Clearing up the sky: reducing the uncertainty caused by clouds in the climate system

Clearing up the sky: reducing the uncertainty caused by clouds in the climate system

Wolken zijn verantwoordelijk voor een groot deel van de onzekerheid in klimaatprojecties. Met een Starting Grant van de European Research Council (ERC) wil Franziska Glassmeier de evolutie van wolken en hun invloed op het toekomstige klimaat beter begrijpen. Glassmeier is Assistant Professor atmosfeerwetenschappen aan de faculteit Civiele Techniek en Geowetenschappen van de TU Delft: "Als we de onzekerheid veroorzaakt door wolken kunnen verminderen, zouden we een veel beter idee hebben van hoeveel de planeet opwarmt door antropogene emissies."

01 August 2023

Premiere of “Dancing in the Desert”

Premiere of “Dancing in the Desert”

The premiere of Dancing in the Desert will take place on Wednesday, 23 August, at 2 pm on the Delft Markt town square. Admission is free. In this beautiful documentary, a team of filmmakers including Bram van Splunteren follow the student team working on the Nuna 11. It’s an exciting job, especially when you realise that the Nuna 10 caught fire during the previous Solar Challenge in Australia. Will these students succeed in designing and building an entirely new Nuna from scratch? Will it finish the race through the Moroccan desert and maybe even win it?