Climate Action Programme


The Climate Action Programme was launched in 2021 and functions as a community for climate action on the TU Delft campus and beyond. We coordinate various events, activities and functions, providing a central platform for climate related research, education and innovation at TU Delft. Through these efforts, we help to bring to fruition our university’s goal of creating impact for a sustainable society.

Our four overarching themes of Climate Science, Climate Change Mitigation, Climate Change Adaptation and Climate Change Governance are composed of Flagships. Researchers from different disciplines co-operate within the Flagships, and dedicated researchers have been appointed to each Flagship. We foster co-operation within Flagships, between the Flagships, with other climate related researchers and with external stakeholders and partners to secure societal impact.

We actively collaborate with other TU Delft initiatives including:

There is always a reason not to act. Let’s do something about this. Time is running out

― Prof Herman Russchenberg

Climate Action News

28 June 2024

Femke Vossepoel is appointed professor in Earth System Simulation

Femke Vossepoel is appointed professor in Earth System Simulation

Femke: “With the simulation I can make scenarios that support decision makers by predicting how the natural system responds to human interventions. The resulting models need to be fast and flexible, but also complete enough.”

27 June 2024

Students present improvements to manure-cleaning robot

Students present improvements to manure-cleaning robot

A robot that cleans cowsheds. 95 Master Robotics students have been working on this project for the past few weeks. On 13 June, they presented their robots to lecturers and client Lely, manufacturer of automated systems for dairy farmers. The students developed the control software for the robot. It had to avoid cows and other obstacles and navigate itself to places where there is manure.

26 June 2024

Artificial coral reefs that help protect islands from flooding

Artificial coral reefs that help protect islands from flooding

Reef-lined islands are often low-lying and thus extremely vulnerable to coastal flooding. The vanishing of coral reefs worldwide gives the waves free rein. Besides efforts to protect the reefs, ways to artificially restore coral reefs are being devised. Can the proposed reef restoration be an effective mitigation measure against flooding?

14 June 2024

Fading boundary between farmers and tigers

Fading boundary between farmers and tigers

The geothermal energy well at TU Delft campus will soon start heating various buildings on campus and in the city of Delft. But it provides insufficient heat in winter, and excessive heat in summer. Adding underground seasonal storage allows surplus summer heat to be put to good use in winter. Martin Bloemendal and his team develop the means to make integration of such an underground seasonal buffer possible at a large scale.

06 June 2024

Understanding Extreme Weather Phenomena: PHARA's 3D Radar Project's first official Summit

Understanding Extreme Weather Phenomena: PHARA's 3D Radar Project's first official Summit

Under the name PHARA, a collaborative team of scientists and engineers aim to develop a pioneering phased array weather radar – first of its kind in Europe and one of the first worldwide. This joint effort TU Delft, TU Eindhoven, TNO, Robin Radar, Astron, KNMI, and the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, officially kicked off with a summit held on May 30.


Climate Action News

03 November 2022

NPO Radio 1 broadcasts live from The Green Village during National Climate Week

NPO Radio 1 broadcasts live from The Green Village during National Climate Week

From October 31 until November 6 it is National Climate Week. As a climate university, TU Delft is committed to take part, because climate action is more urgent than ever. This week you will hear various NPO Radio 1 programmes live from the Climate Studio at The Green Village, the field lab for sustainable innovation on TU Delft Campus.

01 November 2022

Jonas Lechner is Best Graduate of TPM 2022

Jonas Lechner is Best Graduate of TPM 2022

Jonas Lechner is Best Graduate of TPM 2022! He now competes for the TU Delft Best Graduate award with his thesis 'Role of household climate change adaptation in reducing coastal flood risk: the case of Shanghai’. On 22 November the eight brand new engineers from the faculties presented their excellent graduation theses during the TU Delft Best Graduate Award Ceremony 2022.

23 September 2022

Developing a global standardization agenda against rising sea levels

Developing a global standardization agenda against rising sea levels

Filippo Grillo and Martijn Wiarda, both PhD candidates at TPM, have managed to secure a project from ISO, the International Organization for Standardization. They believe that standardization could help coastal communities and infrastructures adapt to sea-level rise and want to establish a global standardization agenda against rising sea levels.

22 August 2022

Measurement campaign maps GHG emissions and air pollution in Rotterdam

Measurement campaign maps GHG emissions and air pollution in Rotterdam

Scientists from TU Delft, together with scientist from other research institutions, will investigate how the reduction of urban greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution can best be monitored with atmospheric measurements. Monday, August 22, the measurement campaign will start in the Rotterdam region. TU Delft is using mobile rader equipment to measure urban emissions.

02 August 2022

How coastal seas help the ocean absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

How coastal seas help the ocean absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere

The biologically productive North Sea impacts the global climate through exchange of carbon and nutrients with the Atlantic Ocean. A Dutch consortium of scientists will investigate how big this role of the North Sea really is. Under the leadership of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ), conduct a combination of field studies and computer model simulations will be conducted over the next four years to address this question. Models will be used to determine future effects of environmental and climate change on the North Sea, Atlantic Ocean and ultimately Earth’s climate. TU Delft's Peter Herman and Bram van Prooijen (Civil Engineering & Geoscience) are involved in the research.