The impact of climate change on health related to heat stress (indoor and outdoor), water quality, and plant diversity is increasing. Blue (lakes, canals) and green infrastructure (trees, herbs) may significantly contribute to reduce heat stress and the warming up of built-up areas. BENIGN aims to investigate how blue and green infrastructure can be employed in urban areas to create healthy living conditions.
We will perform real-life physical and social experiments in the Built Environment (BE) by co-designing and implementing blue and green interventions in a living lab setting together with three municipalities in the Netherlands (i.e. Leiden, Dordrecht, and Hilversum). A key outcome of BENIGN will be a decision support system for municipalities to guide them in creating healthier living conditions.
BENIGN employs a holistic approach by combining the disciplines of health with thermophysiology, water and plant ecology, spatial design, spatial planning and governance, behavioral and cognitive science and geo-information science. The consortium is strengthened by members of different parts of the knowledge chain: fundamental (RU, Radboudumc, WUR, VU), applied (Deltares, Cobra), practice-oriented (UUM) and civil society organizations (municipalities, Floron, GGD, citizens).