Monitoring alkylphenols in water using the polar organic chemical integrative sampler (POCIS): determining sampling rates via the extraction of PES membranes and Oasis beads

Polar organic chemical integrative samplers (POCIS) have previously been used to monitor alkylphenol (AP) contamination in water and produced water. However, only the sorbent receiving phase of the POCIS (Oasis beads) is traditionally analyzed, thus limiting the use of POCIS for monitoring a range of APs with varying hydrophobicity. Here a “pharmaceutical” POCIS was calibrated in the laboratory using a static renewal setup for APs (from 2-ethylphenol to 4-n-nonylphenol) with varying hydrophobicity (log Kow between 2.47 and 5.76). The POCIS sampler was calibrated over its 28 day integrative regime and sampling rates (Rs) were determined. Uptake was shown to be a function of AP hydrophobicity where compounds with log Kow < 4 were preferentially accumulated in Oasis beads, and compounds with log Kow > 5 were preferentially accumulated in the PES membranes. A lag phase (over a 24 h period) before uptake in to the PES membranes occurred was evident. This work demonstrates that the analysis of both POCIS phases is vital in order to correctly determine environmentally relevant concentrations owing to the fact that for APs with log Kow ≤ 4 uptake, to the PES membranes and the Oasis beads, involves different processes compared to APs with log Kow ≥ 4. The extraction of both the POCIS matrices is thus recommended in order to assess the concentration of hydrophobic APs (log Kow ≥ 4), as well as hydrophilic APs, most effectively. © 2017 Elsevier Lt

Deliverable 3.3. Reports on execution of field trails at each case study site

The main objective of the field trials was to bring into practice the key aspects of EVOKED: the focus on climate services, the Living Labs approach, and the information design of the selected climate services for each of the EVOKED case study sites (Deltares, 2019). To support comparing the outcomes of these case studies, Deliverable 3.2 (Deltares, 2020) was developed to create a framework to structure the data that has been collected in the case studies as well as to draw lessons and conclusions based on a case comparison. The final objective as presented in the present report is “a systematic evaluation of the climate information designs and thus of the communicative qualities of currently used climate services; insight into the different information needs, perceptions of risk and uncertainty, and the responsibilities and roles of different stakeholder groups; a set of visualization principles and visualization strategies for stakeholder specific climate services.” (Deltares, 2019, p.17).EU, Horizon Europe European Research Area for Climate Services JPI Climate The Research Council of Norway Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany) NWO FORMA

Transformative adaptation through nature-based solutions: a comparative case study analysis in China, Italy, and Germany

This paper explores how claims for transformative adaptation toward more equitable and sustainable societies can be assessed. We build on a theoretical framework describing transformative adaptation as it manifests across four core elements of the public-sector adaptation lifecycle: vision, planning, institutional frameworks, and interventions. For each element, we identify characteristics that can help track adaptation as transformative. Our purpose is to identify how governance systems can constrain or support transformative choices and thus enable targeted interventions. We demonstrate and test the usefulness of the framework with reference to three government-led adaptation projects of nature-based solutions (NBS): river restoration (Germany), forest conservation (China), and landslide risk reduction (Italy). Building on a desktop study and open-ended interviews, our analysis adds evidence to the view that transformation is not an abrupt system change, but a dynamic complex process that evolves over time. While each of the NBS cases fails to fulfill all the transformation characteristics, there are important transformative elements in their visions, planning, and interventions. There is a deficit, however, in the transformation of institutional frameworks. The cases show institutional commonalities in multi-scale and cross-sectoral (polycentric) collaboration as well as innovative processes for inclusive stakeholder engagement; yet, these arrangements are ad hoc, short-term, dependent on local champions, and lacking the permanency needed for upscaling. For the public sector, this result highlights the potential for establishing cross-competing priorities among agencies, cross-sectoral formal mechanisms, new dedicated institutions, and programmatic and regulatory mainstreaming

Deliverable 3.2. Capacity building material for the field trials

In Deliverable 3.1 (Deltares, 2019) the theoretical background, research questions, hypotheses (also summarized in Section 2 of this document) and overall method have been described. This deliverable focuses on the workflow in the field trials and provides capacity materials (templates) to carry out the research. The workflow and templates are meant to help to: 1. Select the climate service(s) that will be adapted for the EVOKED project; 2. Identify ‘usability-gap(s)’ between the information given by the climate service(s) and the information needs of the end-user(s); 3. Think about a new, improved information design (i.e. the way in which information is presented – for a more elaborate explanation on the concept we refer to Deliverbale 3.1 (Deltares, 2019) of the selected climate service(s) to help bridge the aforementioned ‘usability-gap’ through the way information is presented to the user of the climate service(s); 4. To test the new information design (as an experiment). Finally, this document aims to create a coherent data management structure by using the same templates for each case study location. This enables both the cross-comparison between the case studies and the overall analysis regarding EVOKED-hypotheses.EU, Horizon Europe European Research Area for Climate Services JPI Climate The Research Council of Norway Federal Ministry of Education and Research (Germany) NWO FORMA

A comprehensive framework tool for performance assessment of NBS for hydro-meteorological risk management

publishedVersio

Stakeholder evaluation of the co-production process of climate services. Experiences from two case studies in Larvik (Norway) and Flensburg (Germany)

publishedVersio

Evaluating nature-based solutions for water management in peri-urban areas

The term nature-based solutions (NBS) has gained traction in recent years and has been applied in many settings. There are few comprehensive assessment frameworks available that can guide NBS planning and implementation while at the same time capturing the short- and long-term impacts and benefits of the NBS. Here a recently presented framework, which builds on the theory of change and was developed to assess NBS at different phases of the project cycle, was applied to seven diverse case studies. The case studies addressed water quality and quantity issues in peri-urban areas across the global north and south. Framework indicators covering the sustainability dimensions (environmental, social and economic) were assessed at three stages of the framework: context, process and results. The work sought to investigate the following research objectives: (1) Can this framework be robust and yet flexible enough to be applied across a diverse selection of NBS projects that are at different phases of the project cycle and address different kinds of water challenges within varied ecological, social and economic contexts? (2) Is it possible to draw generalisations from a comparative analysis of the application of the framework to the case studies? Results showed that the framework was able to be applied to the case studies; however, their diversity showed that NBS projects designed in one context, for a specific purpose in a specific location, can not necessarily be transferred easily to another location. There were several process-based indicators that were universally significant for the case studies, including expertise, skills and knowledge of the involved actors, roles and responsibilities of involved actors and political support. The result-based indicators were case study-specific when environmental indicators were case study-specific, and important social indicators were environmental identity and recreational values. Overall, the use of the framework benefits the recognition of the implementation’s advances, such as the change in context, the processes in place and the results obtained.The authors would like to thank the European Commission and the Research Council of Norway (RCN-project number 300560), Swedish Research Council for Sustainable Development (FORMAS-project number 2018-02777), the Water Research Commission (WRC) in South Africa (Project: 2019/2020-00034) and Spain Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIU/AEI/FEDER) (PCI2019- 103674,2019), for funding the research in the frame of the collaborative international consortium NATWIP financed under the 2018 Joint Call of theWaterWorks2017 ERA-NET Cofund. This ERA-NET is an integral part of the activities developed by the Water JPI. We also acknowledge the International Institute for Sustainability for providing an in-kind contribution to this research. We also acknowledge that AEL received a grant from the Newton Advanced Fellowship (NAF/R2/18676), CAPES (001), CNPQ (308536/2018-5), FAPERJ (E-26/202.680/2018).Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Advancing the use of passive sampling in risk assessment and management of contaminated sediments: Results of an international passive sampling inter-laboratory comparison

This work presents the results of an international interlaboratory comparison on ex situ passive sampling in sediments. The main objectives were to map the state of the science in passively sampling sediments, identify sources of variability, provide recommendations and practical guidance for standardized passive sampling, and advance the use of passive sampling in regulatory decision making by increasing confidence in the use of the technique. The study was performed by a consortium of 11 laboratories and included experiments with 14 passive sampling formats on 3 sediments for 25 target chemicals (PAHs and PCBs). The resulting overall interlaboratory variability was large (a factor of ∼10), but standardization of methods halved this variability. The remaining variability was primarily due to factors not related to passive sampling itself, i.e., sediment heterogeneity and analytical chemistry. Excluding the latter source of variability, by performing all analyses in one laboratory, showed that passive sampling results can have a high precision and a very low intermethod variability