Present use of the Dutch sandy-soil landscape is not sustainable and not climate proof. Hence there is an urgent and widely supported need for a socio-environmental transformation. We propose that in future landscape systems, functions at each location should align with local soil suitability and water availabililty. This requires a paradigm shift from the present system, where landscapes are modified through e.g. water management and fertilization to serve desired functions. With our research team and consortium of experts and actors, we will design nature-based landscapes that are climate-resilient and valuable and we will identify pathways towards these desired landscapes.

Many people have questions about climate change and its impact on our society - for example, MBO students. However, it is challenging to reach young people with articles that contain trustworthy information about the climate. The KlimaatCasino is a serious game in which players are introduced to scientific information on climate change, based on pieces from the KlimaatHelpdesk (a platform for climate change science communication). In this project, we aim to develop a new version of the KlimaatCasino that can be played without external volunteers at MBO institutes to engage their students with the topic of climate change.

Cereal crops, like maize, provide most of the world’s food. However, their production is at risk from climate change, especially droughts. Our project studies how certain cells in maize roots use physical barriers to help the plant survive tough soil conditions linked with drought, such as soil compaction and presence of parasitic plants. We use advanced methods study these barriers and their genes, and test how these affect plant growth in drought. By understanding this, we can breed stronger crops that handle drought better, helping ensure food security.

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. To do so, 3 living labs in Dutch municipalities will be set up. A key outcome of BENIGN will be a decision support system for municipalities to guide them in creating healthier living conditions.

Meristematic cells are key to indeterminate plant growth and their protection is crucial under sub-optimal conditions to ensure plant survival. However, the mechanisms underlying meristem tolerance during environmental stresses is surprisingly underexplored. In this project, we will investigate how plant root meristems endure low oxygen (hypoxia) conditions, that occur during flooding. Soil flooding or waterlogging is a frequently occurring environmental stress that subjects plant roots to hypoxic conditions and severely impairs plant performance and crop yields. One of the most important flood detection cues in plants is the volatile hormone ethylene. Reduced gas exchange in water saturated soils causes the speedy accumulation of ethylene ahead of the onset of hypoxia. Our previous results demonstrated that in Arabidopsis, an ethylene pre-treatment can enhance root survival, following subsequent hypoxic stress. This was associated with the ability of ethylene to stabilize the ethylene response factor-group VII (ERFVII) transcription factors, primary regulators of hypoxia acclimation and survival. A vital aspect here was ethylene-mediated induction of phytoglobin 1, which facilitated removal of ERFVII destabilising nitric oxide. However, while it was clear that this mechanism boosted the regrowth capacity of roots following hypoxia, it remained unclear how meristem protection was conferred. This backdrop motivated us here to probe further and ask two main questions: 1) is ethylene action mediated by specific cell layers in the roots? and 2) do specific cell layers communicate to coordinate meristem protection? To address these questions, we will combine the complementary expertise of the two applying groups in developmental biology, stress physiology and computational modelling. We will leverage the availability of genetic tools that facilitate cell type-specific probing of ethylene action and high resolution dynamic tracking of cell-level physiological changes mediated by ethylene and hypoxia. This innovative approach will offer a radically new insight into ethylene-mediated hypoxia pre-adaptation and meristem protection mechanisms while answering fundamental questions regarding the cooperative functions of cell types in multicellular organisms. Importantly, the knowledge generated here will be important towards the regulation of ethylene function for improving flooding tolerance in commercially relevant plant species.