Samenvatting

Climate change requires cities to adapt to heat, drought, and high-intensity rainfall to become resilient. In the Netherlands, more than 74% of population lives in urban areas. Many Dutch cities have intensified their efforts to become climate resilient and water-robust by 2050. One of the strategies to reach this goal includes the implementation of ‘climate adaptation measures’. This aim to create climate resilient healthy urban environments for people, animals, and plants include e.g. bioswales, raingardens, constructed wetlands, green roofs and other nature based green infrastructure. While climate adaptation will reduce the negative health impacts of climate change, such as heat stress, there may be co-risks (and co-benefits) of climate adaptation measures. Citizens worry about increased nuisance and potential disease risks from mosquitoes, ticks, and rats, or are concerned about pollution in the urban surface water. Municipalities and waterboards, who implement most climate adaptation measures, are keen to address these concerns. There are many knowledgegaps which need to be addressed, not only on the current risks from climate adaptation measures, but also how these risks may be further exacerbated by climate change, such as the introduction of new invasive vector species or pathogens. With the monitoring of green infrastructure we were able to take away some of the concerns but we call for an integrated EcoHealth approach, involving stakeholders in a co-creative process, to jointly assess and address the health risks and benefits of climate adaptation measures and develop recommendations and guidelines for upscaling to create resilient and healthy environments. For example: research results regarding the long term hydraulic performance of 150 bioswales in The Netherlands (but also in Barcelona) showed that nuisance from mosquitoes is very unlikely since 99% of the swales had an empty time within 2 days in contrast with the incubation time of mosquitoes of 7 days