It is crucial to overcome structural and strategic counterforces that hinder effective climate policy and system transitions. The KIN working group "Which opposing forces hinder the climate transition?" brings together misinformation experts, climate obstruction researchers, policymakers, NGOs, creative professionals, journalists, and other relevant actors to develop projects that address specific forms of climate obstruction. Our initial activities include organizing training sessions for journalists and a briefing for Members of Parliament, with a specific focus on climate misinformation. How do you recognize misinformation, and how can you ensure that you do not unintentionally spread or amplify misinformation?

Extreme heat waves and heavy rainfall are increasing in intensity on a global scale, trends which will continue with future global warming. Summer, with most biological and agricultural production, is probably the season when changes in extremes will have the most-severe impacts on humanity. Summer extremes are particularly devastating when they persist for several days: Many consecutive hot-and-dry days causing harvest failure, or stagnating wet extremes causing flooding. Despite this importance, persistence of extreme summer weather has largely been neglected by the climate science community. What maintains stagnating summer weather? Do climate models capture persistence and the underlying processes accurately? What is the role of global warming? Persistence is linked to sea-surface temperature, soil moisture and atmospheric circulation which are expected to change with future warming but the uncertainties are large. The proposed research fills this knowledge gap. I will study mid-latitude summer circulation and its influence on weather persistence focusing on the most high-impact, persistent summer extremes. The project innovatively combines novel methods from disciplines which historically evolved largely independently: (1) Machine learning guided by physical theory and (2) climate modeling experiments using state-of-the-art global Numerical Weather Prediction models. I will quantify persistence of summer extremes and their local and remote drivers in past, present and future climates, focusing on Western Europe and eastern U.S., i.e. two major population centers critical for global food production. In recent publications, I have reported a pronounced weakening of boreal summer circulation since 1979 and hypothesized that this leads to more-persistent, and therefore more-extreme, summer weather conditions. This overarching hypothesis will be tested, using the described methods, in observations and modeled data at different warming levels. This work will reduce societal risks from future summer extremes by improving existing forecasts and developing novel early warning systems based upon optimal empirical prediction methods.

Increased use of the subsurface, for example for geothermal energy production or subsurface storage, is crucial for achieving the (inter)national goals for greenhouse gas emissions. EPOS-eNLarge creates the research capabilities for the scientific breakthroughs urgently needed for efficient and safe use of our subsurface. For this, EPOS-eNLarge provides the missing link needed to apply our understanding of micro-processes in the subsurface at the kilometer-scale where subsurface operations (and the effects of these) take place. EPOS-eNLarge further ensures that unique research data of the Dutch subsurface is made openly, and centrally accessible for future re-use, alongside other European data.

The DBHC is a group of 30+ scientists with an interdisciplinary research program on black holes. In our project we develop new technologies to observe black holes with telescopes - both above ground (Event Horizon Telescope) and underground (Einstein Telescope). In order to determine the correct location for the Einstein Telescope, we simultaneously study the geology of the Limburger soil. Above all, we try to answer deep theoretical and astronomical questions about space and time! There will also be a public app, which anyone can use to hunt for black holes, and an educational project for students. Read more: www.dbhc.nl

Water management in a densely populated area with a strong interplay between meteorological, hydrological and socio-economic drivers is a complex topic. In order to guarantee the supply of water, and to avoid drought and flood damage an efficient system of weather forecasting, impact assessment and hydrological engineering is required. Even in a well-developed country as The Netherlands the current operational systems still lack skill and appropriate interconnectivity to ensure efficient water management at various time and spatial scales. Apart from precipitation, uncertainty in surface evaporation forms a strong bottleneck for water management at local, regional and national scale. The proposed research focuses on enhancing the added value of available observations and medium- to seasonal range weather forecasts of particularly evaporation and related quantities (soil moisture, ground water, streamflow, lake levels). It will develop an upgraded monitoring and forecasting system for surface evaporation, using a scientific methodology to reduce existing gaps between different modelling and observational approaches. The system will be demonstrated in a case study area that is governed by the complex interactions determining water supply and demand.