Red&Blue Lab June 2026

Sharing research and building a common narrative

On Friday, 26 June, the Red&Blue Lab was held at the Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (IenW) for the second time.

The morning started with a presentation by Wieke Tas, a policy officer at the ministry. She highlighted several of the ministry’s current activities, including the National Adaptation Strategy 2026 and a number of new NEN and OSKA standards.

This was followed by presentations from four Red&Blue fellows, who shared insights from their recent research. The presentations sparked a lively discussion with ministry officials. Topics ranged from research on the risk and economic impact of flooding and water nuisance (Cees Oerlemans) and the local probability of hail and windstorms (Maria Fonseca) to more conceptual perspectives on place-based standards versus a single universal standard (Luc Ponsioen). Maged Elsamny presented his research on how climate risks and climate adaptation measures can be integrated into real-world policy and decision-making.

In the afternoon, the discussion continued at the new joint campus of TU Delft and Leiden University at Spui in The Hague. The group also explored how the Red&Blue team could bring the different research findings together into one clear and engaging visual narrative.