Geotechnical engineering aims to adapt properties of soils to fit for purpose for a wide range of civil engineering applications such as dikes and embankments for water safety and roads, foundation engineering for buildings and other infra-structure such as quay-walls, bridges and tunnels. In the past decades several approaches have been developed inspired on natural phenomena or which use biological processes because this technology may have a signficantly lower footprint than current approaches in civil engineering. We have been developing a suite of bio-based and nature-inspired geotechnical engineering approaches to manage contaminated sites such as landfills, strengthen soils with microbial induced carbon precipitation or to reduce the permeability of soils by mimicking the precipitation of organo-metal complexes. Because of our strong conviction that innovation is an iterative process where university research is taken to practice as quickly as possible, nearly all of these projects are carried out in close collaboratin with industry partners. In this paper we present an overview of the development of the SoSEAL approach where the first concepts were developed in an STW project which then was adapted by an industry consortium to further develop in to a technology for reducing the risk of piping in river dikes. In addition to a short description of the fundamental theory behind the method we will focus on the iterative research process where laboratory research is alternated with field experiments with industry partners in the lead. SoSEAL is inspired by the process that occurs in the development of podzol soils. In these soils, dissolved organic matter percolates through the soil, leaching cat-ions from the top soil. Due to changes in soil structure and soil chemistry, organo-metal complexes precipitate in very distinct thin layers deeper in the soil. These layers have a lower permeability than the original soil. The technology we developed is based on the ex-situ formation of organo-metal flocs which can be injected in the soil. In time small flocs in the soil coalesce to form bigger flocs which eventually become so large that they no-longer can move freely through the pore space. The consequence is a significantly reduced permeability. This technique is currently being developed in an industry driven project in to an approach to prevent piping under dikes.

Technical entrepreneurs and startups are reimagining and reinterpreting cities as sites for local wind energy production, distribution, and consumption. They develop small- and medium-scale wind energy technology resembling trees or tulip flowers that can be integrated into building structures, urban public spaces, and infrastructural networks. Not only do they envision new ways of generating wind energy in cities, but they also reimagine how it can be distributed and consumed in urban areas. In this presentation, I demonstrate how such visions of urban wind energy affect the relations between energy systems and urban spaces. Based on an analysis of three innovative urban wind energy projects in European cities (Wind Tree, Flower Turbine, and Power Nest), I show how these technologies and visions about locally produced, distributed, and consumed wind energy around them lead to the emergence of windscapes: specific socio-spatial configurations between urban space and wind energy systems. I argue that these visions result in three different types of windscapes - 1) energy plazas; 2) pop-up energy spots; and 3) energy enclaves. These urban energy spaces are constituted through emerging relations between multiple elements in the urban environment at different sites such as buildings, green public spaces, mobility infrastructures, urban regulations, land property rights, alternative designs of wind turbines, storage devices, energy grids, cables, and meters, as well as practices of energy consumption. As these windscapes acquire a distinct identity, new relationships form between 1) urban governance stakeholders and wind energy infrastructure; 2) urban residents and wind energy flows; and 3) urban dwellers and wind energy technology. The presentation discusses what kind of implications these emerging relationships between actors and elements of windscapes have for urban governance and planning.

With an increasing demand for climate resiliency, water sensitivity, nature inclusiveness and energy efficiency in dense urban environments, the call for layered and multifunctional use of rooftops is rising. Vegetated roofs combined with Photo-Voltaic (PV) installations are an example of multifunctional and more effective use of available space, and well-irrigated systems could have an enhanced cooling effect. This research investigated a blue-green capillary irrigated solar roof with grey (shower-) water suppletion, with a constructed wetroof for grey water purification. Two full-scale commercial PV systems on twin rental apartment blocks in Amsterdam were analyzed, on a blue-green roof (BGR) versus a bitumen roof (BiR). The energy output, PV panel temperature, relative humidity and air temperature under the panels were monitored during 5 warmer months (June–October 2022). On average, a solar panel on the BGR is expected to produce 4.4% more energy than a solar panel on the BiR at similar irradiation. A clear difference in panel temperature on the roofs is only seen when the surface temperature of the roofs differs by at least 4.64 °C. Otherwise, other factors such as wind or albedo have probably more influence on the PV panel temperature and thus on PV power output. The presentation also explains the technical challenges the project TEAM had to overcome to create this nature inclusive, water circular and energy smart building. Next to the technical and scientific results the project was also instrumental in proving that the true multifunctional and layered design can be build, and serves an example in state of art 'and-and-and' functional design, moving away from the old world 'or-or' conundrum.