Researcher on impacts of regional climate adaptation plans at PBL
The development of adaptation plans by local and regional authorities has accelerated following the establishment of the European Climate Law (2021) and the EU Strategy on Adaptation to Climate Change. At the same time, these authorities are also expected to develop regional innovation plans (following the so-called Smart Specialization Strategy) to access financial support from the Cohesion Fund (for less developed regions) and the European Regional Development Fund. To implement the plans successfully and to avoid missed opportunities and negative consequences for those who are most vulnerable to changes, a systemic understanding of trade-offs and counteractions between these various policy objectives is needed.
As an employee at the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency in The Hague, you will work on the development of an regional impact assessment model for translating local adaptation actions into macro-economic changes using a regional Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) framework. The developed modelling framework will cover all EU27 NUTS2 regions. The main objective is to capture the cascading effects of these actions on neighbouring regions’ economies and biodiversity, while accounting for sectoral changes. By incorporating factors such as maladaptation, climate justice, equity, and the effects of climate action on ecosystems, the model will offer region-specific insights that consider both socioeconomic contexts and biogeographic constraints.
How the work will be organised?
The work will be done as a part of a large Horizon Europe project JustREACH ( https://justreach.eu/). You will work on the project together with colleagues from project coordinator TU Delft and other European research organisations and cities participating in the project.
What are your main duties?
- You independently research the impacts of regional climate adaptation plans and develop an regional impact assessment model together with colleagues from PBL.
- You are the lead author of several international scientific articles.
- You contribute as co-author to a few PBL projects.
More details can be found here
Open position due date: April 23, 2026
