The way we produce and consume our food demands more from the Earth than it can handle. The result is depletion of soils and raw material reserves, pollution of water and the atmosphere and loss of biodiversity. This calls for a different, more circular use of raw materials and valuable nutrients. By turning waste streams into new raw materials, we waste fewer valuable substances, while fewer new raw materials need to be extracted.
Wageningen Institute for Environment and Climate Research (WIMEK), one of the six Graduate Schools of Wageningen University & Research, studies changes in our natural environment, their consequences for life on Earth, and how we can adapt to mitigate harmful effects.
In doing so, WIMEK researchers focus on three major societal challenges: climate action, managing our future biosphere, and developing circular systems. They do this through innovative and multidisciplinary research, looking beyond the borders of the Netherlands. The research is broad and diverse: from determining the exact risks of microplastics to contributing to policy-making at the highest political levels.
With their research addressing these three Grand Challenges, Wageningen researchers help develop solutions to the social and scientific issues facing us today due to the changing natural living environment.
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