Climate data visualization and knowledge dissemination

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Faculty of Science

Institution of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics

Internship at Stichting CAS

- An internship focussed on climate data visualisation and knowledge

dissemination -

Internship report and reflection by Romee Prijden

Author: R.W. Prijden 10761314 Daily supervisors: Koen Veenenbos, MSc Eva Boon, MSc Examinor: Dr. A.C. Seijmonsbergen

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Table of content

Personal statement... 1 Introduction... 2 Stichting CAS... 2 My internship... 2 Learning objectives... 3 Projects... 4

Project 1 : A citizen tool for green roofs in Amersfoort...4

Project 2 : Creating a framework for rapid climate risk assessment for C40 cities...8

Project 3 : The role of soils and surface in urban climate adaptation strategies...11

Other projects and contributions worth mentioning...12

Personal development... 14

Exploring ArcGIS Pro and the ArcGIS online environment...14

Presenting and explaining my work to clients and colleagues...14

Translating complex knowledge to more approachable information...14

Writing for general public... 14

Following coding courses... 14

Reflection... 15

What went well?... 15

What went not so well?... 15

Room for personal improvement... 16

Positive remarks for CAS... 16

Suggestions for CAS... 16

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Personal statement

Over the past five months, I have been working at Stichting Climate Adaptation Services (CAS). An inspirational company with great employees. I would like to express my heartiest gratitude to all my colleagues who have helped and supported me throughout this internship.

After one month, the COVID-19 outbreak started, which forced us all to work from home. Therefore, I have faced more challenges than I anticipated beforehand. Getting involved with different projects was more difficult because there was less interaction between colleagues. However, due to the great guidance I have received, I have not felt alone in this process of a second and I was able to contribute to over 10 different projects.

My sincere thanks go out to my supervisors for providing me valuable guidance and helpful feedback throughout my internship. Due to our weekly meeting I was able to get a good overview of my tasks and activities. This allowed me to work in a more structured way and keep track of my efficiency.

My gratitude also goes out to our communication specialist for reviewing my Dutch writing. Due to her feedback, I was able to improve my skills in writing for a general public.

I still have to develop a lot of skills before I can call myself a true professional. But working at CAS did give me more motivation and inspiration to keep learning and developing.

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Introduction

Stichting CAS

Stichting Climate Adaptation Services (CAS) is a Dutch not-for-profit organization that makes climate information accessible, understandable, and applicable. CAS does this by using different communication and visualisation tools. It originated as a spin-off from the Dutch government’s “Knowledge for Climate” program (2007 – 2014). CAS has a long track-record of (inter)national work on climate change adaptation in the Netherlands, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal & South-Africa. As an independent knowledge broker, CAS occupies a central role in the Dutch climate change network. They are responsible developing and managing the Dutch Climate Impact Atlas (www. klimaateffectatlas.nl ) and Spatial Adaptation Knowledge Portal (https://ruimtelijkeadaptatie.nl/). The latter is considered as the significant platform for climate adaptation in the Netherlands. The office is located in the most sustainable office building in the Netherlands: the water tower in Bussum (figure 1). CAS currently has fourteen staff members, with varying educational backgrounds such as Spatial Sciences, Resource Management and Land and Water

Management. Figure 2 shows some important information about CAS in numbers.

56

CLIENTS

29

ATLASSES

20

COUNTRIES

14

EMPLOYEES

Figure 2: CAS in numbers.

My internship

Ever since I started the master Earth Sciences, I wanted to be able to use the knowledge that I have gained during my studies. Also, after doing a thesis for 10 months, I wanted to broaden my horizon and figure out what possible job opportunities match my academic background. Therefore, I was looking for an internship that would not consist of a single research project. I found CAS online while searching for internship opportunities related to climate change, policy and geo-information systems. I got in touch with CAS after sending an email with my resume and a motivation letter to one of their employees. There were no vacancies at that time, but they asked me to drop by for an interview anyway. During the interview in December, I had to introduce myself and tell something about my academic background. Also, I had to explain why I wanted to do an internship at CAS. In return, I was taught more about the work of CAS and the possible internship possibilities. After the interview, I was offered a five month internship starting on the 3rd_{of February until the 3}rd_{of July. The plan was to}

work three days at the office and one day from home. Rather than doing another five month individual research, I was hired as project intern. This way, I was able to contribute to many different projects, with different scopes, both national and international and over different time scales. Also, I always worked on different projects at the same time. Because the wide variety of projects, I have cooperated with almost everyone at the office.

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I was hired because of my knowledge on soil and geomorphology and my GIS skills. However, looking back on the internship, I was mainly responsible for climate data visualisation and knowledge dissemination. CAS did not devise a particular assignment. Together with multiple colleagues, we created my assignments and project along the way.

Learning objectives

Prior to the internship, I made a list of learning objectives. I came up with four main objectives before I started my internship.

1. I wanted to learn how to operate in a professional / working environment.

For me, this was important since I did not have any experience with working within the field of environmental management or climate science. I have over six years of experience in hospitality. This allowed me to develop social skills, organizational skills, and leadership skills. Also, it taught me how to handle complaints and solve awkward situations. But there were also a few things that I was not very good at, which were my working efficiency, working with deadlines (I always think I perform best when under pressure) and working at different projects at the same time. In addition, the combination of university and a job in hospitality made it almost impossible to develop a healthy rhythm. Also, both of my studies were taught in English. Therefor, it is often challenging to write, discuss, explain, present and debate in Dutch. By doing a Dutch internship I wanted to learn Dutch terminology to make myself more fluent as a professional.

2. I wanted to learn how to use the knowledge I have gained over the years and put it in practice. This was important for me because I have been studying in the field of earth

sciences/climate studies for nearly six years and I had no idea on how my knowledge could be put in practice unless it was for a research paper or presentation. Therefore, I wanted to work with different people and in different projects. I wanted to use my internship to figure out how my academic knowledge relates to the field of environmental management and climate science.

3. I wanted to develop more geo-information skills.

This was important since I believe that GIS skills are useful in the field of earth science and climate science. In addition, I wanted to learn more about using the modelbuilder function and Python coding to automate data processing. Developing these skills would help me to distinguish myself from competition when looking for job opportunities.

4. I wanted to figure out what kind of job I wanted to apply for after graduating.

After doing a long thesis, I was kind of fed up with lab research and field work. I already decided that I was not going to do a PhD within the first year of graduating. But, when searching for internship opportunities, it was already challenging to find something that matched my academic background and was not a research-related position. I figured that I would have the same issues when applying for jobs after graduating. By doing an internship, I was hoping to get more insight in what my future career could be like and what functions match my academic background.

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Projects

Project 1 : A citizen tool for green roofs in Amersfoort

Duration ± 5 weeks (February + March)

Main activity ArcGIS Pro, Modelbuilder, Storymapping

Introduction

After two weeks of getting to know the company and doing a lot of online ESRI teaching courses, I was officially assigned my first project. The green roof tool / flat roof analysis project was one of six pilot studies of the National ‘DNA van de stad’ program1_{. In this campaign, Wageningen and Research,}

Stowa, Deltares, TNO and CAS combine their knowledge and expertise to include soil and surface within Dutch climate adaptation planning. CAS is involved in the Amersfoort pilot on the application of green roofs as a climate adaptation measure.

A green roof is a popular method to limit the effects of climate change and to contribute to a climate robust and healthy living environment. A green roof has many economic, ecological, and social advantages. For example, a green roof ensures water retention, air purification, a lower ambient temperature, heat regulation, energy savings and biodiversity in the city. Green roofs are part of climate-proof building. Moreover, people feel much more comfortable in a green environment than in a grey one2_{. A green roof consists of sedum plants on an existing "flat" roof. Sedum is a strong}

succulent plant that is low maintenance and can withstand drought and extremely high moisture. Because it is lightweight and does not root deeply, it is ideal for laying on a roof3_.

In the Netherlands, many municipalities and waterboards provide a subsidy for the construction of a green roof. The subsidy can reach up amount to € 30 per m2. To disclose the subsidy to the residents of Amersfoort, a tool had to be made. The tool has two purposes: (i) to show the residents how vulnerable their environment is for the effects of climate change and other environment-related factors, (ii) to enthuse citizens to install a green roof.

My contribution to this project was divided into two subprojects. Firstly, I did an analysis for the municipality to see which roofs are actually suitable to become a green roof, based on predetermined conditions and the use of open data. And secondly, I created the physical tool.

Learning objectives

Firstly, I wanted to further develop my ArcGIS and modelbuilder skills and also to get familiar with the ArcGIS Storymap environment. Besides, I wanted to learn how to approach the general public with relatively complex climate information. Since I had to create a tool for the general public, I had to make sure both the visualisation and the supporting text was comprehensible. But it had to be user-friendly, with limited textual explanations. Also, I wanted to experience directly presenting my tool for my client (in this case the Municipality of Amersfoort).

Methodology flat roof analysis

For the flat roof analysis, I had to find all the flat roofs within the municipality of Amersfoort. I figured I would be able to do this by making a digital elevation model (DEM) and a digital surface model (DSM) with an openly available point cloud dataset (AHN3). I was already familiar with this method because of my bachelor thesis but I did realize that it would take a lot of time to process all the data.

1https://www.bodemplus.nl/onderwerpen/bodemondergrond/bodemconvenant/thema/kennis/uitvragen/uitvraag2017/concurrentiegeric hte/ bodem-ondergrond-dna/

2 https://www.sempergreen.com/nl/oplossingen/groene-daken/voordelen-groendak

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Fortunately, Delft provided a 3D file of the Basis registration Addresses and Buildings (BAG). In this data, an estimation is provided on how high and how flat all the roofs in the Netherlands are.

After I downloaded the data, I clipped it to the extent of a shapefile of the municipality border so that only the roofs in Amersfoort remained. With the help of my colleague, we came up with two conditions for roofs to be considered ‘fit to be a green roof’. These were (i) the roof had to be flat for at least 66% and (ii) the roofs had to be lower than 4 meters from the ground level (Dutch:

maaiveld). This second condition was used because we wanted to emphasize the availability of

suitable roofs that are actually visible and therefore also contribute to creating a greener environment. I had to correct the data for the building height from ground level because the data provided building height from Normal Amsterdam Level (N.A.P.) Then, I made a new layer by selecting all roofs that met the conditions. I combined the polygons with a shapefile of the functions of buildings. I did this by performing a spatial join. I also combined to polygons to ownership data provided by the municipality. By doing this, I was able to see which suitable roofs are owned by private housing or social housing corporations. I deleted all roofs that were less than 2 m2_{since they}

are often too small to make significant contributions. This was the third condition.

The final result was a map with all suitable roofs within the municipality of Amersfoort. For each neighbourhood, I calculated the area of suitable roofs. Also, I assessed the distribution of suitable roofs in relation to the function and ownership. I presented all the results in a factsheet. An overview of the taken steps are shown in figure 3.

Figure 3: Schematic overview of the steps taken to perform the flat roof analysis

Methodology green roof tool

The Green Roof Tool is an ArcGIS Storymap with an interactive web mapping application. I had to make the map first before I was able to build the tool. The data behind the tool is a map with for each address in Amersfoort, the vulnerability for five themes: flooding after precipitation, urban heat islands (UHI), petrification, desiccation sensibility and fine particular matter of 10 ug (fine dust). These themes were chosen because they all respond directly to having a green roof.

Firstly, I collected the data. For each theme, a map was already available. Raster files for flooding, UHI, petrification were provided by CAS. A raster file with average fine dust concentration was found on the Living Environment Atlas (Dutch: Atlas Leefomgeving). The drought sensitivity information was provided by Wageningen Environmental Research. Then, I reclassified the data into three proportional classes. The table below shows how the classes were divided.

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Flooding Klimaateffectatlas Vallei en Veluwe

Water depth after severe

precipitation

Water depth after severe precipitation of 74 mm (m)

1. <0.15 m 2. 0.15 m - 0.30 m 3. >0.30 m Urban Heat Island

Effect

Klimaateffectatlas Urban Heat Island Effect

°C 1. 0 (min) – 0.72 2. 0.72 – 1.44 3. 1.44 – 2.16 (max) Petrification Atlas Natuurlijk

Kapitaal

Urban green map % of green within 100 meters

1. 66- 100 (max) 2. 33 - 66 3. 0 (min) – 33 Drought sensitivity Klimaateffectatlas

Vallei en Veluwe

Geomorphology Degree of drought sensitivity

1. No to low sensitivity 2. Moderate sensitivity 3. High sensitivity Fine dust Atlas Leefomgeving Fine dust

concentration (pm10) in the Netherlands - RIVM

µg fine dust pm10 / m3 _{1. 17.16 (min) – 18.59}

2. 18.59 – 20.02 3. 20.02 – 21.45 (max)

A model was created with the use of ArcGIS’ modelbuilder to perform the reclassification, to combine all the score shapefiles and to combine the climate aspects with addresses. Figure 4 shows a schematic overview of the model. However, for the vector data, it was required to perform manual edits in between steps. Therefore, it was not possible to fully automate the process. The final map was one shapefile with, for each address, a vulnerability score between 1 and 3 for each theme.

Figure 4: Schematic overview of the steps taken to create the Green roof tool

Lastly, I had to upload the map and matching tiles for visualisation onto the ArcGIS online platform. On this platform, I was able to make a web map application with a customized pop-up. This web map applicated was then copied into the Storymap. In addition, I wrote the introduction and explanation and created the legend.

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Output

Unfortunately, the precise methods and results of the flat roof analysis confidential. Therefore, I am not currently allowed to share the factsheet. This also applies to the exact methodology and the model of the green roof tool. The finalised tool itself tool however is shared publicly and can be found on:

https://Storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/aa373cf80ee846368df6fd42ea1910f1

Figure 5: Screenshot of the Green Roof Tool.

Lessons learned

What I have learned from this project is how use a Storymap to make a spatial tool. Also, I have learned how to use JavaScript to customize the pop-up. This skill is very useful when making tools in ArcGIS. With JavaScript, it is possible to make a visually attractive pop-up that provides clear information of the selected location. The project was not very challenging in terms of GIS, but I did have some issues with working with BAG data. Luckily, I was able to solve the issues myself. I have had a positive meeting with the municipality. They did keep on asking for little additions and changes even though they were not included in the proposal and budget. But I was taught by my project leader that when you have successfully delivered the project, it is justified to say no to additional work.

This project had a relatively strict deadline. Therefore, I had to work very efficiently. It took me a while to get started but overall, I am happy with the results. And more important, Amersfoort was satisfied too.

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Project 2 : Creating a framework for rapid climate risk assessment for C40 cities

Duration ± 6 weeks (May + June)

Main activity Microsoft office, presenting, infographics

Introduction

The next project I worked on was the Rapid Climate Risk Assessment for the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. This is a group of 96 cities around the world across seven geographic regions. Together, the cities represent one twelfth of the world's population and one quarter of the global economy. C40 is focused on tackling climate change and driving urban action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and effect of climate change, while increasing the health, livelihood, environment and economic opportunities of urban citizens. CAS has already done multiple projects with C40.

This particular project was to design a module for a rapid climate risk assessment that was simple enough for non-experts with limited access to resources such as internet, GIS, or climate modelling. Also, it had to be applicable for all cities, and thus for a wide range of climatic issues. The risk assessment included a climate hazard assessment and a sector-based climate impact assessment. For this project, I worked together with the climate adaptation department of consultancy agency SWECO. I was responsible putting together two interim deliverables and for the final version of the module, for both content and layout. Also, I was responsible for making user templates to process the assessments output.

This project was my first international project. In the beginning, it was very challenging because I had limited background knowledge of the subject. This project was an extension of other similar projects, so my colleagues had a clearer vision on how it was supposed to turn out. Nevertheless, I was able to make a significant contribution to the module. Our module is a 70+ page presentation with ten steps to perform a complete climate risk assessment. The templates can be used to store the results of each step.

Learning objectives

I was not familiar with most of the content of this project. My learning objectives were: 1. How to create a framework for climate risk assessment.

2. How to work with a relatively narrow deadline

3. How to simplify complex matter to something that is understandable for non-experts worldwide

Methodology

We worked individually on this project. Everyone had to send their work to me, and I was responsible for generating a structured module with visualisations and examples. We had a weekly meeting with SWECO. We provided two interim deliverables. On each of them, we received feedback from C40. I was responsible for processing the feedback and adjusting the module. After my internship has ended, a review webinar will take place with multiple cities. In this webinar, the module will be ‘tested’. Fortunately, I was invited to participate in the webinar. Since I was responsible for making all the result templates, the users might have some questions for me to answer. I will do this voluntarily but with pleasure.

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Lessons learned

During this project, I have learned a lot

about creating a framework. Simplifying a

risk assessment was a challenging task. But with a team of experts on rapid risk assessments and interns with no knowledge, we have succeeded in doing so. My generic background allowed me to participate actively. I had a lot knowledge on the ‘hazard assessment’ part without even knowing it. This is because I understand the effects of climate change in relation to city sectors. I learned that I could use my climate change knowledge for designing simplified modules, webinars and/or MOOC’s for developing urban areas who do not have access to climate risk knowledge and data.

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Figure 6: Title page of our Rapid Climate Risk Assessment module.

Figure 7: Schematic overview of the definition of risk.

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Project 3 : The role of soils and surface in urban climate adaptation strategies

Duration ± 4 weeks

Main activity Writing, literature study

Introduction

My third major contribution was a knowledge article on how to include the soil system and landscape in climate adaptation strategies. More and more regional governments are drawing up an adaptation strategy. The strategy is often based on the most important vulnerabilities that emerge from the climate stress test and the risk dialogue4_{. The vulnerability of an area is often strongly related to the}

natural system and how it is managed. However, in urban areas the natural system is often out of sight. For example, you often no longer recognize the underlying landscape due to the many embankments and excavations5_{. Also, the natural system of soil, water and greenery is often not}

taken into account in urban planning. The rainwater is drained through an extensive sewer system and the area is covered with buildings and pavement. Cities are reaching the limits of this facility due to climate change: extreme rain showers can no longer be drained properly, and during hot days it gets even hotter in the city. However, the natural system of soils, subsoils and landscape should be considered as an important factor in climate adaptation strategies6_.

I wrote an article in which I explained explain why the soil and subsoil are so important in drawing up an adaptation strategy for the urban area. I also discussed where you can find soil and landscape information. Finally, on the basis of two example projects, I showed how soil and subsoil can help in choosing suitable adaptation measures. The target group are stakeholders and sectors within regional governments such as electricity companies, industries, health care and welfare. These parties are involved in drawing up the adaptation strategy but have little knowledge on the natural system. Therefore, the language use is very understandable. The article will be published in the water-related trade magazine H2O/Waternetwerk somewhere in August.

This article started as an individual project I was supposed to work on. The objective of this project was to fill in the urban gaps of geomorphology and soil maps by interpolating existing soil sample registrations from the Basis Registratie Ondergrond (BRO). However, after a while, I found that I would be spending a lot of time manually filling in soil characteristics from outdated resources (before 1990). Together with my supervisors we agreed that this task was not rewarding enough to

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continue. Instead, we have decided that it would be more useful to write and publish an article for the general public to emphasize the importance of soil and subsoil information.

Learning objectives

With this project, I wanted to gain knowledge on Dutch climate adaptation and adaptation measures. In addition, I wanted to understand the process behind drawing up an adaptation strategy. Also, I wanted to practice writing for a general public.

Output

I have finished writing the article during the final week of my internship. However, my colleagues are still revising the article before sending it to the publisher. If it is approved, it will be online somewhere in August on https://www.h2owaternetwerk.nl/. I am willing to share the draft version upon request.

Lessons learned

During the process I have significantly improved writing skills. I received and processed a lot of feedback of my colleagues. Within CAS, there is no one specialized in soil and landscape systems. Therefore, they read the article with limited knowledge. This allowed them to give targeted feedback to make the article more understandable and structured. I learned that if you want to use terminology, you have to explicitly explain the terms. Also, I learned that somethings are better when visualised than explained with text.

Other projects and contributions worth mentioning

Summarising climate stress tests results

In the Delta Plan on Spatial Adaptation (Dutch: Deltaplan Ruimtelijke Adaptatie), it has been agreed that the whole of the Netherlands will be water-robust and climate-proof by 2050. The Delta Plan uses seven ambitions for this. One of them is 'identifying vulnerabilities'. In order to identify these vulnerabilities, all governments (municipalities, waterboards, provinces) had to carry out a stress test for the four key climate themes: pluvial flooding, heat, drought, and coastal / fluvial flooding7_.

In a stress test, the potential vulnerable locations within an area are identified. The test consists essentially of collecting and creating information that describes the future effects of climate change (the 'stress' that is placed on the system), and combining this information with collected data on the sensitivity of objects and functions for the effects of climate change. It examines where, when and which bottlenecks may arise, under a range of possible climate developments (scenarios). The stress test covers both urban and rural areas. The stress test examines the vulnerability of all kinds of objects and functions in an area but requires specific attention for so-called ‘vital and vulnerable functions’ (Dutch: Vitale en Kwetsbare functies). These are functions that are crucial for disaster management, such as the drinking water supply, and functions that, in case of failure or an emergency, cause serious damage to people, the environment or the economy (access to escape routes or hospital accessibility).

In the Delta Plan it has been agreed that the stress test will be updated approximately every six years to keep the assessment of the vulnerabilities usable. It has also been agreed that governments will publish the results of the stress tests, so that citizens and companies also have insight into the vulnerability of their area. However, the stress tests are often carried out by consultancy or engineering firms. Therefore, they are often not comprehensible for the general public. The province of Noord-Brabant created an information portal that collects stress tests,

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adaptation plans and implemented adaptation measures within the province. The portal is administered by CAS.

My contribution to this project was summarising five stress tests for the municipalities of

Moerdijk, Nuenen, Goirle, Heusden en Dongen. My summaries can be found with following link:

https://www.klimaatadaptatiebrabant.nl/voorbeelden/overzicht

During this project, I was able to improve my Dutch writing skills. Writing for a general public was very challenging since it was not part of my academic background. I have learned that terminology often requires an explanation or should not be used at all. Also, I improved my working efficiency. The first stress test summary took me almost a day because I was struggling with writing. The last one took me under two hours. I have spent around 4 days in total for these summaries (including reading and some other small summaries).

Making a dashboard for the Klimaateffectatlas update

CAS administrates the Climate Impact Atlas (Dutch: Klimaateffectatlas). To discover the content, a Storymap was made for each of the four climate themes: pluvial flooding, heat, drought, and coastal / fluvial flooding. I contributed to the Storymap for the theme coastal / fluvial flooding. My task was to create a new dashboard for flood risk data that visualises the likelihood of specific flood depths on neighbourhood level. You can find the Storymap with the following link:

https://www.klimaateffectatlas.nl/nl/kaartverhaal-overstroming

During this projected, I have learned how to make a dashboard web application in ArcGIS online. I did not have any experience with the ArcGIS online environment prior to my internship. Making the dashboard allowed me to figure out the possibilities of dashboards and other web applications. I did spend quite a long time on the dashboard but most of the time was figuring out ways to visualise the data well and to make the dashboard user friendly.

Climate adaptation monitoring brainstorms

CAS continues to innovate within the field of climate visualisation and knowledge dissemination. One of the recent innovation topics is monitoring climate adaptation. My task was to collect information on climate adaptation monitoring and to create a framework to support and enthuse regional governments such as municipalities to start monitoring various climate related subjects. Examples are monitoring the (in)direct effects of climate change, monitoring the (side)effects of adaptation measures and monitoring policy.

Together with a small team of colleagues, I have spent a multiple brainstorm sessions on what such framework may look like and how it could be shared with municipalities. Also, we collected many different indicators for climate adaptation monitoring and stored them in a matrix. We also presented our findings to an external company to assess the feasibility and potential interest in our framework. Unfortunately, pilots for monitoring are scheduled to start after my internship is finished. Therefore, I am not able to share results.

During this project, I have learned a lot about the complexity of monitoring and why municipalities are struggling with monitoring. I have reviewed the monitoring plans for the City of Groningen, the Province of Gelderland, and the National Knowledge- and innovation program Water and Climate (Dutch: NKWK). By doing this, I learn a lot about policies regarding climate changes adaptation and monitoring.

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Personal development

Looking back, I feel like I have learned a lot during my internship. It is difficult to highlight one particular thing that I value the most. Overall, I think I have improved the skills that I already had and developed some new skills that I wanted to obtain. Below, an overview is given on some of the things that I have learned during the internship.

Exploring ArcGIS Pro and the ArcGIS online environment

During the internship, I contributed to multiple GIS related projects. Also, I have successfully completed ESRI online teaching courses in Storymapping, suitability analyses, the applications of python and working with the modelbuilder. Overall, the internship allowed me to:

 Further develop ArcGIS Pro skills. I had previously worked with older versions of ArcMap. Working with ArcGIS Pro did not significantly differ from ArcMap. I did not find a lot of differences in the tools. However, I did find ArcGIS Pro more user-friendly since it is visually more attractive and provides faster data processing.

 Learned the benefits of the online environment and worked with tools such as Storymaps, web mapping applications and different kinds of dashboards.

Presenting and explaining my work to clients and colleagues

During the internship, I have presented multiple of my contributions. Due to COVID-19, this was all through videocalls except for my visit to the Municipality and attending the mid-term review of the ‘DNA van de stad’ program. Presenting my work allowed me to practice my knowledge dissemination skills and how to use proper language when discussing with professionals.

Translating complex knowledge to more approachable information

Especially during the C40 project, I have learned how to translate a complex concept to an approachable framework. Climate risk assessments are often complex and require data analysis skills. With a small team, we were able to develop a framework for fast and easy risk assessment that was even understandable for someone with zero climatology expertise. Therefore, I had to empathize with non-expert city stakeholders. I believe that when you are able to empathize with your clients, you will deliver better results.

Writing for general public

I participated in a ten hour writing course to improve my Dutch writing skills for general public. This course was focussed on writing Dutch on a B1 level. At first, this seemed very counterintuitive since academic writing has been a significant part of my academic learning path. However, it is still a good way to make complex information clear for general public. The training enabled me to write more

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structured, efficient, and clear. I also learned to avoid commonly made style mistakes such as passive sentences. I have practiced my skills in multiple projects.

Following coding courses.

Somewhere halfway the internship, I have started a 24-hour Python course on www.udemy.com. The objective of following the Python course was to eventually be able to retrieve data from the Copernicus Data Collection. Unfortunately, there was no time left to do so. I still have six hours left to do which I am planning to complete in July. I also successfully completed an eight hour JavaScript course. I did this to learn the basics of JavaScript so that I am able to customize pop-ups in Web Mapping Applications. However, I am still far from skilled, but I am hoping to improve my skills over the summer.

Reflection

Looking back now the internship has ended, I am able to assess whether I have learned as much as I anticipated. I did this by going back to my learning objectives and reviewing them individually. For all four objectives, I found some things that worked out well and some things that worked out a little bit less well.

What went well?

Even without being able to work at the office, I still feel like I have learned a lot about working in a professional environment. I participated in a bi-weekly team meeting in which we were kept informed about the current projects, leads, to-do’s, etc. I found this very informative. Also, this made me feel more part of a ‘team’ rather than just an intern. I have also attended multiple calls with external parties. This allowed me to learn how to communicate with other professionals. Lastly, I have participated in multiple brainstorms sessions.

2. I wanted to learn how to use the knowledge I have gained over the years and put it in practice.

I was able to use my GIS experience, my presentation skills, and my writing skills during the internship.

I have gained a lot of experience in working with ArcGIS Pro and the ArcGIS online environment.

I am now certain that I want to find a full-time job, preferably within a government institution. Among my list are Waterboards, Rijkswaterstaat, the Municipality of Amsterdam and AMS institute. Another option is working in consultancy. This may be more difficult since I do not identify myself as either a ‘soil specialist’ or ‘water specialist’. I do identify myself as

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What went not so well?

Due to COVID-19, I was not able to work at the office for the majority of the internship. This made it more difficult to stick to ‘normal’ working hours. Therefore, I sometimes found myself working late hours or in weekends. Not because I was lazy at other moments, but because working from home gave me a lot of flexibility. And this flexibility sometimes resulted in being less efficient with my work. In addition, I have learned that I operate best when having a clear deadline. It makes it easier to plan my projects and keep track of the time I already spend on them. This may allow me to work more efficient in the future.

2. I wanted to learn how to use the knowledge I have gained over the years and put it in practice.

I did not need my theoretical knowledge as much as I thought I would. I used my skills such as GIS, presenting and Microsoft office more than actual knowledge on climate change. Only when I was doing a literature study for the soil article, I was able to use a lot of knowledge.

I was involved in less GIS related projects then I thought I would. Therefore, I did not learn many new skills in ArcGIS.

Due to COVID-19, applying for jobs is a little bit more challenging. I now realize that there is not one particular job description that exactly matches my academic background. I might need to apply for a more general function which means that I might have more competition.

Room for personal improvement

 I still have to learn a lot on being more efficient. But I do think efficiency develops over time. If I did more repetitive work, I may have gotten more efficient. I did experience progress with the stress test summaries since the first one took me a day and the last one just under two hours.

 Also, I still struggle to develop a healthy rhythm. I do think this is partially due to the working from home situation because of COVID-19.

 I still have to learn to ask questions. I sometimes avoid asking questions because it makes me feel incapable. And by not asking, I create even more complex situations.

Positive remarks for CAS

 I am really grateful for the guidance of my supervisors. By having a weekly meeting, they made sure I would not run out of work. After a few weeks, I got stuck with my individual project. For me, it was scary to mention that I was stuck since it felt like I was failing. But I got a positive reaction from my supervisors and we found a way to still use the work I have done in another project.

 I really enjoyed working on different projects at the same time. Because of the versatility of the projects, I have not been bored or unmotivated.

 My colleagues have actively involved me in their projects. For some of the projects I have actually contributed. And for other projects I brainstormed or reviewed.

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Suggestions for CAS

 In the beginning, I sometimes felt like there were no expectations of my work. Therefore, I sometimes felt a little bit lost. But this stopped when we started doing the weekly meetings.  As I got along with the internship, I had less interaction with everyone. But I blame that on

Corona.

 It may be interesting for interns to learn more about acquisition, budgeting and writing proposals. I do regret not getting involved in a tender.

 Also, it may be useful for some students to set more strict deadlines. Of course, I enjoyed doing things in my own pace, but deadlines sometimes help students to get more efficient with their work.

Concluding remarks

Overall, I am very satisfied with how the internship went. The past five months went by really fast. Besides from my project contributions, I was involved in team meetings, brainstorms, and webinars. I have felt like I was part of the team since the beginning. I do have a better vision now on how to develop myself as a professional within the field of climate science and environmental management. Doing an internship at CAS was a great way to kick start my professional career. Again, I would like to express my gratitude to each and everyone at CAS. I am sad that my internship has ended but I am looking forward to start exploring the job opportunities at CAS and elsewhere.