3^rd International Interdisciplinary Conference:

Effect of Agriculture on the Environment

A conference on the cutting edge of science, management and policy to minimise effects of agriculture and land use changes on the quality of groundwater and surface waters.

The Hague, the Netherlands, 29 May – 1 June 2017

Abstracts can be submitted by 17 October 2016.

More information is on http://www.luwq2017.nl/

Download program

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION 

 (Abstracts are due by 17 October 2016)

•    Dico Fraters,  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  , RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, NL

Jointly convened by:
•    RIVM National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Centre for Environmental Quality, the Netherlands
•    Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, Denmark
•    Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland (GEUS), Denmark
•    Umweltbundesamt (UBA), Federal Environment Agency, Germany

•    DEFRA, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, United Kingdom

Objectives

This conference aims to discuss the entire policy cycle for water quality improvement. This cycle includes problem recognition, formulation of technical options, the process of policy development, interaction with policy makers, stakeholders and pressure groups, policy implementation, monitoring and research.

This conference also aims to intensify contacts, on the one hand, between scientists with a background in natural sciences and scientists with a background in social and economic sciences and, on the other hand, between scientists, water managers and policy makers.

In short, the objectives are:
-  to provide forum for exchange of scientific knowledge, research on system knowledge, modelling and uncertainty;
-  to discuss the entire policy cycle for water quality improvement;
- to intensify contacts (a) between soil/water related scientists, agro related scientists, social scientists, ecological scientists and economists, and (b) between scientists, water managers and policy makers.

LuWQ2017 is the follow-up to the successful LuWQ conferences, LuWQ2015 held in Vienna, Austria, in September 2015 and the LuWQ2013 conference held in The Hague, the Netherlands, in June 2013.

Target groups and keywords
Target groups (professionals, fields of expertise, audience) are scientists, managers and policy makers involved in the policy cycle for water quality improvement.

The conference deals with themes and topics characterised by the following keywords:
- Keywords for fields of expertise and scientific disciplines: agronomy, agro-economics, agro-sociology, water management, water policy, action plan, river basin management plan, hydrology, soil science, drinking water supply;
- Keywords for system description: aquatic ecosystems, terrestrial ecosystems, unsaturated zone, groundwater, surface waters, monitoring, modelling, chemical water quality, biological water quality, nitrate vulnerable zones, river basins, catchments;
- Keywords for best management practices: buffer zones, sedimentation ponds, constructed wetlands, incorporation of fertilisers, catch crops, erosion control, cost effectiveness, voluntary measures, laws and regulations;
- Keywords for substances: nutrients, nitrate, phosphorus, pesticides and other organic agrochemicals, heavy metals

Scientific Advisory Committee
Marco Acutis (Italy), Fien Amery (Belgium), Marianne Bechmann(Norway), Gitte Blicher-Mathiessen (Denmark), Carl Bolster (USA), Hans Peter Broers (The Netherlands), Patricia Chambers (Canada), Wibke Christel (Denmark), Frank Coale (USA), Ralf Eppinger (Belgium), Chantal Gascuel-Odoux (France), Piet Groenendijk (The Netherlands), Claudia Heidecke (Germany), Nicholas Howden (United Kingdom), Gunnar Lischeid (Germany), Claudia Marques dos Santos Cordovil (Portugal), Bob Middleton (United Kingdom), Stina Olofsson (Sweden), Miguel Quemada (Spain), Pavel Rosendorf (Czech Republic), Jaap Schröder (The Netherlands), István Sisák (Hungary), Roland Stenger (New Zealand), Ken Taylor (New Zealand), Lærke Thorling (Denmark), Frank Wendland (Germany)

CONFERENCE THEMES

Contributions (abstract submissions) are solicited according to the following themes (themes A through H):

A - Increasing our understanding of "systems function": research to increase understanding and improving modelling of the hydro(geo)logical, geochemical and biochemical reality;

B - Water quality monitoring: improving monitoring and data management;

C - Impact of climate change on land use and water quality: assessment of impact on groundwater and surface water quality;

D - Assessment of national or regional policy: effectiveness of programmes of measures on water quality on a regional and national scale;

E - Quantifying the impacts of land management practices on water quality: research (monitoring and modelling) at plot, field and catchment scales to quantify the effects of farming practices and changes in land use;

F - Managing protected areas for water supply and nature conservation: risk assessment techniques, monitoring and modelling of water quality and quantity for the protection of (a) water resources for drinking water supply, and (b) groundwater dependent terrestrial ecosystems;

G - Decision-making on Programmes of Measures: the role of stakeholder input and science in policy decision-making;

H - Implementation of Programmes of Measures: social and economic incentives and regulatory mandates that drive implementation (carrots and sticks).

For TOPICSs relevant within these themes we refer to http://www.luwq2017.nl/themes_and_topics.

Special Sessions – in addition to Themes A through H it is also possible to submit abstracts to Special sessions, see conference website.