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Precision farming (PF) technologies can help to mitigate the environmental impact of agriculture by reducing fertiliser use and irrigation while saving cost for the farmer. However, these technologies are not widely adopted in Europe. We study farmers' willingness to adopt PF technologies based on a choice experiment. Among other determinants, we explore the role of social influence for the valuation of PF technology features. The data are analysed using mixed and latent class logit models. Our results show that knowledge of fellow farmers who adopted the technology positively influences the valuation of PF technology features, stressing the importance of networks.

Climate change is the biggest “global health threat facing humanity” in the 21st century. Climate change will very likely affect public health on Caribbean small islands, as small island developing states are highly vulnerable to the climate change impacts on health. Currently, small island developing states already “carry heavy burdens” in the form of non-communicable diseases, malnutrition, and obesity. The Caribbean region is especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and this project investigates the impacts of climate change on Bonaire’s public health situation. The effects of climate change on various aspects of Bonairians’ health conditions are determined by focussing on the impacts on vector-borne diseases, non-communicable diseases, and mental health, among others. In order to explore the current health situation on Bonaire and the possible impacts on public health associated with climate change, desk research is combined with expert interviews.Although climate change induced floods can result in increased injury and accidental mortality (WHO, 2021), such physical trauma only makes up a minor part of the health climate change impacts. In reality, many more impacts can be seen in terms of vector-borne diseases, non-communicable diseases, mental health, and other health problems. The results indicate that Bonaire’s public health is vulnerable to climate change affecting vector-borne diseases, malnutrition and food insecurity, non-communicable diseases, heat-related stress and mortality, and mental health issues, among others. Decision-makers should take their responsibility to support Bonaire’s adaptation to the expected impacts accordingly

Small islands are particularly vulnerable to climate change because of their fragile ecosystems, small economies, and often extensive, low-lying coastal areas. Therefore, small islands, such as present in the Caribbean Netherlands, are expected to suffer excessively from rising temperatures, changes in precipitation, sea-level rise, coral bleaching, cyclones, droughts and floods. Despite this widespread conviction, scientific evidence of these effects in the Caribbean Netherlands is scarce, and as a result, limited adaptation strategies are developed or implemented by local and Dutch governments.In this study, an analysis is conducted assessing the impacts of climate change for the island of Bonaire. Given the uncertainty regarding the actual level of climate change in the future, four universally recognised scenarios are simulated, ranging from an optimistic scenario “SSP1-1.9” (corresponding to a mean temperature rise of 1.4°C at the end of the 21st century relative to pre-industrial levels), which assumes climate change will modestly increase relative to current levels, to a pessimistic scenario “SSP5-8.5” (corresponding to a mean temperature rise of 4.4°C at the end of the 21st century relative to pre-industrial levels), which suggests very high levels of climate change. Impacts are measured and reported at different moments in time, mainly looking at the years 2050 and 2150, representing short-term and long-term effects of climate change, respectively. A mix of methods from various scientific disciplines are used to estimate the impacts of climate change, including climate and flood models, ecological-economic models, as well as social-science methods such as social media analysis, participatory mapping and key-informant interviews. Although the sub-components of the study are systematically aligned and integrated, four topics can be distinguished: the estimation of the biophysical impacts, the modelling of economic effects, the identification of socio-cultural effects, and the exploration for potential adaptation options.

Climate change causes many problems, including non-economic loss and damage. However, non-economic damages are often overlooked as they are hard to measure and not felt by the wider society. The Caribbean region is especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. This project investigates the impacts of climate change on cultural heritage on Bonaire. Expert interviews, participatory mapping, and social media analysis were applied to identify Bonaire’s most important cultural heritage. Overlaying the resulting cultural heritage maps with inundation and flood maps from the different climate change scenarios for 2150 showed the predicted impacts of climate change on tangible cultural heritage. The inundation maps show that the southern tip of the island, with its lighthouse, slave huts, and salt pans, will most likely be flooded in 2150, as well parts of Kralendijk under climate scenarios SSP5-8.5 and SSP5-8.5 LC. The climate change impacts on intangible cultural heritage was predicted by means of expert interviews. Climate change is predicted to impact fisheries, agricultural practices, art, and festivities on Bonaire, even though these results are more exploratory and uncertain. Bonaire’s cultural heritage is at risk and the island will be disproportionately affected by climate change. Decision-makers should take their responsibility to support Bonaire’s adaptation to the expected impacts accordingly