earth science

Urgenda

Urgenda is a earth science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Urgenda rather than just read about it. In short: Urgenda is a nonprofit foundation (stichting) in the Netherlands which aims to help enforce national, European and international environment treaties. In 2013, Urgenda filed a lawsuit against the state of the Netherlands – respectively also against the government – at the court of The Hague, to force them to make more effective policies that reduce the amount of emissions, with the aim to protect the people of the N…

Key takeaways

Urgenda belongs to earth science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Urgenda to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Urgenda from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Urgenda is a nonprofit foundation (stichting) in the Netherlands which aims to help enforce national, European and international environment treaties. In 2013, Urgenda filed a lawsuit against the state of the Netherlands – respectively also against the government – at the court of The Hague, to force them to make more effective policies that reduce the amount of emissions, with the aim to protect the people of the Netherlands against the effects of climate change and pollution.

History The name Urgenda is a portmanteau of the words urgente (urgent) and agenda. It was founded in 2007 by Jan Rotmans (professor at the Erasmus University (Rotterdam) and Marjan Minnesma (lawyer, economic scientist and philosopher).

Success in court case against the government

Awards Doctor honoris causa of Saint-Louis University, Brussels, 2019

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Urgenda

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Urgenda claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In earth science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Urgenda before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Urgenda ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Urgenda

In research: Urgenda appears in earth science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Urgenda in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Urgenda is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2007 establishments in the Netherlands, Climate change organizations, Environmental protection, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Urgenda outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Urgenda in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Urgenda means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Urgenda out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Urgenda in simple terms?

Why does Urgenda matter?

Because it connects several earth science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Urgenda?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Urgenda.