Programme
Impact on people and society
In today’s world, aviation plays an important role in transporting goods and connecting people all over the globe. At the same time, aviation causes noise nuisance and greenhouse gas emissions contribute to global warming. Due to its own success, the sector has moved further away from society and the effects of this are noticeable.
The programme Impact on people and society addresses the question of how we can close this gap so that aviation once again meets the needs of society. NLR supports people and organisations with the sensible use of aviation and solutions that contribute to the acceptance of (current and) new technological developments. We do this with factual information and new insights.
“ Flying as a great plus or a major evil”
Programme leader Rui Roosien on the Impact on people and society knowledge programme
To provide insight into the impact of aviation, we are investigating new ways of measuring and calculating noise nuisance from aircraft, for indicating the influence of routes on nuisance and for mapping nuisance-reducing measures, and the societal acceptance of drones and Innovative Air Mobility (IAM), at the national and international level. With new technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, NLR wants to optimise the collaboration between person and machine in aerospace, to harness the accompanying opportunities so that people can work in an effective and enjoyable way.
Some projects
Impact Monitor
The aim of the EU project ‘Impact Monitor’ is to create a clear framework for evaluating the effects of European aviation research on sustainability, economy, and society. In 2023, NLR developed a toolbox to support this framework. Additionally, NLR contributed to the development of the Impact Monitor Framework, including a dashboard, and to the specification of a use case for airports, particularly from an airport perspective.
Funded by the European Union, under Grant Agreement No 101097011.
DOGGIES
The goal of this project is to better understand how drones sound in urban areas, so that operators and policymakers can prevent and reduce disturbance using a tool that predicts how drones sound. To achieve this, it’s necessary to study how drones sound and how sound propagates through the air, this information is then used to create a simulation environment where people can see how drones sound in different situations. In 2023, this model was successfully completed, it builds on existing European models for sound propagation and aligns with existing 3D models of urban areas.
Transparency in aviation
Through the organisation of an event, we made contact with social organisations that focus on aviation issues. The goal was to get to know each other and learn from each other’s perspectives and insights, in order to increase social impact. We spoke with organisations such as Natuur en Milieu, Fossielvrij, SOMO, Stop the fourth route and the Social Council Schiphol. The meeting helped to better understand each other’s roles and perspectives.
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Research infrastructure
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