Darkness and Light Pollution

As part of the Interreg North Sea Program, this international collaborative project of universities, national parks, ports and municipalities focuses on reducing light pollution in the North Sea region. The Darker Sky research group (Rudolf Agricola School) is working on sustainable forms of lighting that balance safety and functionality, protecting darkness.

In the new project Minder licht, meer zien the University of Groningen is collaborating with the Natuur en Milieufederaties to restore darkness in 3 iconic areas: the Wadden area, the Veluwe, and National Park Nieuw Land. The ambition is to make these pilot areas 25 to 50% darker in 4 years. The Kapteyn Institute contributes by taking light measurements.

The citizen science project Donker Dichtbij builds on experiences from the Darkness of the Wadden program. Together with Science LinX, we involve schools, community organizations and families in discovering, monitoring and protecting nature at night. We help ten Groningen schools transform their schoolyards into ‘night gardens’ and we organise a big contest to motivate people to create the best night garden.

Programma Donkerte van de Wadden raised awareness of the importance of dark nights. Together with entrepreneurs and local partners, we developed a string of darkness experience spots along the entire Wadden coast where everyone is welcome to experience the unique darkness of the Wadden for themselves.

As part of the Interreg North Sea Programme, this international collaborative project of three universities focused on developing a standardized, science-based method to accurately measure light pollution using Sky Quality Cameras (SQC). The project has a follow-up under the name Darker Sky.

Using Sky Quality Meters (SQM), researchers from the Kapteyn Institute measure the amount of light pollution in the sky in the northern Netherlands. The measurement network was set up as part of Programma Donkerte van de Wadden in cooperation with Staatsbosbeheer, Natuurmonumenten and the Natuur- en Milieufederaties of Friesland and Groningen.

The University of Groningen, Municipality of Het Hogeland and Province of Groningen are working together with local entrepreneurs to reduce light emissions in the port of Lauwersoog. The goal is to reduce it by 50% over the next 3 years. This not only benefits the nearby nature, but also leads to energy savings for the companies involved. The Kapteyn Institute contributes by taking light measurements.

During the Night of the Night, organized by the Natuur en Milieufederaties, activities are organized throughout the country that embrace darkness. The University of Groningen has participated for many years. Participants get the chance to experience the night in a unique way, from nighttime walks with forest rangers to stargazing evenings at the Kapteyn Institute's Blaauw Observatory.

In 2016, the Lauwersmeer National Park was named a Dark Sky Park. This means that it is dark in this place and that this darkness will be preserved, but also that as a visitor you are welcome to experience the darkness here at night. Staatsbosbeheer and the University of Groningen are working closely together to preserve and utilize the darkness in the area for both scientific research and public activities.