Dutch and US municipal, province, and county representatives share experiences
The Netherlands Water Partnership (NWP), together with the Baltimore-Rotterdam Sister City Committee, organised an exchange of experiences directed at public servants in the State of Maryland and the Netherlands. The Netherlands-Maryland Discussion on Planning, Policy, and Engineering for Resilience was held online on 8 December 2021.
Planning, Policy, and Engineering for Resilience
With the title Netherlands-Maryland Discussion on Planning, Policy, and Engineering for Resilience, the event welcomed representatives from different jurisdictions in the State of Maryland at municipal, county, and state level. From the Netherlands, representatives from Dutch municipalities, provincial authorities and water authorities were in attendance.
The meeting was for civil servants on the ground in Planning, Policy and Engineering. The meeting was organised for participants to connect and ask questions to their counterparts in the other country about their journey implementing new approaches to work with climate resilience.
Topics of discussion
An engaged dialogue between counterparts facilitated a vivid discussion and exchange of experiences. Topics on the agenda included:
- Nature-based solutions
- Green infrastructure
- Climate change adaptation
- Flood risk management
Maximising co-benefits
The suggested main topics turned into in-depth conversations about lessons on implementation of measures. The exchange brought to light the importance of stakeholder engagement, working with local community organisations, and considerations of equity to increase success of climate adaptation measures.
Further, the use of green infrastructure, nature-based solutions, and wetlands restoration were found to be common assets for communities accessing multifunctional benefits on water quality, climate adaptation, biodiversity, and flood risk mitigation. Maximising co-benefits was found to be key for both groups.
Additionally, initiatives such as development credits, subsidies, the combination of green and grey infrastructures, highlighting innovative and multifunctional green storm water infrastructures and integrating them into urban spatial planning, and flood plain preparedness were among the topics of this engaged discussion.
Partners for Water
This event was supported by the Partners for Water Programme.
