Hooray! The Interreg project FIER has kicked off!
In Bruges on March 6th, the Interreg North Sea project FIER was launched with a 2-day event. All ten partners came together to get to know each other and collaborate on the initial stages of this ambitious project.
FIER = PROUD
Anne Martens, deputy governor of West Flanders and host of this inaugural event, welcomed us to Bruges and emphasized the urgency and significance of projects like FIER, citing the recent floods in France and Belgium. She highlighted society's readiness to adapt and stressed the need for increased flood awareness and self-efficacy. As Anne Martens said: "We need to learn, grow, and build a more flood-resilient future."
Anne was followed by a few words from project leader Patrick Broekhuis, representing the lead partner, the Province of Zeeland in The Netherlands. He stressed our goal to be FIER (meaning proud in Dutch and Flemish), emphasizing that achievement is only possible with tangible accomplishments. This sentiment was echoed by Peter Racz, project advisor of Interreg, who congratulated us by saying, "You have earned three years of hard work!" This sets the scene!
Innovative Ideas Shared
The program continued with partner presentations, during which challenges, goals and some innovative ideas were shared. West Flanders faces a challenge in mapping flood areas due to borders. A solution was provided by the engineers at the Builders School of engineers are developing drones capable of identifying weak areas in dikes to aid in mapping efforts. Additionally, great ideas were exchanged, such as the Festival of Flooding, an annual event organized by the city of Dordrecht.
Excursion to Diksmuide
The second day commenced with a meaningful excursion to Diksmuide, an area in West Flanders that was flooded in November 2023. The Federal Services of the Governor of East Flanders enlightened us on flood measures implemented here and the lessons we can learn from them.
Getting to work: defining FIER
The remainder of the afternoon was dedicated to communication and defining the main goals and values of FIER. Partners engaged in brainstorming sessions to conceptualize a fitting logo, a task that proved challenging for some but essential for encapsulating what FIER represents.
The day concluded with a valuable workshop on stakeholder and governance analysis. This session aimed to identify the stakeholders of FIER and understand their interests in the project.
Overall, it was a successful kick-off where we acquainted ourselves, shared valuable knowledge, and embarked on the first steps of a fruitful collaboration for the next three years. We can already be FIER of our progress!