The provinces of North and South Holland asked the Interreg Europe secretariat to organise a peer Review around the availability of fresh water and drinking water. The meeting work opened by CdK Arthur van Dijk.
The provinces of North and South Holland asked the Interreg Europe secretariat to organise a peer Review around the availability of fresh water and drinking water. The meeting work opened by CdK Arthur van Dijk.
‘The crisis is already there, but we are not yet sufficiently prepared for the consequences of climate change and extreme weather events such as floods and drought that affect our regions. So we will see the water issue move to the top of the political agenda through increased investment and an improved governance structure that outlines the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders.’
Within the FREIIA project, work has been done on solution directions for Schiermonnikoog to have sufficient drinking water in the future as well. Freiia has been invited to participate as a peer in this peer review.
A Peer review is an advice from a number of experts on a particular subject. From Freiia, the knowledge gained around Governance and the solutions proposed by the various parties for Schiermonnikoog were mainly taken as input to this peer review.
Main focus areas that emerged are:
- Strategy development (assessing needs and availability: deciding where the water goes, ‘moon’ mission, setting goals, involving stakeholders...)
- Dream big but start small (with some pilot projects)
- Evaluate all existing sources that can be used, be innovative
- Reduce per capita water consumption
- Pricing and awareness raising
- Consider sustainable groundwater abstraction
- Mix of solutions and prioritisation
- Nature-based and technological
- Work with your stakeholders (NGOs, industry, agriculture)
- Decentralise/localise your solutions
- Act locally but be aware of the ripple effect
- Consider water quality and pollution prevention
It was very nice that various parties shared their knowledge on this topic. The problem of North and South Holland is actually a problem of the entire coast. It will definitely be pursued in the near future.