Successful networking day on the Southwest Delta
What is the Southwest Delta Regional Consultative Body currently working on? What progress has been made regarding the restoration of the tides in the Grevelingen lake, and the re-salinisation of the Volkerak-Zoommeer lake? And what exactly is happening in the Oosterschelde and Westerschelde? These were some of the questions posed during the first networking day for the Southwest Delta on 18 February.
The meeting was held in the Grevelingen Experience Centre at the Brouwersdam dyke. Well over 100 delegates, involved in the Southwest Delta, used this day for the exchange of substantive views and networking. According to Programme Manager Simon Brasser, the day was a success: ‘For us, as the Southwest Delta, it is of paramount importance that everyone in the area joins in with our ambitions. We aim to showcase the projects we have launched within the framework of the Southwest Delta preferential strategy and the Delta Programme taskings. The excellent attendance shows that there is a real need for a day like this!’
Provincial Executive Ben de Reu, Chairman of the Regional Consultative Body, opened the meeting and brought the audience up to speed on the progress of the consultations. The subsequent plenary discussion focused on the developments within the Grevelingen and Volkerak-Zoommeer Programme.
This was followed by several themed sessions on the governance of the Southwest Delta, the Zoommeer area development, Waterdunen, developments in the Oosterschelde, and the Grevelingen and Volkerak-Zoommeer Programme. The themed sessions featured lively discussions on the question of what it takes to have governments, entrepreneurs, and civic society organisations collaborate successfully to achieve the goal of the Southwest Delta: a safe, environmentally resilient, and economically attractive delta area with a sufficient supply of freshwater, now and in the future.
