Youth
The Delta Programme protects the Netherlands against flooding, ensures that there are adequate supplies of fresh water and contributes to climate-resilient and water-robust spatial planning for the Netherlands. So that everyone can live, work and enjoy leisure activities in the Netherlands safely, now and in 50 and 100 years from now. This is, and will remain, a major challenge. Today’s youth will soon be at the helm.
Young people are important for the Delta Programme. New ideas and techniques they devise and the insights they acquire must be heard. Delta Commissioner Peter Glas regularly invites schoolchildren, students and young professionals to activities of the Delta Programme.
Young Water Authority
These young people between the ages of 14 and 18 are actively involved in the work of the water authorities and they constitute a ‘young think tank’ for the water authorities. Young water scientists are invited annually to attend and play a role at the national Delta Congress.
Delta Congress
Since 2018, students, trainees and young professionals have attended the national Delta Congress. They are also actively involved in content sessions and workshops. The speed-dating sessions for young professionals and senior water professionals has invariably been a success in recent years.
Reflection on the 2023 Delta Programme
The Delta Commissioner spoke with a number of students about the administrative introduction to the 2023 Delta Programme. Among other things, they recommended giving water shortages a more prominent position in the Delta Programme, since this is an ongoing challenge. At the same time, the students believed that it was important to mention the floods in Limburg in 2021 because they made people aware that floods caused by extreme rainfall are possible everywhere. The students called on the Delta Commissioner to give the text a greater sense of urgency: we have to start now. The students were asked to write their own administrative introduction for the 2024 Delta Programme.