“Join in if you want to make it a success”
"Really joining in yields added value, for yourself and for the Netherlands, but there is no such thing as a free ride. Make proper agreements today and stick to them." This was the advice that Wim Kuijken, Delta Commissioner and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the NKWK, gave to the more than 420 people who attended the opening conference of the National Water and Climate Knowledge and Innovation Programme (NKWK).
With the National Water and Climate Knowledge and Innovation Programme (NKWK), the Netherlands is taking the next step in its organisation of knowledge and know-how on water and climate issues. Within this programme, the business community, governments and knowledge institutes have joined their knowledge and innovation capacities in order to make the Netherlands water-robust and climate-proof. The participants in the opening conference came from government circles (50%), knowledge institutes (30%) and the business community (20%).
The opening conference was organised by Rijkswaterstaat and STOWA (Foundation for Applied Water Research) on behalf of all the initiators of the NKWK. The purpose of the opening conference was to explore, within the cooperatives in the Water Top Sector, the possibilities for new forms of collaboration and combining research and innovation programmes. The focus was on the themes of water safety, the freshwater supply, sea and coastal policy and spatial adaptation.
According to Jan Hendrik Dronkers (DG Rijkswaterstaat) and Luc Kohsiek (Chairman of the Board of STOWA and Chairman of the Hollands Noorderkwartier Water Board), this reinforced form of collaboration is essential to ensure success in tackling current and future water issues. Mr Dronkers sees global opportunities for the Dutch approach, and under the motto of “1+1=3” they will make an effort to achieve this goal. Roald Lapperre (Safety Director at the Directorate-General of Spatial Planning and Water), Maarten Smits (Managing Director, Deltares research institute) and Karin Sluis (Managing Director, Witteveen en Bos engineering & consulting agency) spoke on behalf of the government, knowledge institutes and the business community. They indicated that the NKWK offers opportunities for mutual synergy, export of know how and import of experience gained elsewhere. This will also enable us to keep the Netherlands safe, liveable and habitable in the future.
The informative sessions that followed brought the delegates up to date on topics such as new insights into climate change and water issues, and demonstrated options for international collaboration both within and outside the EU. In addition, the opportunities for collaboration were explored or further fleshed out in 17 workshops, focused on, for example, coastal research, rivers, dykes and dams, modelling, asset management, climate-proof cities, intelligent water management, the North Sea and soil subsidence, and on the interfaces between water and energy, food and nature. The agreements made during these workshops and the networks that have been formed will enable NKWK to get off to a good start in the months ahead. The next NKWK conference, next year, will take stock of the achievements.
The report will be published on the new NKWK web site, before the summer.