Dutch approach to flood resilience in Houston

The synergy of the Netherlands, Texas and Flood Resilience once more converged at the international SSPEED Conference on 12 and 13 October at Rice University in Houston.

The theme of this year’s conference hosted by the Severe Storm Prediction, Evaluation, & Evacuation from Disasters Center, was ‘Urban and Coastal Flooding: Building a Resilient Future’.

The Dutch approach to flood resilience was featured throughout the conference with speakers and live temporary flood protection demos:

• Petra Dankers, leading professional Nature-Based Solutions at Royal HaskoningDHV, discussed a resilient future with NBS focusing on the Markerwadden, partly comparable to the Galveston Bay Park Plan;
• Marcel Hertogh, professor at TU Delft and Erasmus University, elaborated on mega projects challenges and opportunities for the mega projects in the Texas Coastal Protection Plan and the Galveston Bay;
• Pieter Janssen, CEO of the Water Authority (Hoogheemraadschap) Delfland, elaborated on flood resilient governance and financing from the specific regional level perspective;
• Anne Loes Nillesen, CEO of Defacto Urbanism and professor at TU Delft, showed examples of designing for flood risk and especially Research by Design looking into the Galveston ring barrier;
• Anita van Stel, owner of VANSTELTEKSTEN, prepared for publication of collaborative Texas and Netherlands flood resilience knowledge exchange;
• Bee Kothuis, Chief Representative at NBSO Texas, presented the Dutch approach to flood risk, with a particular focus on the City of Kampen’s inclusive stakeholder approach: thanks to Kampen’s Climate Resilience Director Stan Vergeer;
• Raymond Hofer, CEO of Dutch Water Prevention, showcased the services and products for local flood resilience both in a presentation and with a ‘live demonstration’ on site at Rice University.