U.S. and Netherlands Team Up on Sustainable Development
WASHINGTON — The U.S. will collaborate with the Kingdom of the Netherlands to create more disaster prevention strategies and green developments in flooding-prone parts of both countries. Earlier this month, U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan and the Netherlands’ Minster of Infrastructure and the Environment Mealnie Schults van Haegen signed an agreement that declared the two countries would work more closely together on issues related to disaster mitigation, sustainable and integrated planning, and water management infrastructure.
As natural disasters continue to afflict U.S. infrastructure, Donovan, who also chairs President Obama’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, believes that Dutch representatives can share knowledge gained from experiences dealing with the persistent threat of North Sea and river flooding in large low-lying developed areas.
“Our two nations have much to learn from each other about finding innovative solutions to age-old shared problems,” Donovan said in a statement. “The Dutch are no strangers to the forces of nature, and I’m certain we can benefit from their experience in disaster mitigation, infrastructure management and a variety of approaches to sustainable community development and planning.”
Over the last couple of decades, Dutch engineers have created a large network of dams, floodgates, storm surge barriers and other engineered works to help navigate the North Sea storm surge and flooding from the confluence of three major river systems. More recently, the have also plotted out hazard mitigation strategies that allow for controlled flooding in developed areas.
The signed Memorandum of Understanding between the two nations specifies areas of collaboration over the next five years. Those efforts include “promoting discussion and strategies on integrated polices and principles for stainable urban development in the two countries, exchanging experience on water management strategies and climate resilience and preparedness, and exchanging experience and best practices on integrated planning and cross-sector collaboration in the two countries,” according to the memorandum.
“Although the scale of our landscapes differs, New York and the Netherlands have a lot in common,” Minister Schultz said in a statement. “Both areas are river deltas. Both areas have estuaries, rivers and water basins that are vulnerable to flooding. The Netherlands has a long history in water management, but I am not coming only to bring Dutch expertise. I am also coming to learn from the American approach.”