Heleen Vreugdenhil

Deltares · Department of Marine and Coastal Systems

The increasingly active role of stakeholders in the development of innovative nature-based solutions calls for appropriate instruments to support and realise added value from their involvement. In this paper we apply a newly developed instrument “Cooperation for Added Value” (Co-Add) to a study area on the Dutch coast. The instrument draws on parti...

In 2012 the Dutch High-Water Protection Programme (HWPP) was initiated. This programme prioritised dike strengthening projects for the near future with a yearly budget of around 350 million Euros. A safety assessment 2011–2013 indicated the need to strengthen 748 km of dikes. To achieve this, it was recognised that generation and dissemination of s...

Hydraulic engineering infrastructures, such as reservoirs, dikes, breakwaters, and inlet closures, have significantly impacted ecosystem functioning over the last two centuries. Currently, nature-based solutions are receiving increasing attention in hydraulic engineering projects and research programs. However, there is a lack of reflection on the...

Long-term sustainable port development requires accounting for the intrinsic values of ecosystems. However, in practice, ecosystem considerations often only enter the planning and design process of ports when required by an Environmental Impact Assessment. At this late stage, most of the design is already fixed and opportunities to minimize and res...

Nature-based flood defence is an innovative design alternative for achieving protection against flooding. Despite significant advancements in science, models and concepts, routine implementation beyond pilot projects remains limited. To better understand why, we have looked into the complexities of nature-based flood defence implementation and its...

The challenge for port developments is to minimize long-term uncertainties associated with port operations, risk of increased costs, and large environmental impacts. The aim of this study is to develop a comparative methodology to assess the sustainability performance of a mixed set of ports (different locations, sizes). This methodology involves r...

Op dit moment lopen er vier project overstijgende verkenningen (POVs) bij het Hoogwaterbeschermingsprogramma (HWBP). Deze POVs zijn kennisintensief en er wordt dan ook veel kennis ontwikkeld. Deze kennis is soms te vatten in documenten, maar soms betreft het ervaringskennis, welke moeilijker overdraagbaar is. Het leren tussen de betrokken partijen...

To implement or continue water management strategies social support is needed. Social support highly depends on people's perspectives on water. However, these perspectives are not static and may change over time leading to changes in social support for strategies. Therefore, sustainable water management strategies should be robust. Robust strategie...

In this article, the authors address the challenge of including societal responses, society-environment interactions, discontinuity, and surprise in environmental scenario analysis. They do so through developing and testing a perspective-based simulation game for a typical Dutch river stretch. Concepts deriving from Cultural Theory, the Advocacy Co...

Pilot projects are policy instruments mainly applied to introduce or test new practices, concepts or technologies. Pilot projects can lead to a broader policy transition. However, the diffusion process associated with the pilot projects is not well understood. In this paper, we investigate the diffusion of pilot projects, focusing on the nature of...

Pilot projects appear in many forms in policy making and management. In an effort to understand the nature and use of pilot projects and improve their effectiveness, we undertake a practicebased and theoretical study of the pilot project phenomenon. First, we examine the roles assigned to pilot projects in the policy development literature and expl...

The debate on scale use in river management focuses primarily on the (lack of) fit between the bio-geophysical and institutional systems. However, in this article we focus on the 'subjective' aspect of scale preferences in water governance. We apply an adapted version of the Integrated Scale Hierarchy for Rivers to determine the degree of fit betwe...

This article presents the reframing of flood management practices in the light of social-ecological systems governance. It presents an exploratory theoretical analysis of social-ecological systems (SES) governance complemented by insights from case study analysis. It identifies a mismatch between the goals of the underlying ecosystem paradigms and...

Pilot projects are widely applied in water management. They can be used to test risky innovations at confined scale, but can also be used to delay policy decisions or to advocate a particular innovation. In this book the phenomenon ‘pilot project’ is explored both theoretically and empirically. A framework to analyse pilot projects is developed and...

In Evidence Based Policy Making, pilot projects have been recognized as important tools to develop 'evidence' of policy innovations. This paper presents a theoretical and empirical study of three water management pilot projects in the Rhine basin to deepen understanding of how they can contri-bute to EBPM and which limitations and problems may aris...

In Evidence Based Policy Making, pilot projects have been recognized as important tools to develop ‘evidence’ of policy innovations. This paper presents a theoretical and empirical study of three water management pilot projects in the Rhine basin to deepen understanding of how they can contri-bute to EBPM and which limitations and problems may aris...

Restoring the naturalness of rivers is considered important in many North-western European countries. In this paper, we address the impacts of governance styles on three river management plans in Germany, France and the Netherlands. The comparative analysis assesses the extent and means of involvement of different actor types at different phases of...

Is the existence of appropriate scientific knowledg e sufficient to ensure the transition to improved management of freshwater resources? The remark- able inclusion of estuaries in the new South Africa n water law in 1998 is examined in the light of this question. We demonst rate that the requisite scientific knowledge was present, but not integrat...

A pertinent question inadequately addressed in research on ecological systems and their societal management is "What is the role of environmental impact assessment in the governance of social-ecological systems?" More particularly, "How do the different EIA procedures relate to governance functions?" The conceptual framework developed in this paper...

Participation of stakeholders, Accountability of decision-makers and Transparency of the decision making process is conditional for Integrated Water Management, encouraged by the EU WFD and desired by stakeholders. However, many barriers exist to implement the proposed Participative Accountable and Transparent governance (PAT governance). Pilot pro...

Whereas policy makers and water managers view pilot projects as "stepping stones to the future", researchers are more sceptical regarding their effi cacy. In an examination of the nature and functioning of three pilot projects undertaken alon g the Rhine River, we establish that pilot projects are a social construct occurring at the in terface betw...

Projects in the public domain dealing with natural resources inherently serve different interests. Multiple actors are present, each with their own problem perspectives, interests and responsibilities. An analysis of the evolution of a floodplain restoration project in the Lange Erlen near Basel, Switzerland, reveals that conflicting perspectives c...

Pilot projects are policy instruments applicable for many types of purposes. Pilot projects are mainly applied to introduce or test new practices, ideas or technologies. Among the benefits and impacts of pilot projects, we found the change in perceptions and practices at local levels and notably, social learning. When pilot projects are proved effe...