The Dutch coast is a single coherent sandy system. What would be best approach towards the sustainable maintenance of our coast? The answer to this question calls for long-term research.
The Dutch coast is an area with a variety of uses: flood risk management, recreation, nature and economic activity. The coast is protected in various ways, sand replenishments being one of them. The ‘Sand Motor’, a peninsula off the coast of the province of Zuid-Holland, is a fine example of Building with Nature. With a view to climate change and rising sea levels, further research is needed into the possibilities of sand replenishments, particularly in the long term. This is one of the conclusions of the Delta Programme 2015.
Coastal Genesis 2.0 focuses on six themes:
- Long-term coastal development: additional monitoring and modelling to gain a better understanding of the workings of the tidal inlet system, exchange on deeper water and other factors determining the required replenishment volume.
- Amelander Zeegat outer deltas replenishment: developing a replenishment pilot project to learn about the morphology and ecology of tidal inlets.
- Ecology: effects and opportunities of changing replenishment volumes and replenishment sites for ecology.
- Learning as we go: gaining experience with potential strategies by using experimental gardens and test replenishments.
- Data management: all data that is used or needs to be collected must be managed in a secure and accessible manner.
- Upcoming topics: such as the optimisation of sand extraction, spatial planning and economy.
Coastal Genesis 2.0 is also part of the Interreg project Building with Nature, a joint venture with Norway, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Denmark and Scotland. A key feature of this collaboration is sharing knowledge and data.
If you would like to know more about Coastal Genesis 2.0, please feel free to contact Carola van Gelder-Maas.