Natural and Nature‑Based Features to Deliver Value for People, Planet, and Prosperity For the Netherlands, a country of which about 30% is below sea level and about 60% of its surface is flood‑prone, “Engineering With Nature approaches” have become essential for improving our flood safety in an adaptive manner. It also enables us to achieve other societal goals regarding spatial planning, ecosystem, navigation and recreation. As such, “Engineering With Nature” influences not only the flood safety but also the quality of life for millions of people living in these areas. The Dutch Delta Program sets the Dutch national policy and associated programs, backed up by a Delta Law and a Delta Fund. This firmly connects our adaptive flood safety approach with spatial quality ambitions, increasing our nations’ resiliency to sea level rise and more extreme weather due to climate change. “Engineering With Nature” has actually become the preferred innovative option in many Dutch cases. However, we also learned that it involves a different approach as we are working in and with inherently dynamic systems. Upfront modelling, full‑scale testing, extensive stakeholder engagement, and a careful project management and monitoring of its effects have proven to be essential aspects for a successful project. We learned that in the Netherlands, exploiting the full potential of “Engineering With Nature” solutions will also require a transition from our traditional object‑based asset management to an integrated, system‑based asset management, involving and engaging many stakeholders. Rijkswaterstaat and the Dutch Regional Water Authorities, together with knowledge institutes such as Deltares, are very pleased with the opportunity to share and discuss our approaches, examples, and best practices with a broad international community. In this way, we aim not only to learn ourselves, but also to contribute to the global adoption of these adaptive approaches for coastal, estuarine and fluvial systems. Working with “Natural and Nature‑based Systems” is a very dynamic science, challenging us to understand our various natural systems even better, adapt to them in a sensible way, and keep learning from our experiences. This guideline reflects our current thinking on using “Natural and Nature‑based Features” on adaptive flood safety and biodiversity goals, while simultaneously contributing to many other societal goals.
Foreword
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