Matchmaking “Urbanising Deltas of the World” 10 December 2012, Rotterdam

1. Communities and institutions for flood resilience: Enhancing knowledge and capacity to manage flood risk in the Bangladeshi and Dutch Deltas Matchmaking “Urbanising Deltas of the World” 10 December 2012, Rotterdam

2. Application process • WOTRO-Integrated Programme (IP) • Two-stage process (pre-proposal, full proposal) • Stakeholder workshops in NL and BGD to define full proposal • Review Panel (pre-proposal): “Strong participation of wide variety of stakeholders. International, bilateral and national multi-stakeholder collaboration very well developed.”

3. Partners • Southern-based research institutes: • Institute of Water and Flood Management (IWFM) • Center for Env. and Geo. Information Services (CEGIS) • Institute of Water Modelling (IWM) • Khulna University & KUET • Southern-based non-research institutes: • Water Resources Planning Organization (WARPO) • Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) • UnnayanShahojogy Team & Dhaka Ahsania Mission

4. Northern-based research institutes • Wageningen University (lead) – Irrigation and Water Engineering group and Disaster Studies group • UNESCO-IHE – Flood Resilience Group • University of California, Berkeley • Northern-based non-research institutes • Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency • Dura Vermeer • City of Dordrecht • Red Cross / Red Crescent Climate Centre • Links to programs (Delta Alliance, Water Mondiaal)

5. Objectives • Assess and compare the strategies and policies of governments, professionals and communities to reduce flood risk and vulnerability in the Bangladeshi and Dutch Deltas • Contribute to poverty reduction through the strengthening of institutional and community capacities to manage moderate floods and increase resilience to extreme floods • Mutual learning and international collaboration

6. Research questions • What can be learnt from the similarities and differences between the approaches of the two countries? • Which (new) tools, methods and approaches will: • Increase resilience to floods? • Improve the effectiveness of flood management and disaster preparedness? • Lead to a better embedding of new knowledge and action with local stakeholders?

7. 4 PhD projects to analyze the strategies and policies to manage flood risk • Active exchange and joint methodology development • PhD 1: delta knowledge agendas in NL and BGD • PhD 2: urban flood risk management in BGD and NL • PhD 3: rural flooding & CC adaptation in BGD and NL • PhD 4: novel flood risk and disaster management approaches: comparison between the two deltas • Topic 5: mutual learning and collaboration

8. Mutual learning & bilateral collaboration • Rigidity + stability (NL) vs. dynamic + fluid (BGD) • Climate change changes the game in NL  BGD • BGD has a lot to offer in terms of resilience and non-structural approaches to flood management • Large infrastructural solutions (alone) no longer appropriate (infrastructure legacies) • A portfolio of “no-regret” responses to managing risk, that increase adaptability and sustainability

9. Rural flooding and climate-change adaptation in BGD and NL • Focus on how rural communities in the Southwest of Bangladesh are adapting to climatic extremes in practice, especially floods • How their social resilience to floods can be further improved • Localadaptation to climate change • Tidal River Management (de-poldering) • Adaptivecapacitiescomparison

10. New flood and disaster management arrangements • Focus on integrated approaches to disaster risk reduction, climate change adaptation and flood risk management globally • How these arrangements are constructed and contribute to building resilient deltas in Bangladesh and the Netherlands • Explorativeandintegrative