River Delta Development

The Living Dikes Living Lab group and the Deltaprogramme Riverine Area: Sustainable and Future Proof Solutions
group, carried out their respective workshops. Congratulations!! 🎉
Workshops are an essential aspect of the MRDD program! They are meant to deepen research projects by collecting information and gain insight into the problems being researched.

The first group aimed at collecting the perceptions stakeholders might have on Living Dikes, and how these influence the implementation and upscaling stage.
The second group tested out and collected the opinions of participants on the which, where and why Multiple Flow Channel concept or Longitudinal Dams/Groins should be utilized.

Integrating stakeholders opinions, perceptions and knowledge in the research processes is essential, as it sheds light on many issues and benefits that cannot be retained or fully understood solely by literature review.
Projects like these have wide scale effects on the landscape and on citizens’ lives. Involving and listening to all stakeholders during the project development is an essential for the project’s success.

On the 7th of May the MRDD first year students attended the VPA Conference at Van Hall Larenstein.
One group in particular, utilizing VPA in their living lab assignment, had the great opportunity to pitch their project to the conference attendees and gather valuable feedback.

The conference focused on the Visual Problem Appraisal (VPA) methodology, a film-based learning and engagement methodology that represents stakeholders and their stakes using filmed-narratives. This approach falls under Mediated Participation. This is an approach where stakeholders engage with decision-makers through the assistance of media tools, like filmed interviews. The aim is to facilitate inclusivity in decision making process by bypassing various barriers which hinders participation.

Opportunities like this conference offer students amazing ways to network, view how the theory they learn during the master course is applied on the field, while also gathering feedback and insight into the academic research environment.

Another day of excursions for the first year students
The Waterschap Rivierenland welcomed the MRDD students into their offices to explain their role in water management and the challenges climate change is bringing to the table.
The excursion gave insight in the difficulty of managing rising water levels during storm events and assuring security for all. Extreme events are increasing the complexity in taking urgent decisions capable of protecting people and limit property damage.

Dear all,
We are pleased to invite you to our River Delta Development Symposium, organized by the 4th semester master students of the River Delta Development MSc program. This event will take place on Thursday, June 5th, from 15:00 to 17:00 at Hogeschool Van Hall Larenstein – VHL University of Applied Sciences, Velp. If you are interested in taking part, let us know and we are happy to welcome you!

During the symposium, we will showcase our thesis research through interactive workshops, posters, and presentations. Each student will share their unique project and insights, highlighting the interdisciplinary and international nature of our work in river delta systems.

Some of the exciting topics include:

Analyzing and modeling environmental, biological, and human factors influencing harbor seal abundance through the food web in the Wadden Sea – Maryam Gholami

Facilitating expert knowledge exchange on cultural ecosystem services in Bahía de Cádiz and raising awareness about impacts on ports and shipping – Tilman Meyer-Clasen

Applying the Dutch “Room for the River” approach to flood-prone Piura, Peru: A stakeholder-based analysis of riverine zones – Suzan Langebeeke

Testing AI-enhanced serious games as tools for transformative change toward the Sustainable Development Goals – Carlo Weigel

Exploring scientific, political, and operational collaboration to improve coastal defense and safety in the Dutch Wadden Sea region – Elske Krabben

Investigating the value of collaborative modeling for multi-layer safety in the Alexander Polder – Harm van Barneveld

Progression of collaborative modelling in complex problem solving: insights from theories and deltas around the globe - MD RASEL PRODHANIA

In addition to the presentation of the 4th semester students' research, some of the 2nd semester students will also attend and present their research!

We would be honored by your presence and look forward to engaging with you during the event. Your participation and feedback would be greatly appreciated as we conclude our master's journey. If you are interested in participating please sent us a message! H

ope to see you on the 5th!

1st years students had an interactive outing to Tiel Water Treatment Plant! 🦦
During this excursion they learned how waste water treatment is collected, processed, and reintroduced in the dutch river system.🚽🚿
The country demonstrates high-quality standards in reintroduced treated water, a key indicator of overall water quality. 🚰
The group also discussed the increasing challenges infrastructure faces with of extreme weather events. Intense rain events calls for alternative localized nature based solutions to intercept runoff and process it, alleviating stress from the water treatment plant infrastructure.

Final Phase - Suzan Langebeeke

Reduce the peak of the Piura river to protect from floodings
Suzan her research is focussing on measures of the Dutch Room for the River method in Piura Peru. The northern region of Peru, Piura, is dealing with extreme rains due to El Nino weather phenomen once in the 5 to 7 years. This extreme rain can not be handled by the river system and lots of cities, villages and farmlands are flooded. The organisations in Piura started with a plan to built reservoirs to store water, but this might not be enough to store all the extra water. Therefore Suzan is doing research about extra implementations of Room for the River along the river as well.

Suzan is analysing the locations of the river based on the Room for the River and River21 method (also used for the Scheldt excursion), next to this she is holding interviews and intervention workshops to determine regulations for measures and possibilities of specific measures at specific locations.

para continuar...

Final Phase - Maryam Gholami

"Understanding Harbor Seals in the Wadden Sea: Why Are Their Numbers Changing?
Mary her research is focussing on Harbor seals in the Wadden Sea. Harbor seals are the top predators in the marine food web. They play an important role in the ecosystem. The problem that focuses on is that pups' abundance is increasing but the adult numbers are decreasing.
In this research, Mary is investigating how the food web affects harbor seal numbers. ''I also want to add some other factors that may influence the food web. By gathering data such as prey availability, harbor seal movements, fisheries, and water surface temperatures, we can analyze and understand what happening to these seals. Then we can suggest and improve conservation efforts. For example, if we find that certain fish species are decreasing or disappearing due to fisheries we can suggest policies to protect the seals’ food sources''

to be continued...

During an organized workshop, students from Velp played out with the concept of stakeholders engagement.
Designing a workshop aids the understanding of people’s visions and enhance communication between contrasting views.
This entails being aware of the role the students have as facilitators of change.
Raising the questions like
How can to effectively establish a continuous learning cycle?
What kind of change can you bring as a facilitator of change? And in what ways?
All these questions brought students at com ing up with their conceptualized workshop.

Tomorrow is Annual World Water day, did you know?

The annual World Water Day is an international day dedicated to water on March 22. In 1992, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution to designate March 22 each year as World Water Day beginning in 1993. On that day, member states are called upon to raise awareness of global water issues among a wide audience by organizing events and disseminating information about water.

Key messages for World Water Day 2025:
- Glaciers are melting faster than ever. As the planet gets hotter due to climate change, our frozen world is shrinking, making the water cycle more unpredictable and extreme.
- Glacial retreat threatens devastation. For billions of people, meltwater flows are changing, causing floods, droughts, landslides and sea level rise, and damaging ecosystems.
- Glacier preservation is a survival strategy. We must work together to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and manage meltwater more sustainably for people and the planet.

The 2nd semester in Velp at Van Hall Larenstein started and the students got introduced to the program and the area around Velp they will be studying throughout this months. We wish them all the best and to have lot’s of fun.

On Monday the 27th, the RDD 1st semester students and others, presented their final living lab works in front of the Delta Climate Center conference.
Have look!

Last week Elske and Suzan presented their final conclusions from their research about heat stress reductions for elderly and children. This presentation was for all interested people and the GGD, the GGD is the health services of the Netherlands. They were very enthousiastic about the presentations and hopefully continue the work of the students for more reduction of heat stress with elderly and children in the future!