Water as Leverage - Wadden Sea Region

Setting the Scene for 

a Call for Action 

Wadden 

Sea Region 

Water for Climate 

as Adaptation 

Leverage Wadden


a Call for Action in 

Ribe 


as Adapatation 

Leverage Wadden Sea 




The Wadden Sea is one of the forefronts where climate challenges 

become a devastating reality. In order to reverse course, we need 

to tackle many challenges at the same time. Water As Leverage is a 

pre-project approach geared towards integral and pro-active project 

proposals that can cope with such a challenge. It aims to enable the 

needed exchanges between different stakeholders to formulate and 

develop resilient solutions that prevent crises, rather than react to them. 

“Numerous challenges come together 

in the Wadden Sea. Tackling them one 

by one makes no sense. We will have 

to deal with them in an integrated way.” 

Karin Lochte 

Chair of the Wadden Sea Board (2018 - 2022) 

In collaboration with the Rich Wadden Sea Program, the trilateral 

Wadden Sea Board and local partners in the Wadden islands and 

coastal cities of Texel, Terschelling, Harlingen, Emden, Esbjerg, Ribe 

and Fanø, we are exploring how this approach can unfold into resilient 

and implementable climate adaptation projects for the Wadden Sea. 

This booklet is the introduction to the Water As Leverage Wadden 

project. In a first part, we summarize the Water As Leverage approach. 

In a second part, we dive into the many shared challenges and their 

interdependencies across the Wadden Sea and thus literally set the 

scene for all the cases. 

W A D D E N

Water as Leverage for Climate Adaptation: Wadden Sea Region 

4 

Call for action

Setting the scene for a Call for Action 

5


6 

Call for action


P. 10 

P. 12 

P. 09 PART 1 

Water as Leverage 

1.1 Water can be a 

threat, but also a 

leverage 

1.2 From a nonresponsive 

to a 

pro-active approach 

P. 21 PART 2 

Say Wad?! 

P. 14 

P. 16 

1.3 Time and space 

for collective preproject 

preparation 

by design 

1.4 Integration, 

inclusivity, 

complementarity, 

and learning 

P. 22 

P. 24 

P. 34 

2.1 The wealth and 

values of the Wadden 

Sea 

2.2 Numerous 

challenges ahead, 

across the national 

borders! 

2.3 Families of 

challenges in the 

Wadden Sea Region 

P. 46 

Sources & Colophon 

7


8 

Call for action


PART 1 

Water as 

Leverage 

1.1 

1.2 

1.3 

1.4 

Water can be a threat, but 

also a leverage 

From a non-responsive to a 


Time and space for 

collective pre-project 

preparation by design 

Integration, inclusivity, 


and learning 

9


1.1 

Water can be a 

threat, but also a 

leverage 

Why? The tide is high! 

What we see, what we read, what we hear 

and only start to feel: our vulnerability 

in facing the consequences of climate 

change keeps increasing, and the way in 

which we deal with these challenges today 

only contributes to that increase. 

As the IPCC reports tell us: we must 

drastically change our course now to 

avoid irreversible damage. Yet while 

there are inspiring examples of effective 

projects, the world lacks a steady flow of 

investment into truly sustainable programs. 

Reversal is hard: we are stuck in static and 

outdated systems of working. Our vision 

competes with traditional approaches 

that lead to counterproductive, single-use 

infrastructure investments. 

Many project dynamics today are often not 

systemic enough (either reactive to one 

problem or fragmented in implementation), 

are socially too disruptive, are not at the 

right level of scale to have real impact, 

or are too slow for the ever more rapidly 

recurring problems we are facing. If we 

continue replicating the past, we will end 

up more vulnerable, on even less equal 

footing, and in a more fragile state than 

before. 

How? By a new approach! 

The development of the Water as Leverage 

approach started from the observation 

that current water-related projects and 

mechanisms (planning or implementation 

instruments and financing mechanisms) 

fall short of realizing the long-term 

strategic climate goals. And that is 

because water is considered a separate 

sector, a silo among many others. Reality, 

however, shows otherwise. 

Water is a connecting factor, since 

it relates to many of the Sustainable 

Development Goals (figure 1) . Social conflicts 

can often be traced back to unfair 

access to high-quality water. There is a 

direct causal link between the demise of 

biodiversity or a loss in agricultural value 

and the quality and quantity of our water 

supply. Damage claims throughout the 

world compensate (in)directly natural 

disasters. In these disasters, water is 

often the most destructive force. If we 

map the water hazards mortality risk 

and the population density (figure 2) , many 

regions come to the fore as vulnerable 

areas, where this destructive water force 

manifests itself heavily. Turned around, 

this makes water also a binding element. 

Water can be a threat, but also a leverage. 

Opportunities around water can catalyse 

necessary changes, inspire sustainable 

development, lasting partnerships and 

transformative climate action. 

10 

Call for action


We can create a positive and 

sustainable investment cascade if 

we tackle water issues at the source. 

Such an approach, in which water 

serves as a leverage for climate 

action, is crucial for that success. 

Figure 1 - Infographic showing Sustainable Development 

Goals related to water, from “The Geography of Future 

Water Challenges”, PBL – Netherlands Environmental 

Assessment Agency) 

Figure 2 - For centuries, the fertile sedimentary soils 

of the Asian coastal areas have been ideal for food 

production and urbanisation. The ‘World at risk’ map 

shows that at the same time they are among the most 

vulnerable regions in the world. 

© Architecture Workroom Brussels for Water As 

Leverage, 2018 

Part 1 11


1.2 

From a 

non-responsive to a 


Future trends for the Wadden Sea 

Climate change is heavily impacting many 

(figure 3) 

regions in the world. As the graph 

on the next page indicates, this is true 

on many levels for the Wadden Sea. The 

lines of the graph show the different trends 

leading to plausible crises the Wadden Sea 

will have to deal with. In short, we will face 

twice the pressure we are facing today by 

2100. 

The first trend is the increase in moments 

of extreme rainfall. It is commonly thought 

that the climate will get drier because of 

climate change, but in fact the average 

rainfall in Northern Europe is increasing. 

However, the rain falls more heavily on 

shorter periods of time, making it more 

difficult to infiltrate, buffer, or store water. 

The increase of the temperature of the air 

also causes the rain to evaporate faster 

thus leading to extreme droughts. 

The second trend that we observe are the 

heatwaves and the rise in temperature. 

The temperature during the heat waves is 

increasing much more than the average 

rise in temperature, as shown on the 

graph. The rise in temperature is what 

causes a chain effect of reactions such 

as the increase in evaporation and thus 

rainfall, the decline in biodiversity, and the 

rise of the sea level. 

The sea level rise is the final trend 

visualised on the graph. Because of the 

sedimentation process in the Wadden 

Sea, the sea level rise is much less 

tangible. The sea level rise of the North 

Sea is increasing steadily but is fluctuating 

drastically; when there is a strong North- 

West wind the sea level rise could go up 

to three to four metres. The islands of 

the Wadden Sea Region feel this duality: 

they are exposed with their northern or 

eastern part to the North Sea, while their 

southern or western side touches the 

Wadden Sea. The coast of the mainland 

is currently impacted by the sea-level rise, 

since the sedimentation process is not 

happening along the coastline: the land is 

not ‘growing’ like the islands do. 

Be pro-active! 

Reacting to these trends, the graph 

imagines three types of approaches to 

deal with the challenges ahead. Either 

we do not or cannot react aptly and are 

non-responsive (1). We move from one 

crisis to another more serious crisis while 

our way of living is heavily impacted. A 

second approach is to be reactive (2) to 

the one critical crisis in front of us. Facing 

the crisis, we fall back on known solutions 

from the past. This might work, but this 

approach often only offers temporary 

solutions since the challenges ahead are 

only increasing. A third approach is to be 

radically pro-active (3), not waiting for a 

crisis to occur before responding. We start 

pre-crisis, giving ourselves the space to 

come to comprehensive solutions that are 

truly resilient and future-proof. 

12 

Call for action


The Water As Leverage approach 

radically positions itself in the 

“pro-active” category. It aims to 

enable the needed exchanges 

between different stakeholders 

to formulate and develop resilient 

solutions that prevent crises. 

Figure 3 - Towards a pro-active approach, adapted to 

the predictions for the Wadden Sea 

© Architecture Workroom Brussels for Water As 

Leverage, 2018-2022 

Part 1 13


1.3 

Time and space for 

collective pre-project 

preparation by design 

Process of pre-project preparation 

In every sector – nature, water 

management, agriculture, residential 

development and so on – there are 

investments to deal with climate change. 

Today’s climate-related challenges are 

fundamentally interdependent, as the 

opportunities for development and progress. 

Yet every sector formulates its own projects, 

from one perspective, leading to mutually 

counteractive effects on the ground and 

often when processes have evolved too far. 

There is no time, space or process for the 

phase of integration of the different sectoral 

needs into resilient, win-win solutions. That 

is precisely what Water As Leverage brings 

in: a common workroom where different 

stakeholders are involved in the pre-project 

preparation phase of integrated waterrelated 

projects. At the same time, it is not 

a theoretical environment: financing parties 

participate from the start in order to develop 

the fundability of the implementation. 

A workroom supported by design 

The approach brings in the capacity of 

design to act as an integrator between 

different levels of innovation. It is able to 

combine technical innovation (integrated, 

nature-based and climate resilient 

solutions), social innovation (an inclusive 

process), and financial innovation 

(bankability of the implementation). As such, 

it aims to formulate solutions that will be 

replicable on many places facing the same 

type of challenges (focus on scalability). 

The example on the right (figure 4) is a 

school pilot in Chennai designed by 

OOZE architects & urbanists, City of 1000 

Tanks team. Within the free space of Water as 

Leverage, OOZE chose to start working on the 

renovation of a school complex in which water 

forms an integral part of the design. As a result, 

they realize three interesting breakthroughs. 

First, by choosing a concrete and ambitious 

pilot project, they could move very quickly to 

implementation, generating the confidence that 

the trajectory can deliver. The result is a school 

for 800 pupils, of which 300 resident students 

and staff, that uses 27,000 liters water per day. 

Secondly, this ambition is inscribed in the city’s 

broader master plan (A City of 1000 Tanks). 

The school is a first stepping stone in a broader 

implementation project that can generate water 

for 70,000 inhabitants and contributes to a citywide 

plan with 14 million beneficiaries. Thirdly, 

the project is also a pilot project as a school. 

When scaling up this typology to the urban 

education programme, 415 schools can easily 

be reconverted. Scaled up to the national level, 

the proposal even has a potential impact on 260 

million students. Master plans made within the 

water sector or within the national department 

of education have never led to concrete projects 

so quickly and have never incorporated shared 

objectives in its design before. 

By this design approach, Water as Leverage 

avoids sectoral silos and vested interests. 

Instead, it organizes innovation, transformation, 

and effective climate adaptation impact through 

the tools of broad collaboration, organized 

deliberation, and design. The program identifies 

needs and opportunities while building 

partnerships across all layers of society, all 

relevant institutions, and all programmes. 

14 

Call for action


Water As Leverage projects aspire 

to be integrated, inclusive, bankable, 

innovative and scalable. 

Figure 4 - One school pilot as a leverage for 

transforming both the National School Programme and 

the City’s Masterplan 

© OOZE Architects for Water As Leverage 

Part 1 15


1.4 

Integration, inclusivity, 


and learning 

Reformulating the question 

The Water as Leverage approach is about 

opening up and (re-)formulating the local 

question. If the question is from the start 

ignoring the overlap and interaction of 

challenges on the ground, how can we 

ever end up with integrated solutions? 

That requires collective capacity. However, 

vested interests and a history of distrust 

can hold back the processes. Water as 

Leverage is all about creating a safe space 

to rebuild trust so all stakeholders can 

tap into each other’s knowledge from the 

start of the project process. That means 

organizing a level playing field where all 

types of knowledge are considered as equal 

within the development team and building 

collective capacity to formulate integrated 

solutions. This approach differs from the 

(figure 5) 

traditional project approach. 

Complementary knowledge 

Offering a free space for pre-project 

preparation does not mean open-ended 

or not committed to deliver. The approach 

is about bringing together all parties 

needed for implementation, starting with 

those that have the local knowledge, are 

committed to take on the challenges ahead 

and have the (perspective of a) mandate 

to impact the local context. This local 

or indigenous knowledge of what truly 

happens on the ground is key, because it 

secures implementation on the long term. 

Within every Water As Leverage project 

preparation, the question is (1) who are 

the local stakeholders already active and 

committed, (2) how can they be better 

connected to each other and (3) can we 

thus pin-point what is locally lacking to 

organize to be able to add the most needed, 

complementary expertise, whether that 

is about design, engineering, financial 

expertise, participation, anthropology, … 

Interlocal learning environment 

Water As Leverage supports a shared and 

collective learning environment for different 

cases that face the same interaction of 

challenges. Recognition of others in the 

same boat gives inspiration, energy and, 

sometimes even leverage to operate in 

their own context. The learning environment 

is about facilitating practice-based and 

collective knowledge exchange – as 

opposed to sectoral knowledge exchange 

which is more common in regular settings, 

and easier because everybody speaks 

the same language. An urban manager, 

a hydrologist, a meteorologist, a financial 

advisor, and so on all speak their own 

language and have different positions. The 

learning environment is managed centrally, 

to make sure every expertise understands 

each other’s language and stakes and, 

actively helps drawing the needed 

constellation. 

16 

Call for action


As such, Water as Leverage is at the 

same time a free space from regular 

processes of project implementation, 

and their complementary to them by 

bringing all stakeholders into a 

long-term and pro-active approach. 

Water as Leverage 

Rethinking the approach for 

urban climate resilience 

WATER 

AS LEVERAGE 

The World Economic Forum ranked water crises number one in its 2015 assessment of global risks. Traditional project 

management cannot keep pace with the impact of climate change on global water supplies. A new approach is needed. 

THE TRADITIONAL APPROACH 

STAKEHOLDER 

International 

Organisations 

Government 

NGO 

Civil Society 

Climate related challenge 

Research & analysis of problem 

Feasibility study of solutions 

Project development 

Multiple stakeholders involved 

at different times 

Long project preparation 

timescales with narrow focus 

on short term solutions 

Difficult to respond to change 

once project is underway 

Solution only available at the 

end of the project 

Finance 

Financing 

Private Sector 

Implementation 

Inadequate solution 

User 

Confidence is very high that the window of opportunity – the period when significant change 

can be made, for limiting climate change within tolerable boundaries – is rapidly narrowing.” 

IPCC report August 2019 

Figure 5 - Infographic Water as Leverage: 

rethinking the approach for urban climate 

resilience. 

THE WATER AS LEVERAGE APPROACH 

All stakeholders involved from day one 

Responsive to changing 

environment 

Scalable and 

replicable 

in multiple 

environments 

Risk of failure 

reduced 

SOLUTION DEVELOPMENT 

CLIMATE RELATED 

CHALLENGE 

FINANCE 

IMPLEMENTATION 

RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT 

ALL 

STAKE 

HOLDERS 

ENGAGED 

Water as Leverage is an initiative of the Government of the Netherlands 

INTEGRATED APPROACH 

PROBLEM DEFINITION 

FUTURE-PROOF 

SOLUTION 

People 

Combine the world’s best 

expertise with local talent. 

R&D 

Catalyze innovative processes 

to understand vulnerabilities to 

future risks and uncertainties. 

Integration 

Co-ordinate closely with local 

communities and governments 

in an agile working environment. 

Process 

Ensure Government and community 

stakeholders work closely 

with experts from day one. 

Finance 

Source innovative project 

funding through public private 

partnerships, blended and 

private finance initiatives. 

Water as Leverage ©2019 www.waterasleverage.org 

Part 1 17


18 

Call for action


Part 1 19


20 

Call for action


PART 2 

Say Wad?! 

2.1 

The wealth and values of the 

Wadden Sea 

2.2 

Numerous challenges ahead, 

across the national borders! 

2.3 

Families of challenges in the 

Wadden Sea Region 

21


2.1 

The wealth and 

values of the 

Wadden Sea 

Why test the Water As Leverage approach 

in the Wadden Sea? Because as largest 

tidal flat ecosystem in the world, it is a 

region with unique qualities. At the same 

time, these values are jeopardised because 

of climate change. Or as John Frederiksen 

describes the Wadden Sea region, “an area 

where for thousands of years nature and 

human enterprises have been characterized 

by an almost symbiotic relationship between 

wind and water, paired with innovative 

human thinking and entrepeneurship. 

[...] Climate change will surely become 

the dominant external factor in the future 

appearance of the Wadden Sea area, and 

it will transform human constraints and 

opportunities.” Thus the question is: how 

can we steer the inevitable transformation of 

the Wadden Sea so to not only conserve but 

also strengthen the values that make the 

wealth of the Wadden Sea? 

Landscape value 

The very specific physical and biological 

factors have shaped the Wadden Sea as a 

complex tapestry of tidal channels, sandy 

shoals, sea-grass meadows, mussel beds, 

sandbars, mudflats, salt marshes, estuaries, 

beaches, dunes, quaint towns and harbours, 

high quality agricultural land productive 

polder landscapes and large industry 

and port complexes and windmills. 

flooding, erosion, island displacement and 

salinization. It has forged the locals as a 

strong, marine folk. For visitors, the Wadden 

are an attractive sensory escape of wide 

landscapes to contemplate, fresh air to 

breath, and the strength of wind and sea to 

hear. 

Strategic value 

The Wadden Sea coast is shaped by its 

bays and many river mouths, such as the 

Lauwers, the Ems, the Jade, the Weser and 

the Elbe. Important harbours, positioned 

along deltas of these longer inland river systems 

play an important role in international 

trade and ensure the connection between 

inland cities and the North Sea. 

Natural value 

It is of little suprise that the transnational 

area has become an UNESCO world 

heritage area of ‘Outstanding Universal 

Value’.The specific, unbroken and largescale 

landscape of undeep and relatively 

warm waters makes the area ideal as a 

breeding ground for natural processes 

to function and biodiversity to thrive.The 

Wadden Sea plays a crucial role in the 

international marine and aerial migratory 

routes of many species. Changes in the 

biotopes of the Wadden Sea thus have an 

effect on many other places in the world. 

Cultural values 

For centuries, human activity has settled 

itself in the Wadden, living and working 

with the threat of the sea, dealing with 

22 

Call for action


Climate change is inevitable. How 

can we adapt the Wadden Sea 

so to not only conserve but also 

strengthen the values that make the 

wealth of the Wadden Sea? 

Part 2 23


2.2 

Numerous challenges 

ahead, across the 

national borders! 

Climate change and its consequences 

cause many challenges at the same time. 

It is about climate adaptation challenges, 

but also biodiversity issues, economic 

and touristic development, the energy 

transition and social issues typify the 

difficulties of the region’s future. 

The next pages of this chapter give a 

systemic reading of the Wadden Sea’s 

trilateral region, built up according to the 

many challenges and characteristics that 

are at stake.Firstly, the globally rising 

temperature presents itself in the Wadden 

Sea Region with more frequent periods of 

heavy rainfalls and droughts, leading to 

more salinization of waterways and soils. 

Secondly, this higher temperature causes 

a rising sea level, which will first affect the 

coast of the mainland, and later also the 

islands. However, the discharge of water is 

already becoming more and more difficult, 

leading to flooding along the waterways. 

Thirdly, the challenges mentioned above 

affect highly the precious biodiversity 

of the Wadden Sea Region, both locally 

as well as globally, and both on the tidal 

flatlands as well as the mainland and 

islands. Lastly, the beautiful landscape of 

the Wadden Sea attracts many tourists, 

which puts a high pressure on the 

environment, while other social challenges 

are occuring: unattractive living areas 

close to industry, rising housing prices and 

lack of jobs. 

The symbols on the next page will be 

used as a reading guide to show these 

challenges’ complexity and interrelation. 

Together, these form the climate 

adaptation narratives for the region, 

and an ideal breeding ground for future 

discussions in Water as Leverage: Wadden 

Sea Region. 

24 

Call for action


Water challenges 

Increasing Temperature 

Fresh Water Scarcity 

Salinization 

Saltwater Intrusion 

River Floods 

Biodiversity challenges 

Biodiversity Loss 

Importance for Bird Migration 

Importance for Fish Migration 

Land Subsidence 

Natural and Landscape Heritage 

Difficult Fresh Water Discharge 

Sea Floods 

Type of Coastal Protection: Dunes 

Type of Coastal Protection: Dykes 

Sea Level Rise 

Water Pollution or Eutrophication 

Economy and energy challenges 

Military Imago 

Development for Renewable Energy 

Important Harbour Activities 

Agriculture under Pressure 

Fragile Industry 

Social challenges 

Dredging for Transport 

Valuable Heritage and Identity 

Lack of Job Opportunity 

Demographic Trends & 

Social Vulnerability 

Rising Housing Prices 

Touristic Pressure 

Part 2 25


Droughts, floods and saltwater 

intrusion are becoming ever 

more common throughout the 

Wadden Sea. 

Rising temperature 

Several different challenges in the 

Wadden Sea can be related to the 

continuing increase in temperature 

caused by climate change, which 

goes relatively fast in Northwest 

Europe. This increase in temperature 

has two main effects with a chain 

reaction of socio-economic 

issues. Firstly, the higher average 

temperature causes an increased 

evaporation, leading to droughts 

(even at higher average rainfall!), 

which in turn lead to salination 

of the dry lands in the region and 

evaporation of the underground 

freshwater reserves. Secondly, the 

high temperature and evaporation 

causes sudden and high peaks in 

rainfall, leading to the flooding of 

waterways, polders and valleys. 

Lack of fresh water on the islands 

The droughts, salinization and loss 

of freshwater reserves are especially 

felt on the Wadden islands. These 

islands have a very limited surface 

on which the rain falls and there 

is no incoming water from higher 

regions. The runoff of fresh water 

into the sea needs to be prevented 

as much as possible. This means 

the islands need to infiltrate, buffer 

and store their fresh water for later 

use in agriculture, industries or as 

drinking water. Storing rain water is 

not only important for further use, 

but this fresh water is also needed 

to ‘push away’ the saline water 

further underground, thus protecting 

the soil, crops, animals, and nature 

from the salinization. Today, some 

of the islands are connected to the 

mainland with pipelines to import 

fresh water, but the increase in 

droughts, agriculture production, and 

tourism put pressure on this system. 

Becoming self-sufficient in terms 

of fresh water is a more resilient 

alternative. 

H 2 

0 

26 

Call for action


Freshwater flooding 

The extreme amount of rainfall in 

short periods of time is complicating 

the storage of fresh water, and 

also causes flooding at the coastal 

cities since they receive a major 

inflow from the upstream mainland. 

At moments of high sea water, the 

disposal of fresh water becomes 

even more complicated, which 

makes the flooding of the lower 

plains is often unavoidable. The 

coastal cities and their hinterland 

have to organize buffer capacity in 

order to avoid flooding. 

Salinization 

Being surrounded by the sea, 

the Wadden region is incredibly 

vulnerable to increasing 

salinization caused by droughts 

and evaporation. Agriculture and 

horticulture are strongly affected 

and might need to look into different 

types of crops that can deal with the 

salinization. Grasslands and cattle 

are less vulnerable. Industries that 

need a high amount of fresh water 

are however vulnerable as well. 

Part 2 27


Sea level rise challenges in the 

Wadden Sea are only becoming 

acute in the long term, but 

problems do arise. 

Sea level rise in the long term 

Sea level rise in the Wadden Sea 

forms a challenge in the long term: it 

is generally expected to be relatively 

moderate in the whole North Sea 

Region until ca. 2050. As long as it 

remains moderate, sedimentation in 

the open Wadden Sea (littoral and 

sublittoral) and at its natural edges 

(beaches, dunes, salt marshes) can 

keep up with this sea level rise. 

However, current implementation 

of longterm projects should take 

this into account and be enough 

futureproof in their design. 

Current threats from the sea 

Infrastructure that lie outside the 

dykes or that have no natural 

systems such as dunes to protect 

them, will feel the sea level rise 

already now! In the Netherlands 

there are 12 locations with 

infrastructure laying outside dikes, 

such as West-Terschelling. Because 

of this peculiar situation these 

locations urgently need strategies 

to deal with the rising sea level. 

The challenges the sea level rise 

brings are often intertwined with the 

accessibility of the harbours, which 

function as logistical nodes where 

all the imported and exported goods 

pass by. 

28 

Call for action


Discharge of water 

Lastly, the slow but continous 

sea level rise of the Wadden Sea 

complicates the discharging of 

fresh water at the coastal cities of 

the mainland and puts pressure on 

the polder systems. The polders 

are already laying lower than the 

sea level and need to continuously 

drain their fields. With the sea level 

rise this pumping and discharging 

becomes ever more difficult. 

Part 2 29


Rising temperature causes 

declining biodiversity throughout 

the whole Wadden Sea. 

Declining habitats 

The rise in average temperature 

and the occurrence of extreme 

heat waves puts a lot of stress on 

the natural system of the Wadden 

Sea. Especially the tidal flats in the 

Wadden Sea warm up very fast 

during heat waves, causing mortality 

of shellfish (especially Macoma and 

cockles). This affects in its turn 

the bird populations that migrate 

across the Wadden region, since the 

Wadden Sea is an essential foraging 

stop on the East Atlantic Flyway, the 

migratory route between the Arctic 

and South Africa. 

Fish migration 

A second effect of increasing 

droughts is that freshwater 

discharges from the mainland to 

the Wadden Sea tend to decrease, 

especially during the summer 

period. This affects water life, since 

fresh water contains the nutrients 

they need for growing. In addition, 

freshwater gradients are important 

to maintain fish passages and to 

protect shellfish from predation. 

NATURA2000 

NA 

NATURA2000 

30 

Call for action

TURA2000 


Natura2000 versus human activity 

The nature of the Wadden Sea is one 

of the main attractors for tourism, 

which is an important economic 

sector. The whole region is part of 

the Unesco World Heritage and 

comes with a strong regulation 

of what can and cannot be done. 

These regulations might complicate 

innovative solutions, even some of 

those which are based on design by 

nature. How can the strict regulation 

of the Natura2000 not be seen 

as an obstacle, but form a help 

in discovering and implementing 

nature-inclusive adaptive strategies 

to climate change? 

Biodiversity loss 

Overall, many parts of the landscape 

are over the last years, decades 

or centuries altered for human 

use and created thus new kinds 

of landscapes, following different 

logics. Rivers where straightened 

to ease the boats to the sea, but 

has shown a loss of biodiversity 

over time. In the salt marshes, 

mankind made ditches to drain the 

water, but this has led to the slow 

disappearance of these important 

landscapes. 

Part 2 31


Housing prices, lack of job 

opportunities or unattractive 

living environments put pressure 

on the local population. 

Lack of opportunities, affordable 

housing and livability 

There is an increase in emigrating 

youth throughout the whole Wadden 

region, but for a diverse range of 

reasons. The Wadden islands are 

doing socio-economically well 

because of the touristic sector, 

which will probably increase. This 

has a negative effect on the housing 

prices of the islands, making it 

impossible for young starters to buy 

a house and stay in the region. The 

emigration of young people out of 

coastal cities is also often related 

to the lack of job opportunities 

and unattractiveness of the living 

environment. 

Attractiveness of coastal cities 

Coastal cities, and especially 

harbour cities, often have a 

vulnerable population with a low 

income. This is the case in Harlingen, 

Esbjerg, Wilhelmshaven, Delfzijl, 

Emden and so on. There is a need 

for attractive job opportunites and 

affordable, good-quality housing. 

These low income families are often 

less included in the development of 

their living environment and require 

therefore extra attention to make 

their voices heard. 

€€ €€€ 

€€€ 

32 

Call for action


Touritstic pressure 

The Wadden Sea Region is a 

touristic hotspot. The islands of 

the Wadden Sea have to deal with 

a big amount of tourists. This puts 

pressure on the local inhabitants: it 

gets, for instance, very busy during 

high season periods and housing 

prices are going up. The coastal 

cities, which provide the connection 

to these islands by ferry, have to 

deal with a big flow of tourists just 

passing through. 

Renewable energy 

Some of the harbours in the Wadden 

Sea are strategically located in their 

connection to the growing offshore 

windmill parks. However, this 

positive trend for new renewable and 

clean energy could be challenging 

for the Wadden Sea: the natural 

process of sedimentation has to be 

countered by dredging to ensure the 

naval connectivity of these windmill 

parks and the mainland. 

€€ €€€ 

€€€ 

!!! 

!!! 

Part 2 33


2.3 

Families of challenges 

in the Wadden Sea 

Region 

As outlined in the previous chapter, 

the challenges in the Wadden Sea are 

numerous. Water as Leverage strongly 

believes that the solutions for the water 

problems can be used as a leverage 

to tackle these other threats that the 

Wadden Sea is facing. What’s more, those 

challenges are also interdependent and 

hence, a solution for one issue is — or 

should be, if we work in an integrated 

way — an answer to other challenges. 

Water projects should thus also structure 

urbanization, organize urban growth or 

shrinkage, protect unique biodiversity 

and deal with related socio-economic 

issues. This integrated approach entails an 

enormous systemic complexity, but also 

offers opportunities. Because if we can 

link different dynamics together, we also 

strengthen the synergies between different 

users, interest groups, economic and 

policy areas, and financing. 

The next page displays five ‘families 

of challenges’. These are five recurring 

problems that we can detect in the 

Wadden Sea, already attempting to 

combine many thematic challenges into 

one integrated approach. They reflect the 

ambition to tackle the many challenges in 

the most efficient, integrated and pertinent 

way. These also reveal that we can no 

longer solve water issues as merely a part 

of a natural system. It is also, increasingly, 

an urban issue. While tackling multiple 

challenges together seems to increase 

complexity, it actually forms an opportunity 

for government and partners to develop 

solutions that connected the different 

problems and opportunities in new local 

and integrated development projects and 

in new local, integrated economic chains. 

Water problems are, therefore, not 

solely the responsibility of water 

experts; designers, urban planners and 

policymakers in the field of spatial planning 

in general also have the crucial task of 

examining how (seasonal) demographic 

concentration relates spatially to water 

supply and management, and how the 

consequent water problems correlate with 

global environmental issues. 

Seen through this lens, water-related 

processes become a driver for innovative 

planning strategies. Learning from Water 

as Leverage’s experience with exemplary 

practices that succesfully link water issues 

to urban dynamics and tailoring this to the 

Wadden Sea, we can identify five recurring 

solutions or perspectives. Combining 

these perspectives in an adequate 

way leads to sustainable development 

strategies and qualitative urban projects 

that, at the same time, solve water and 

climate issues. 

34 

Call for action


Aqua Landscape 

Portal to the Wad 

Hospitable Harbour 

Water-autonomous islands 

Living with Water 

Part 2 35


Aqua Landscape 

Description 

The landscape around a water 

system becomes a ‘sponge’. 

Different measures from source to 

sea make the landscape, both in 

urban and non-urban areas, resilient 

for both periods of little and heavy 

rain. In this way, pressing challenges 

like flooding, drought, water 

discharge in sea, and salinization can 

be tackled in a coherent way. 

Exemplary cases 

Ribe (Denmark) 

Harlingen (the Netherlands) 

36 

Call for action

Borkum 


Challenges 

Sea Level Rise 

Sea Floods 

Difficult Fresh Water Discharge 


Esbjerg 

River Floods 

Rømø 

Ribe 

Salinization 

Fanø 

Cuxhaven 

Amrum 

Föhr 

Sylt 

Saltwater Intrusion 

Bremerhaven 

Agriculture Under Pressure 

Importance for Fish Migration 

Wangerooge 

Spiekeroog 

Langeoog 

Norderney 

Juist 

Emden 

Schiermonnikoog 

Delfzijl 

Ameland 

Groningen 

Terschelling 

Vlieland 

Harlingen 

Texel 

Part 2 37


Portal to the Wad 

Description 

Villages and cities along the coast 

and on the islands are gateways 

to the heritage landscape of the 

Wadden Sea. They are hotspots for 

tourism and can thus showcase to a 

broad public the innovative solutions 

for the pressing societal challenges 

and how ambitions for nature and 

mankind can coincide. 



Harlesiel (Germany) 

38 

Call for action

Borkum 


Challenges 




Natural and Landscape Heritage 

Esbjerg 


Rømø 

Ribe 

Dredging for Transport 

Fanø 

Cuxhaven 

Amrum 

Föhr 

Sylt 

Bremerhaven 

Wangerooge 

Spiekeroog 

Langeoog 

Norderney 

Juist 

Emden 


Delfzijl 

Ameland 

Groningen 

Terschelling 

Vlieland 

Harlingen 

Texel 

Part 2 39


Hospitable Harbour 

Description 

In order to shake off the current 

negative image that harbour cities 

deal with, these cities find solutions 

to reconnect again to the waterfront 

of its coast, canals, and waterways. 

The city becomes greener and 

more blue, and attracts all kinds of 

workers and inhabitants due to the 

innovative projects and practices to 

the climate and societal challenges 

in the harbour. 



Esbjerg (Denmark) 

40 

Call for action

Borkum 


Challenges 

Important Harbour Activities 

Development for Renewable Energy 

Military Imago 

Demographic Trends & Social Vulnerability 

Esbjerg 

Lack of Job Opportunity 

Rømø 

Ribe 


Fanø 

Cuxhaven 

Amrum 

Föhr 

Sylt 

Bremerhaven 

Wangerooge 

Spiekeroog 

Langeoog 

Norderney 

Juist 

Emden 


Delfzijl 

Ameland 

Groningen 

Terschelling 

Vlieland 

Harlingen 

Texel 

Part 2 41


Water-autonomous islands 

Description 

The islands of the Wadden Sea often 

get (drinking) water via pipelines from 

the coast. The high maintenance 

cost mainland the overall water 

scarcity due to climate change asks 

for new measures that make the 

islands water-autonomous. In order 

to secure enough (drinking) water for 

the inhabitants, tourists, agriculture 

and industry uses, an overall mindset 

of ‘every drop counts’ is in place and 

pushes for new projects to capture, 

store, and reuse water. 


Texel (the Netherlands) 

Fanø (Denmark) 

42 

Call for action

Borkum 


Challenges 



Salinization 


Esbjerg 

Fragile Industry 

Rømø 

Ribe 

Agriculture Under Pressure 

Fanø 

Cuxhaven 

Amrum 

Föhr 

Sylt 

Bremerhaven 

Wangerooge 

Spiekeroog 

Langeoog 

Norderney 

Juist 

Emden 


Delfzijl 

Ameland 

Groningen 

Terschelling 

Vlieland 

Harlingen 

Texel 

Part 2 43


Living with Water 

Description 

Urban areas transform themselves 

into futureproof and resilient living 

areas. Public spaces are designed 

as green-blue spaces, where there 

is a balance between hardened 

and desealed spaces. Also on 

private grounds, new typologies are 

developed to restore this balance. 


Terschelling (the Netherlands) 

Esbjerg (Denmark) 

44 

Call for action

Borkum 


Challenges 





Esbjerg 

River Floods 

Rømø 

Ribe 


Fanø 

Cuxhaven 

Amrum 

Föhr 

Sylt 

Bremerhaven 

Wangerooge 

Spiekeroog 

Langeoog 

Norderney 

Juist 

Emden 


Delfzijl 

Ameland 

Groningen 

Terschelling 

Vlieland 

Harlingen 

Texel 

Part 2 45



Leverage Wadden 

Commissioner 

Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl) on 

behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water 

Management 

Program Towards a Rich Wadden Sea 

Water as Leverage Wadden Initiative 

Province of Fryslân (the Netherlands) 


Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International 

Water Affairs 

Common Wadden Sea Secretariat 

Prospective research 

Emma Bierens, Lene De Vrieze, 

Vincent Van Praet, Bram Vandemoortel 

(Architecture Workroom Brussels) 

Editorial team 

Sandra Schoof (RVO Netherlands Enterprise 

Agency) 

Jeroen Van Herk (Program Towards a Rich 

Wadden Sea) 

Stephanie Janssen (Deltares) 

Titian Oterdoom (Program Towards a Rich 


Emma Bierens, Lene De Vrieze, Vincent Van 

Praet, Bram Vandemoortel (Architecture 

Workroom Brussels) 

This document is co-authored by many local 

stakeholders and case-owners. With this, 

we want to thank all for participating in this 

process. 

Trilateral research 

Hein Sas (Program Towards a Rich Wadden Sea) 

Bernard Baerends (Common Wadden Sea 

Secretariat) 

Texel 

Francine Giskes (Fresh Future Texel) 

Jan-Berend Stuut (Fresh Future Texel) 

Paul Rutten (Fresh Future Texel) 

Terschelling 

André Toet (Gemeente Terschelling) 

Wim van Schoonhoven (Gemeente Terschelling) 

Harlingen 

Niels Debruijn (Provincie Fryslan) 

Froukje Grijpstra (Wetterskip Fryslan) 

Ellen Bruins Slot (Gemeente Harlingen) 

Esbjerg & Ribe 

Bodil Ankjær Nielsen (Esbjerg Kommune) 

Peer Munksgaard Rexen (Esbjerg Kommune) 

Pernille Daugaard Muus (Esbjerg Kommune) 

Publisher 



Management 

Fanø 

Anne Hammer Lauridsen (Fanø Kommune) 

Emden 

Frank Gaupels (Ökowerk Emden) 

Rainer Kinzel (Municipality of Emden) 

Collective Workshops 

7-8th of February, 2022, Digital trilateral meeting 

9-10th of May, 2022, Trilateral meeting at 

Carolinensiel, Germany 

28-29th of November, 2022, attendance 

at the trilateral Wadden Sea Conference, 

Wilhelmshaven, Germany

Further reading 

Planet Texel (la4sale & Faro, 2014) 

De Bosatlas van de Wadden (Noordhoff 

Atlasproducties, 2018) 

Setting the Scene for a Call for Action, Water as 

Leverage for Resilient Cities: Asia (Architecture 

Workroom et. al., RVO, 2018) 

Too big: rebuild by design: a transformative 

approach to Climate Change (Henk Ovink & Jelte 

Boeijenga, nai010, 2018) 

Water as Leverage: Challenge, Opportunity, 

Change (Henk Ovink & Cynthia van Elk, RVO & 

nai010, 2020) 

Water as Leverager Reflect (RUGroningen, OECD 

& Architecture Workroom, Government of the 

Netherlands, 2021) 

Climate Resilient Urban Areas: Governance, 

design and development in coastal delta cities 

(Rutger de Graaf-van Dinther & Henk Ovink (eds), 

Palgrave Studies in Climate Resilient Societies, 

2021) 

The Wadden Sea — nature and cultural heritage 

(John Fredriksen (ed), Gyldendal A/S & John 

Fredriksen, 2022) 

Sources 

Data 

Maps 

figure 3 

Global Risk Data Platform e.a. 

figure 1 

Global Risk Data Platform e.a. 

all other maps 

TOP10NL, Open Street Map, data 

provided by the Municipalities of Esbjerg 

satellite images 

Google Maps, Bing Maps

Image Credits 

All graphic material has been made by 

Architecture Workroom Brussels, except for the 

following images: 

p. 4-5 

p. 6 

p. 8 

Wasabi Film/NAKUWA (source: Wadden Sea 

World Heritage brandspace) 

CWSS/Schwender (source: Wadden Sea 


Jan Sohler/NAKUWA (source: Wadden Sea 


p. 11 

figure 1 

PBL – Netherlands Environmental 

Assessment Agency (source: https://www.pbl. 

nl/en/news/2018/increasing-water-risks-are-abarrier-to-sustainable-development) 

p. 15 

p. 17 

figure 4 

OOZE Architects for Water As Leverage 

figure 5 

Infographic Water as Leverage: rethinking 

the approach for urban climate resilience. 

(source: www.waterasleverage.org) 

p. 20 

Christian Wiedemann/NAKUWA (source: 

Wadden Sea World Heritage brandspace) 

p. 23 

top picture 

CWSS/Schwender (source: Wadden 

Sea World Heritage brandspace) 

bottom picture 

Jan Sohler/NAKUWA (source: 

Wadden Sea World Heritage brandspace) 

p. 36 

top picture 

Ribe: Destination Wadden Sea (source: 

https://www.vadehavskysten.dk/ribe-esbjergfanoe/ribe-esbjerg-fanoe/transport-i-ribeslokalomraade-gdk1111982) 


Harlingen: Port of Harlingen (source: 

https://www.i-marina.eu/jachthaven/port-ofharlingen) 

p. 38 

top picture 

Harlingen: Port of Harlingen (source: 

https://www.i-marina.eu/jachthaven/port-ofharlingen) 

p. 40 

top picture 

Harlingen: picture by Niels de 

Vries (source: https://frieschdagblad. 

nl/regio/Harlinger-haven-wordt-vakerafgesloten-26803240.html) 


Esbjerg: MEDVIND/Bent Sørensen 

for Port of Esbjerg (source: https://www. 

projectcargojournal.com/offshore/2020/11/26/ 

rystad-shortage-of-installation-vessels-asearly-as-2025/) 

p. 42 

p. 44 

top picture 

Texel (source: www.pixabay.com) 


Fanø: municipality of Fanø 

top picture 

Terschelling: municipality of Terschelling 


Esbjerg: municipality of Esbjerg 

Disclaimer 

The editorial staff of this document has tried as carefully as 

possible to identify all copyright holders of visual material 

(photos, videos) or articles for publication. If despite this, 

you come across content of which you are the copyright 

holder and you have been wrongly omitted or have not given 

permission for publication, please address this and contact us 

via ebierens@architectureworkroom.eu



Leverage Wadden Sea



Texel 







Ribe 




Setting the Scene for a Call for Action 












Karin Lochte 







This booklet on Texel is part of a series, literally setting the scene 

for every local exploration. It summarizes the specific context, the 

challenges at stake and their interdependencies. The booklet ends 

with a call for action, calling for expertise complementary to the local 

knowledge to develop resilient climate adaptive projects. 





4 

Texel


Texel 5


Texel 

Context 

Living between fresh 

and salt water 

It is every islander’s greatest 

resource: fresh water. Every drop 

of rain water that falls from the 

sky must be collected, stored and 

used. So too on Texel, where the 

landscape is an embodiment of 

various fresh-salt gradients. It 

produces unique biotopes, such 

as De Muy, Bleekersvallei and 

Bollekamer, specific agricultural 

landscapes, such as the saline 

grasslands in the South and the 

reclaimed arable fields of Eierland, 

and pioneering villages such 

as De Cocksdorp. Pumping up 

ground water is prohibited to not 

increase salinity and until the early 

1990s, Texel even had its own 

water factory, where yearly around 

700.000 litres of sea water could 

be converted into drinking water. 

The population growth caused 

such an increase in water demand 

that the water factory could no 

longer meet it, so the necessary 

drinking water guarantees were 

translated into two pipelines 

between Den Helder and the 

island. This infrastructural 

relationship with the mainland 

requires substantial maintenance 

and constant reinvestment. 

dune areas. The dunes serve as 

a natural protection against the 

rising sea level. Sand suppletion 

of the coast is therefore crucial to 

maintain the water safety. 

The peculiar landscape makes 

Texel a preferred tourist 

destination and has a positive 

impact on the resilience of 

agricultural activities. The nature 

has a positive impact on the 

regional economy, allowing many 

businesses, entrepreneurs and 

employees to earn an income. 

However, since more and more 

“mainlanders” are buying 

(vacation) homes, it is becoming 

increasingly difficult for young 

people on Texel to buy a home 

which puts the quality of life under 

pressure. 

The island consists of a high 

diversity of nature. It contains 

wetlands, mud flats and salt 

marshes with unique vegetation, 

deciduous forests and pine forests 

such as ‘de Dennen’, and large 

6 

Texel


Geography 

Municipality 

Province 

Country 

Land use 

Surface area 

Nature 

Agriculture 

Urbanisation 

Recreation 

Infrastructure 

Other 

Texel 

North Holland 

Netherlands 

Municipality 

162 km 2 

30 % 

62 % 

2 % 

3 % 

2 % 

1% 

Peculiarities 

> 

> 

> 

> 

> 

There are 45 000 accomodations 

allowed on the island 

Largest Dutch Wadden island 

Most urban area of all islands 

Home to the Royal Netherlands 

Institute for Sea Research 

14.000 Texel sheep 

People 

Resident population 

Visitors per year 

Population density 

Average age 

Economy 

Housing price 

National housing price 

Agriculture & fishery 

Industry & energy 

Retail & restaurants 

Transport 

Financial services 

Business services 

Culture & recreation 

Municipality 

13.687 (2022) 

4,1 million 

84 inh/km 2 

46,8 yr 

Municipality 

307 154 € (WOZ-value) (2021) 

290 000 € (WOZ-value) (2021) 

13 % 

15 % 

28 % 

6 % 

10 % 

18 % 

11 % 

Texel 7


8 

Texel


Texel 9


Texel 

Challenges 

Every drop counts! 

INCREASING DROUGHTS 

Agriculture and nature are at stake 

on Texel as well as the rest of the 

Netherlands. Texel farmers are 

renowned for how they cope with 

whatever water that falls down from 

the skies, but climate change is 

causing the traditional practices of 

retaining water to be inadequate. 

Warmer days are causing more 

evaporation of rain water (before 

it can be used), and persistent 

drought is causing a loss of fresh 

groundwater tables, leading to 

surface salinization. This further puts 

the available fresh water resources 

under pressure. The lack of fresh 

water of good quality puts pressure 

on the nature and the landscape, 

which in turn has negative 

consequences for all the different 

types of economic activities. 

In order to ensure water availability 

for all these activities, other kinds of 

water retention and storing need to 

be found. However, above-ground 

storage is a hard land use question 

and there is a limit to how individual 

farmers can respond to (increasingly 

longer) periods of drought without 

additional resources. 

MORE INTENSIVE RAINFALL 

On the other hand, the island also 

has to deal with more intensive 

rainfall. Increasingly heavy rain 

showers occur, which does release 

a lot of fresh water onto the island, 

but in such large quantities that 

it has no time to infiltrate into the 

soil and runs off at an accelerated 

rate (with erosion as an additional 

consequence). Currently, this adds 

up to about 44 million m3 fresh 

water lost annually. The intensive 

rainfall also brings risks of erosion 

and flooding for the agricultural 

fields, the housing, businesses, 

and recreational or natural areas. 

The current sewage system cannot 

handle these big amounts of rainfall. 

All of this leads to higher economic 

risks. 

SEA LEVEL RISE AND INTENSIVE 

STORMS 

The increasing sea level puts 

pressure on water protection 

measures such as dunes or dikes. 

Extra attention is needed to reinforce 

them so they can be future proof. 

The dunes are naturally heightened 

by the sediment flows, but this 

natural process needs to be given 

enough space. Sea level rise is also 

increasing saltwater seepage in the 

subsurface which leads to risk of 

salinization of nature areas and the 

agricultural lands. 

TOURISTIC PRESSURE 

Another effect of the worldly 

temperature rise is the possible 

increase in tourists, since Northwest 

Europe is slowly becoming more 

attractive thanks to warmer 

summers. Texel needs to prepare 

itself to take advantage of these 

seasonal visitors, because they 

bring an even higher infrastructural 

pressure. 

10 

Texel


Projects 

ONGOING STRATEGIES ON 

WATER 

A variety of initiatives is already 

trying to deal with the water scarcity 

on the island. Firstly, the ‘Texel 

Water Masterplan’ was initiated 

ten years ago to retain more fresh 

water in the western forests and 

dunes. In this way, fresh water 

remains available for the agricultural 

hinterland while re-naturalizing the 

dune landscape. Secondly, the 

Dutch Water Board (HHNK) has 

created a very intricate system of 

gauged water compartments on 

the island, so that fresh rainwater 

can be used as efficiently as 

possible and only the real surplus 

of fresh water is flushed into the 

Wadden Sea. Smart barrages ensure 

that each section of the island 

receives the water it needs, and 

recently ‘fresh barrages’ can allow 

freshwater retention while discarding 

salt water. Thirdly, future-oriented 

design research formulated the Texel 

Principles, a Texel Toolbox and 

a series of Outlooks for themes 

and areas to be tackled on the 

island of Texel, which intertwine 

the water issue with general spatial 

development. 

intervention, it does challenge the 

position of water as a shared resource. 

The project raises questions about 

the ownership, redistribution and 

commonality of the water, the costbenefit 

of the works and the most apt 

cooperative organisational model. 

A special Foundation Fresh Future 

Texel was developed to deal with 

this. However the puzzle is more 

complicated. The coming years, the 

Texel partnership wants to work on 

this in an integrated way with the 

freshwater problems as the main 

focus. 

TOWARDS A FRESH FUTURE 

The ‘Fresh Future’ project, launched 

in 2020, started experimenting 

with underground water storage. 

Under four agricultural plots in the 

Eierland Polder, water is injected 

to a depth of 13-25m in order to be 

able to pump it back up in case of 

severe drought. To this end, research 

has been carried out into the 

composition of the soil, the technical 

elaboration of the necessary 

infrastructure and the possible 

environmental impact. While it may 

appear to be a purely technical 

Texel 11

water storage above ground difficult! 

ferry to 


biodiversity suffers from drought 

naturally growing dunes 

salinization of underground 

erosion and flooding 

water scarcity on island 

high touristic pressure 

sea level rise protection 

for the whole island 

pilot project in the Dennen 

ferry to Den Helder 

buildings industry roads railways water wetlands floodings beach and dunes 

12 

Texel

drinkwater pipe from mainland 

pilot project in polder Eierland 

44 million m3 flows yearly into the Sea 

m 3 


Vlieland 

dyke protection 

nagriculture needs 8 millio 

gauged water compartments 

agricultural land heath meadows forest 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 m 

Texel 13


Texel 

Call for Action 

Learning by doing 

The main focus of the case of Texel 

in Water as Leverage lies on the 

self-sufficiency in terms of fresh 

water, adapting to and anticipating 

on ongoing climate change and 

aiming to maintain and improve the 

socio-economic conditions for the 

inhabitants and visitors of the island: 

1) Fresh water: how to become 

self-sustainable and climate 

resilient in relation to fresh water? 

How can we store fresh water 

in surface- and groundwater 

systems? How can we prevent 

floodings by cluster rains and 

crop failures during droughts? 

How can we limit the use of fresh 

water in both the recreational and 

agricultural sectors? 

In addition, freshwater solutions can 

tackle interdependent challenges 

such as: 

2) Water safety: how to improve 

the water safety/security 

conditions of the dune areas both 

in terms of water aquifer and as 

coastal defence? 

3) Biodiversity & landscape: how 

can we strengthen the biodiversity 

in dunes and forest and secure 

the typical landscape qualities of 

the island? 

4) Sustainable energies: how 

can we make use of the unique 

potential energy sources (sun, 

wind, tides) to become selfsustainable 

not only in terms of 

fresh water but also in terms of 

energy? 

These challenges will also demand 

strategies in terms of organisation 

and financing: 

5) Island-Partnership: how 

can we develop a community 

of actors and organisations that 

are part of the new fresh future 

and are willing to participate and 

invest in it? 

6) Fresh Groundwater 

Cooperation: how can we 

develop a joint model for the 

sustainable management and 

distribution of the freshwater 

resources (foundation, 

cooperation, etc.)? 

7) Finance as a transitional 

engine: how can we gather 

and organise public and private 

funding in such a way that it 

works as a transitional engine 

towards a fresh future? 

14 

Texel


In order to work on these questions, 

the development of the case of Texel 

can be formulated by the following 

steps. 

1. Freshwater Vision Texel 

Develop a complete freshwater 

strategy for the island with a focus 

on climate resilience, economic 

development and social inclusion. 

This strategy focuses on being selfsustainable 

in relation to fresh water 

and addresses business models 

and innovative concepts concerning 

agriculture, recreation, water safety, 

nature and saline agriculture. It also 

aims to generate more awareness 

with inhabitants and visiting tourists, 

specifically since the high season 

overlaps with the dry summer period. 

2. New pilot projects and 

partnerships as a part of a social 

movement 

Formulate and develop four or five 

diverse pilot projects and business 

models within the Freshwater Vision 

Texel. Examples are: 

- The Dennen (nature) 

- Saline crops (agriculture) 

- Water villages (housing) 

- Tidal turbines (energy) 

- Knowledge hub (knowledge) 

It is crucial to develop pilot 

partnerships which have the 

intention and capacity to develop 

and implement the projects in the 

following phase. 

3. Elaborate and scale up the 

existing pilot project Eierland 

How can this experiment be 

developed on the four farms (from 

an organisational, legal, financial, 

technical but also from a policy 

perspective)? And then, taking into 

account soil composition, spatial 

differentiation, organisational and 

financial issues, how can it be scaled 

up to other agricultural areas on the 

island or beyond? 

4. Joint cooperational model to 

manage water resources 

The development of an innovative 

social model to jointly manage the 

(underground) water resources of the 

island. 

To do so, the case of Texel asks for 

multi-disciplinary teams consisting of 

experts in: 

• Process facilitation; 

• (Landscape) Design and regional 

planning of climate adaptation; 

• Soil and water management 

for agriculture (fresh and saline 

water) and climate adaptation in 

urban areas; 

• Recreational development; 

• Nature and restoration of 

ecosystems; 

• Technical engineering; 

• Cooperative organisation models, 

water allocation planning issues 

and legal agreement frameworks; 

• Energy production (on land and 

possibly in the Wadden Sea). 

Texel 15



Leverage Texel 

Case owner 

Foundation Fresh Future Texel (FFF-TX) 

Case partners 

Staatsbosbeheer (SBB), Nationaal Park Duinen 

van Texel, LTO, Province of North Holland, Water 

Authority HHNK, Waddenfonds 

Case supporters 

Krim recreational entrepreneurs, Texels Eigen 

Stoomboot Onderneming (TESO), TX-fonds, 

Municipality of Texel 

Contact 

Francine Giskes, Jan-Berend Stuut & Paul Rutten 

(Fresh Future Texel) 

Commissioner 



Management 












Disclaimer 







via ebierens@architectureworkroom.eu 



Agency) 









Publisher 



Management 


Planet Texel (la4sale & Faro, 2014) 






Sources 

Data: De Bosatlas van de Wadden (Noordhoff 

Atlasproducties, 2018) , Texel in Cijfers, www. 

eerlijkewoz.nl 

Maps: TOP10NL, Open Street Map 

Image Credits 




p. 4-5: Satellite images of Google Maps, Bing 

Maps 

p. 8-9: Foundation Fresh Future Texel (FFF-TX)






Terschelling 







Ribe 
















Karin Lochte 







This booklet on Terschelling is part of a series, literally setting the 

scene for every local exploration. It summarizes the specific context, 

the challenges at stake and their interdependencies. The booklet ends 







4 

Terschelling


Terschelling 5


Terschelling 

Context 

The outer-dike village 

of West-Terschelling 

Terschelling is the third inhabited 

island of the Wadden Sea, counted 

from the west. In June it is a 

well-known attraction because 

of the theater and music festival 

Oerol, which takes place annually 

throughout the island. In addition, 

the island also has the important 

nautical school Willem Barentsz, 

after the explorer who gave the 

Barents Sea its current name. 

About 80% of the island consists 

of natural dune landscape and 

salt marshes, culminating in 

the valuable Boschplaat nature 

reserve at the eastern end. The 

western side of the island forms 

the main gateway to the island, 

with West-Terschelling as an 

important port. But while the other 

islands are protected by dikes, 

the village of West-Terschelling is 

at least partially located outside 

the dikes (buitendijks) leaving 

important logistical infrastructure 

and some homes unprotected 

from rising sea levels. In the 

majority of the Netherlands, 

higher authorities are responsible 

for flood protection and climate 

adaptation, but because the area 

is ‘buitendijks’ the Municipality 

of Terschelling is responsible, 

making it a specific case. 

Next to that, Terschelling is one 

of the Wadden Islands faced with 

challenges such as freshwater 

supply, energy production, circular 

building, or providing affordable 

housing. 

6 

Terschelling


Geography 

Municipality 

Province 

Country 

Land use 

Surface area 

Nature 

Agriculture 

Urbanisation 

Recreation 


Other 

Terschelling 

Fryslân 

Netherlands 

Municipality 

87 km 2 

78 % 

17 % 

1 % 

2 % 

1 % 

1% 

Peculiarities 

> One of the twelve municipalities 

which lies outside the dykes 

‘buitendijks’ 

> Manmade sediment plate part of 

Natura2000 

> Due to the presence of the 

nautical college, there is an 

overrepresentation of men on 

Terschelling (factor 3:1) 

People 




Economy 

Housing price 





Transport 




Municipality 

4.859 (2019) 

± 15.000 

58 inh/km 2 

Municipality 

345.488 € (WOZ-value) (2021) 

290 000 € (WOZ-value) (2021) 

5 % 

14 % 

37 % 

6 % 

8 % 

17 % 

13 % 

Terschelling 7


Terschelling 

8 

Terschelling


Terschelling 9


Terschelling 

Challenges 

Working towards a 

Safe Haven 

FLOODING IN WEST- 

TERSCHELLING 

While other islands are protected 

by dykes, the village of West- 

Terschelling is located outside 

the dyke perimeter (buitendijks). 

This leaves important logistical 

infrastructure and some homes 

unprotected from rising sea levels. 

In the majority of the Netherlands, 

higher authorities are responsible 

for flood protection and climate 

adaptation, but because the area 

is ‘buitendijks’ the Municipality of 

Terschelling is responsible, making it 

a specific case. 

REDEVELOPMENT OF THE 

HARBOURFRONT 

The harbour is a very important part 

of the island because it forms the 

entrance for the inhabitants, the 

tourists and the cargo. Because 

the harbour is in urgent need for 

maintenance, a design team has 

already made a proposal for the 

Redevelopment of the Harbourfront 

of Terschelling (see appendix) that 

would result in the vitality of the 

entire area by providing permanent 

accessibility, water protection, 

traffic safety and an attractive living 

environment. This includes solutions 

to protect West-Terschelling, but 

these alternatives each have their 

advantages and disadvantages. 

An additional difficulty is that land 

ownership of the harbour front 

and mudflats is fragmented. The 

municipality of Terschelling owns 

most of the harbour front, but 

Rijkswaterstaat is responsible for 

maintaining the outer edge of the 

ferry port site where passengers 

arrive. Secondly, they also own the 

straight side of the breakwater and 

should therefore be involved in the 

process. 

THE HISTORICAL MUDFLAT 

The harbour is protected by a 

mudflat. The mudflat is formed 

by a historical technical structure 

of breakwaters that, by using the 

current of the Wadden Sea, has 

been trapping sediment for years 

to avoid extensive dredging in 

the bay of West-Terschelling. This 

artificial plate was included in the 

Natura2000 protection of which the 

legal framework must approve any 

adjustments. Today, the mudflats 

contain little biodiversity and are 

populated by an invasive exotic 

species, the Japanese oyster. 

LACK OF HOUSING 

There is a lack of houses on the 

island and the high demand causes 

the housing prices to increase, 

which makes it difficult for younger 

households to obtain a home at 

Terschelling. 

HARBOUR ACCESSIBILITY 

The rising sea level brings extra 

challenges to protect the harbour 

10 

Terschelling


and the area outside the dikes. 

The accessibility of the harbour is 

further compromised due to the 

sedimentation which is making the 

Wadden Sea more shallow in the 

coming thirty to forty years. This 

process, also known as ‘opzanden’ 

in Dutch, is an effect of the closure 

of large sea arms in the last century, 

on the borders of the current 

Wadden Sea. This requires extensive 

dredging, and thus a higher 

commitment and investment, to 

maintain the shipping routes through 

the Wadden Sea. 

The main focus of the project is on 

creating a safe, well functioning 

Wadden Sea harbour at Terschelling 

for people and cargo as a 

cornerstone for the liveability of the 

island. Specific goals are: 

• How to address accessibility 

for inhabitants and visitors of 

the island and the transport of 

people and goods in a future 

proof sustainable way? 

• How to create a safe, flourishing 

and future proof West 

Terschelling in the face of climate 

change? 

• How to improve the quality of 

nature of the Wadden Sea – 

specifically the dredged fairways 

- and the harbour front in the 

face of climate change? 

Other aspects to take into 

consideration are: 

• freshwater supply; 

• energy production; 

• circular building; 

• providing affordable housing. 

Terschelling 11

ferry to Harlingen and Vlieland 


€? 

lack of (cheaper) houses 

? 

B 

C 

A 

fragmented ownership 

A 

D 

B 

C 

village located outside dyke 

redevelopment of harbour 

flooding due to rising sea 


12 

Terschelling

protected but little biodiversity? 

dredging to maintain access 

breakwater technical structure 


earth dyke 

concrete dyke 


Terschelling 13


Terschelling 


Harmonising the 

different objectives 

through a natureinclusive 

vision 

1. In need of a long term vision 

A long term vision on the village, 

harbour and transport of people 

and goods is needed. The regional 

vision is needed for the further 

development and densification of 

West-Terschelling wherein the water 

issues are linked to the challenge 

of providing affordable starter 

homes. There are plans to build 

135 homes with extra attention 

for affordable homes for starters 

because the housing prices on 

the island are increasing. This new 

densification should be developed 

in an integral way, which may 

involve disconnecting the rainwater 

discharge, providing maximum 

rainwater collection, applying 

sufficient infiltration or adapting to 

sea level rise. Although high water 

protection is the most urgent issue, 

we also need to think about selfsufficiency 

in freshwater, building 

materials or renewable energy. There 

is a need for a regional vision that 

uses the water problematics as a 

leverage for the different challenges 

of Terschelling. 

Important actors that should be 

included are the municipality, the 

province, ‘Rijkwaterstaat’ and SOS- 

Terschelling. SOS-Terschelling is 

a local organisation forming the 

voice of many residents. Since the 

design of the harbourfront has a 

major impact on the experience of 

the Wadden Sea for the residents 

and the visitors, it is crucial that they 

are sufficiently involved and can 

participate in the redesign. 

2. A future proof design for the 

harbour 

Terschelling already has a redesign 

of the harbourfront on the table, 

but the challenge of providing flood 

protection that is viable in the long 

term is not adequately addressed. 

The project team needs to work with 

the existing design and propose a 

feasible and integrated project where 

a static wall is replaced by a natureinclusive 

process that provides longterm 

protection. 

3. Creating solutions to work on 

climate adaptation in Natura2000 

areas 

Terschelling strives towards an 

integrated plan, including nature 

improvement. This can be done both 

on the island, in the harbour and 

fairways in the Wadden Sea. Working 

with nature based solutions needs to 

be a cornerstone in the approach. 

Nature based solutions are 

specifically needed to deal with 

the areas under the protection 

of Natura2000. The principle of 

14 

Terschelling


‘nature for nature’ has already been 

applied elsewhere in the wadden 

region and means that the existing 

nature could be changed by another 

type of nature. Terschelling sees 

potential in using the mudflats for 

the protection of the harbour or by 

strengthening its biodiversity with 

the help of seaweed or seafood 

crops. An integral solution could 

possibly be found by using the 

artificial mudflats and using them as 

protective dunes by dropping sand 

on top of the breakwaters. These 

kinds of solutions require ecological, 

technical and juridical expertise to 

be implemented. 

To make the solutions realistic to 

implement and to form an example 

for other cities, it is also necessary 

to look into the financial feasibility. 

This situation of a town lying outside 

the dikes (buitendijks) occurs in 11 

more locations in the Netherlands. A 

nature-inclusive flood protection for 

Terschelling could form an example 

for them and for many coastal towns 

where this problem will arise in the 

future. This means that the proposal 

must be financially feasible so 

that other municipalities can apply 

similar principles. It has already been 

suggested that a large artificial dike 

could be too expensive, making it 

more realistic to shift the logistical 

path, to make the homes floodadaptive 

or to even relocate the 

housing towards a safer area. These 

decisions have to be supported by a 

cost-benefit analysis. 

4. Pilot projects and partnerships 

Develop four or five pilot projects 

which are needed and envisage the 

vision for the future. 

The pilot projects need to be 

integral, feasible, inclusive and 

scalable. It is crucial to develop 

pilot partnerships which have the 




To do so, the case of Terschelling 

asks for multi-disciplinary teams 

consisting of experts in: 

• Climate proof regional planning 

of harbours and housing areas; 

• Hydromorphology and sediment 

movements; 

• Juridical regulations on 

Natura2000; 

• Nature-inclusive design; 

• Technical engineering; 

• Bankability and costs-benefits 

analysis; 

• Process facilitation (and 

participation). 

Terschelling 15



Leverage Terschelling 


Municipality of Terschelling 


Province of Friesland and Wetterskip 

Contact 

André Toet (Gemeente Terschelling) 

Wim van Schoonhoven (Gemeente Terschelling) 

Commissioner 



Management 














Agency) 









Publisher 



Management 


Proposal design team for the ‘Redevelopment of 

the Harbourfront of Terschelling’ 






Sources 

Data: De Bosatlas van de Wadden (Noordhoff 

Atlasproducties, 2018), www.eerlijkewoz.nl 


Image Credits 





Maps 

p. 8-9: Municipality of Terschelling 

Disclaimer 













Harlingen 







Ribe 




2 

Harlingen













Karin Lochte 







This booklet on Harlingen is part of a series, literally setting the scene 







Leverage Wadden 

Harlingen 3


4 

Harlingen


Harlingen 5


Harlingen 

Context 

Gateway to the Wad 

For more than five centuries, 

Harlingen has been the biggest 

harbour city in the province of 

Fryslân. With its strategic position 

at the coast of the Wadden Sea it 

was historically an important node 

between Fryslân and overseas 

places such as England, France, 

the Mediterranean Sea and so 

on. Harlingen has become a 

spot where knowledge and skills 

meet, thanks to the many people 

and innovations that intertwined 

trough trade and transport. 

Nowadays, Harlingen functions 

as an important gateway between 

the mainland, the intertidal sand 

and mud flats and the islands 

of the Wadden Sea, especially 

to Terschelling and Vlieland. 

Harlingen has become an 

infrastructural knot: the highway 

and railway, the ferry terminal 

and its parkings, the canal with 

its sluice, the piers, dykes and 

bridges. The historic harbour city 

has thus become a gateway city: 

a place to go through instead of 

a touristic hotspot, nevertheless 

it has a rich history, attractive 

city centre and strong visible 

connection to the sea. Harlingen 

struggles with this current image. 

Next to that, Harlingen has a 

precarious social context as 

poverty is increasing. 

Research shows that if you were 

born in certain neighbourhoods 

of Harlingen, your income lags 

behind the national average. 

Lower-income people are known 

to live less healthy lives and 

experience a lower living quality 

for a longer period of their lives. 

On the other hand, there is the 

Frisian paradox: although Frisians 

earn less than average, they are 

happier than average. This can be 

related, among other things, to the 

peace and space still experienced 

in Fryslân. 

6 

Harlingen


Geography 

Municipality 

Province 

Country 

Harlingen 

Fryslân 

Netherlands 

Peculiarities 

> City with the most cultural 

heritage in Fryslân 

Land use 

Surface area 

Nature 

Agriculture 

Urbanisation 

Recreation 


Other 

People 



Economy 

Housing price 





Transport 




Municipality City 

387,67 km 2 15,43 km 2 

78 % 

17 % 

1 % 

2 % 

1 % 

1% 

Municipality City 

15.804 (2021) 14.715 (2021) 

633 inh/km 2 1.001 inh/km 2 

Municipality 

178.772 € (WOZ-value) (2021) 

290 000 € (WOZ-value) (2021) 

5 % 

21 % 

23 % 

13 % 

7 % 

20 % 

12 % 

Harlingen 7


Harlingen 

8 

Harlingen


Harlingen 9


Harlingen 

Challenges 

Towards an Inclusive 

Wadden Lighthouse 

DYKES AND SLUICES IN NEED OF 

REFURBISHMENT 

The city of Harlingen and its 

functions is facilitated by large 

infrastructure such as dykes, 

sluices and a commercial harbour. 

In order to protect Harlingen and its 

hinterland from (future) challenges 

like climate change and touristic 

pressure, the many infrastructures 

have to be upgraded or renewed in 

the coming decade. 

The sea dyke – which is running 

through the city and the harbour - 

needs to be upgraded as it no longer 

meets the safety standards. The 

current piers and the configuration 

of the harbour create a bottleneck 

for ships nowadays, and poses 

the question if the position of the 

dykes and piers should be rethought 

entirely. 

A new sluice complex is needed 

as the current one is at the end of 

its life cycle. Special attention is 

needed to diminish the increasing 

sedimentation when the fresh water 

is flowing into the sea in the harbour, 

in order to not have to constantly 

dredge the harbour. At the same 

time, the sluice should decrease the 

salinization of the canals inland and 

guarantee the current fish migration. 

Additionally there is a need to look 

into the future water management 

of the hinterland. Discharge of 

water – naturally or with pumps – at 

Harlingen is needed to safeguard the 

hinterland from flooding. 

The recreational use of the harbour 

for swimming is also on the wishlist, 

in order to make the city more 

attractive. And moreover, there is 

a need for a bigger parking area to 

handle the big tourist flow. Each of 

these complex projects is thought 

out by different instances, although 

they are closely connected spatially 

and functionally. 

BUNDLING FORCES TO BECOME 

A WADDEN LIGHTHOUSE TOWN 

The goal of the partners is to bundle 

the momentum of the need to act 

to make the overall city climate 

resilient, attractive, livable and a 

touristic hotspot. 

In order to do so, an integral 

plan is needed that connects the 

challenges, ambitions, and solutions 

to one another. In this plan, special 

attention should go to four transition 

lines: the recovery of biodiversity, 

sustainable energy & climate, circular 

economy and an inclusive society. 

Harlingen wants to become in this 

way a ‘lighthouse town’: a coastal 

city where both climate-related, 

social, economic, and touristic 

challenges are handled in an 

integrated and innovative way. The 

city then becomes a best practice 

and sets a new standard for area 

development in coastal zones. 

10 

Harlingen


Specific goals are: 

• How to develop a safe, attractive, 

climate resilient, economically 

viable and social inclusive city 

and harbour at Harlingen? 

• How to address futureproof 

transport flows of people and 

goods in relation to dredging in 

the Wadden Sea in a sustainable 

way? 

• How to address future proof 

water management of the 

hinterland? 

• How to involve the inhabitants, 

local businesses and stakeholders 

in a successful way in 

the process? 

Harlingen 11

dredging to maintain access 


renewal of sea dyke 

ferry to Terschelling and Vlieland 

csedimentation due to slui 

e 

Renovation of dyke and sluice 

! 

! 

? 

bottleneck in configuration 

swimming in harbour? 

rich city history 


12 

Harlingen

imago of a go through city 

bottleneck in fish migration 

salinization of canal 


sea dyke 

commercial harbour 

highway to Leeuwarden 

canal to Leeuwarden 

railway to Leeuwarden 

discharge of water? 

of lower income 

neighborhoods 

€ 


Harlingen 13


Harlingen 


Making an integral 

and innovative vision, 

for and together with 

the local community 

1. An overarching and integrated 

vision 

In order to heighten the ambitions 

of the many upcoming projects 

in Harlingen and to diminish 

possible negative external effects 

of each project, an overarching and 

integrated vision is needed. Taking 

all challenges and ambitions into 

account, this plan formulates a 

future vision and forms a framework 

for the many stakeholders to work 

together beyond the current sectoral 

approach of each initiative. 

In the vision the following key 

elements are to be tackled: 

• Upgrade seawall/dyke; 

• Replace and upgrade locks 

• Water management of the 

waterways to the hinterland and 

discharge point 

• Improving quality of tourism & 

futureproof transport people and 

cargo 

The partners have the ambition to 

set a new standard at the borders of 

the Wadden Sea and aim to include 

the implementation of the following 4 

lines of transition: 

1. Recovery biodiversity 

2. Energy transition 

3. Circular economy 

4. Inclusive society 

The vision must be made concrete in 

a spatial plan fit for the future. 

2. Innovative solutions for the 

upcoming, concrete projects 

In this integral plan, there is a need 

for new innovative approaches and 

solutions for the many upcoming 

projects. The local experts want to 

be challenged to think of different 

solutions. In that way, there is a 

need for capacity building inside 

the project development, since 

these experts will have to be the 

people that support the visions 

and the connected projects in the 

future, from the feasibility to the 

implementation phase. 

Practically four or five pilot projects 

need to be developed which 

envisage the vision for the future. 

The pilot projects need to be 

integral, feasible, inclusive, and 

scalable. It is crucial to develop 

pilot partnerships which have the 




3. Working with the local people 

In order to formulate feasible, 

bankable and supported solutions 

for the future of Harlingen, the 

local community of civilians, 

stakeholders and experts should be 

included in the open process. The 

new knowledge and approaches 

formulated in the integral plan, 

should be embedded and supported 

by the local community. 

14 

Harlingen


To do so, the case of Harlingen 



• Integrated regional planning on 

city development, water safety, 

harbour development, water 

management, climate adaptation, 

nature and recreational 

development at the borders of 

the Wadden Sea; 

• Participation processes with local 

and regional stakeholders and 

inhabitants; 

• Hydromorphology and sediment 

movements, water management 

and technical engineering; 

• Nature-inclusive design; 

• Bankability and cost-benefit 

analysis. 

Harlingen 15



Leverage Harlingen 


Municipality of Harlingen, Province of Friesland, 

Wetterskip Fryslân 


Rijkswaterstaat, the executive agency of the 

Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management 

Contact 

Niels Debruijn (Provincie Fryslan) 

Froukje Grijpstra (Wetterskip Fryslan) 

Ellen Bruins Slot (Gemeente Harlingen) 

Commissioner 



Management 














Agency) 









Publisher 



Management 







Sources 

Data: CBS, Regionale Kerncijfers Nederland, 

www.eerlijkewoz.nl, De Bosatlas van de Wadden 

(Noordhoff Atlasproducties, 2018) 


Image Credits 





Maps 

p. 8-9: picture by Niels de Vries (source: https:// 

frieschdagblad.nl/regio/Harlinger-haven-wordtvaker-afgesloten-26803240.html) 

Disclaimer 













Emden 







Ribe 
















Karin Lochte 







This booklet on Terschelling is part of a series, literally setting the 

scene for every local exploration. It summarizes the specific context, 

the challenges at stake and their interdependencies. The booklet ends 







Emden 

Context 

A port city on the 

German-Dutch border 

Before the river Ems flows into the 

Wadden Sea, it passes through 

the Eems Dollard Bay. It is at this 

location, on the German side of 

the bay, that the city of Emden is 

located. At the other side of the 

bay, the Dutch port city of Delfzijl 

and the port Eemshaven are 

positioned. The port of Emden is 

an important gateway between 

inland Germany and the North 

Sea, due to this strategic location. 

Due to air raids in the Second 

World War, the city was almost 

completely destroyed and has 

since been rebuilt. This makes 

the overall character of the city 

of Emden quite new, with an 

industrial port development in 

between the location of the old 

city of Emden – the current city 

centre- and the Ems. 

A first settlement of Emden 

was formed around 800 (A.C.) 

and it gradually developed into 

an important harbour for the 

economy of Ost-Friesland. At 

the end of the 16th century the 

city and the port had its golden 

period, since it became the most 

important port at the North Sea 

due to economic and political 

struggles at other ports. This 

lasted until the start of the 17th 

century, when the Ems gradually 

changed its course, and the city of 

Emden wasn’t anymore positioned 

at the river. Only big and very 

expensive infrastructural works 

could reroute the river, a cost 

which the city couldn’t pay. 

4 

Call for action


Geography 

Municipality 

Province 


Country 

Land use 

Surface area 

Nature 

Agriculture 

Urbanisation 

Recreation 


People 




Emden 

Landkreis Aurich 

Niedersachen 

Germany 

Municipality 

112 km 2 

800 ha 

5800 ha 

3500 ha 

500 ha 

400 ha 

Municipality 

50.000 

2.100.000, ca 300.000 overnight 

stays 

441 inhabitants per km 2 

Emden 5


6 

Call for action


Emden 7


Emden 

Challenges 

Emden 

The city and the region of Emden are 

facing different challenges in relation 

to climate change. 

The city 

The centre of the city of Emden is 

regularly flooded leading to physical, 

financial and emotional damage. 

The floods appear when there is a 

combination of high water on the 

river Ems and intensive rainfall in the 

city of Emden and/or region. The risk 

of floods will increase due to climate 

change, resulting from higher sea 

levels and more intensive rainfall. 

The challenge is to create a more 

climate resilient city with on the one 

hand a limited risk of flooding and on 

the other hand more efficient use of 

water resources. 

The second key challenge for the 

future of the city to improve the 

social-economic situation, the 

liveability and attractiveness. The 

unemployment rate is relatively 

high and it is not a very interesting 

touristic location. The quality of the 

city could be improved to make 

it a more attractive city to live in 

and to visit. This could be done by 

improving the relation with the river 

Ems and the Wadden Sea. 

The port 

The port is located on the sea 

side, at the Eems Dollard. There 

is a railway connection with the 

hinterland. In the last decades 

different economic activities were 

re-located to Wilhelmshaven. The 

main activity in the harbour is 

transportation of building materials 

and (parts of) cars. The Volkswagen 

Company has a large factory located 

in the port. Furthermore the ferry to 

the island of Borkum departs from 

the port. 

The challenge for the future 

is to have an economic viable 

harbour with a clear and strong 

business proposal. The ambition 

for the future is to focus more on 

sustainable energies and supply and 

maintenance of offshore windmills. 

Furthermore, it has a challenge 

to deal with the problem an 

sedimentation in the harbour and the 

Ems Dollard. 

The region 

First of all the city of Emden lies 

at the Ems-Dollard Bay which is 

an important estuary embarking 

in the Wadden Sea. The quality of 

the bay needs to be improved as 

it faces problems with too large 

amounts of sludge/sediment in the 

water. This negatively impacts fish, 

birds and plants and is the result 

of an unbalanced river and estuary 

ecosystem. There is a need for a 

better balance between nature and 

industry for the future. 

The river system is the Ems is 

deepened and the water levels are 

controlled by the Emssperrwerk 

(translated: Weir of the Ems). About 

8 

Call for action


40 kilometres upstream of the Ems 

lies the port of Papenburg, were 

the large ship production company 

Meyer Werft is located. They build 

large cruise and cargo ships and are 

an important socio-economic factor 

for the region. The delivered ships 

use the Ems between Papenburg 

and the Ems-Dollard Bay to get to 

sea and the Ems was broadened and 

deepened for this purpose. 

The Emssperrwerk at the mouthing 

of the Ems into the Dollard is both 

a weir to allow the large ships to 

pass through as well as a flood 

barrier for floods comings from the 

sea. Its construction was contested, 

as the rapid rise and fall of the 

water impacts the biodiversity in 

the Dollard and Ems, for example 

flooding bird’s nests along the 

shores. The challenge is to improve 

the natural conditions of the river 

Ems and the Ems Dollard estuary 

and at the same time maintain the 

profitable economic conditions for 

the shipping industry. 

and risk of flooding. The challenge 

here is to create a climate proof rural 

landscape with improved and/or 

innovative business models. 

And lastly, the ambition on a regional 

scale is make the water management 

climate proof. This means to retain 

more water in surface and ground 

water systems and to feed the 

groundwater. The issue of drought 

however is not yet felt very much 

by agriculture due to the heavy clay 

soils. 

Thirdly, the north west side of the 

region is a polder area with a water 

drainage system (with pumps) and 

protected by a dike from the sea. 

Furthermore it is an interesting 

region for wind energy production. 

A bit more north there are different 

old interesting villages where rural 

tourism is on the rise. Due to climate 

change the area will be under stress 

due to sea level river, salinization 

Emden 9


Emden 


Resilience strategy for 

Emden 

The city of Emden is in need of a 

strategy and regional plan that is 

climate proof on the one hand and 

strengthens the socio-economic 

position and attractiveness of 

the city on the other hand. In this 

strategy long term thinking and short 

term action need to be included. This 

needs to be done in an integrated 

way in which the key elements are 

included. 

This strategy needs to be developed 

with professionals, stakeholders and 

people for the region on the basis 

of the most prominent challenges. A 

coalition of organisations and people 

that want to positively support the 

strategy for the future needs to be 

developed. For this a participatory 

approach with the people from the 

region is needed. 

Learning community and 

improving skills 

Emden is very interested to 

develop and participate in an 

(international) Wadden Climate 

Adaptation Community where 

people and organizations can learn 

from each other and improve their 

skills. This can be done with the 

partner organizations and as well 

with a wider group of involved 

organizations and stakeholders. In 

this way organisations from the city 

of Emden and region profit from the 

developed knowledge and skills. 

Develop and start inspiring pilot 

projects 

After the deepening of the 

challenges and the development 

of a resilience strategy, concrete 

inspiring pilot projects need to be 

developed. In these cases different 

challenges need to come together. 

At this moment there is a focus on 

developing 2-3 specific pilot projects 

concerning climate proof water 

management, an environmental 

educational program and sustainable 

tourism (water, Wadden Sea, boats 

and bikes). The ambition is to 

develop the pilot projects and start 

with the execution of them to act, 

to create leverage and develop 

examples for future. 

10 

Call for action


To do so, the case of Emden asks for 


experts in: 

• Urban and rural design and 

regional planning in relation to 

climate adaptation; 

• Water management and 

ecosystems of rivers, estuaries 

and the Wadden Sea; 

• Recreational development in the 

Wadden Sea Region; 

• Participation process with 

stakeholders and people; 

• Set-up of a multi years 

development programs and 

initiation of concrete pilot 

projects. 

Emden 11



Leverage Emden 


Ökowerk Emden, Municipality of Emden 

Contact 

Frank Gaupels (Ökowerk Emden) 

Rainer Kinzel (Municipality of Emden) 

Commissioner 



Management 


Image Credits 





Maps 

Disclaimer 




















Agency) 









Publisher 



Management






Esbjerg 







Ribe 
















Karin Lochte 







This booklet on Esbjerg is part of a series, literally setting the scene 









4 

Esbjerg


Esbjerg 5


Esbjerg 

Context 

A new port city 

The port city of Esbjerg is one 

of the larger cities in Denmark, 

though also one of the youngest. 

Due to the presence of the port, 

the city predominantly developed 

during the beginning of the 20th 

century. This port is nowadays the 

biggest (in terms of area) — and 

still expanding — port in Denmark. 

It is an important node for freight 

transport in the North European 

network and, as one of the world’s 

largest shipping ports for wind 

turbines, a true hotspot for the 

development of renewable energy, 

partly due to its good connection 

for Danish and Norwegian offshore 

activities. Today this connection 

is still used for the oil platforms. 

However, they are expected to 

become of far less importance in 

the coming years. Furthermore, 

the port houses a big biomass 

centre, where the heat is used for 

district warming, will invest now 

in green hydrogen projects and is 

at the brink of becoming a hub for 

NATO. 

The presence of the port was the 

catalysator to establish the city of 

Esbjerg, where we can currently 

divide the city centre into two 

different neighbourhoods. The 

railway and station are the main 

division, with limited connection 

between the two sides of the city. 

The western side is considered as 

the older city centre, built in a grid 

structure on a sandy soil and lying 

a bit higher than its surroundings. 

The eastern side is a mixed area 

with different kinds of housing, 

varying from single family houses 

to social housing areas. Several 

urban renewal projects have been 

implemented improving the quality 

of the city and contributing to 

a more vibrant, innovative city. 

Sadly, these have not yet been 

able to turn around the perception 

of Esbjerg as a “fishing town that 

smells of fish” with an industrial 

port and a lack of historical 

character compared to other 

coastal cities. This perpetuates 

the trend of inhabitants leaving the 

city, resulting in more and more 

vacant buildings in the city centre. 

Luckily, there are currently 

dynamics happening to shift 

this image. “Esbjerg Beach” is 

an ongoing new development 

of the western side of the 

port, consisting of different 

developments by known 

architecture firms like Snøhetta, 

WERK Arkitekter and BIG 

architects, with new future-proof 

typologies and with different 

social functions like education 

and recreation. Next to that, 

an architectural competition is 

happening for the renewal of the 

south-western area — the city 

centre — which also investigates 

the possibilities to reconnect the 

eastern and western side better. 

The case study of Esbjerg in the 

Water as Leverage trajectory 

wants to inscribe itself in this 

renewal process and wants to 

literally use the current water 

challenges to redevelop the 

eastern part of the city into an 

attractive neighbourhood. 

6 

Esbjerg


Geography 

Municipality 


Country 

Land use 

Surface area 

Nature 

Agriculture 

Urbanisation 

Recreation 


Other 

People 



Average age 


Economy 

Housing price 





Transport 




Esbjerg 

Southern Denmark (Syddanmark) 

Denmark 

Municipality 

(case contour) 

Eastern part of city 

742,5 km 2 5,4 km 2 

40 % 0 % 

46 % 0 % 

10 % 80 % 

2 % 14 % 

1 % 6 % 

1 % 0 % 

Municipality 

115.748 (2021) 

152 inh/m 2 

42,8 years 

1.600.000 

Municipality 


Eastern part of city 

2.160 euro/m 2 1.545 euro/m 2 

postal code 6700 postal code 6702 

2.323 €/m 2 (2021) 

7 % 

27 % 

16 % 

3 % 

17 % 

11 % 

19 % 

Esbjerg 7


8 

Esbjerg


Esbjerg 9


Esbjerg 

Challenges 

Water District in East 

Esbjerg 

WITH WET FEET IN THE GROUND 

The eastern neighbourhood of 

Esbjerg is facing different water 

issues, due to various reasons. 

Firstly, the neighbourhood was a 

former wetland area, but the stream 

has been covered up, and housing 

has been built on the wetlands 

surrounding this stream. The exact 

course of the stream is nowadays 

largely unknown but can be traced 

back in the natural topography. It 

is clear that the draining function 

of the stream for the bigger water 

catchment area is gone. The other 

water catchment area in the east 

currently has a river that can still flow 

into the sea — however, the current 

port expansion could compromise 

the discharge of this river in the 

future. 

Secondly, the soil consists of an 

impermeable clay layer, creating a 

high groundwater table and limited 

percolating capacity. This forms an 

issue for the neighbourhood: some 

buildings have to pump up to 70.000 

litres of ground water per year out of 

the basement. 

Thirdly, the port is a very hardened 

surface and doesn’t allow any water, 

both ground and surface water, to 

percolate or flow into the sea. The 

port is literally a ‘bath plug’ for the 

water catchment area of this eastern 

neighbourhood. 

The combination of the lost stream, 

the built-up wetlands, the high 

groundwater table, the impermeable 

soils and the considerable amount 

of hardened surfaces, especially in 

the port area, leads to flooding in a 

big part of the neighbourhood when 

heavy rains occur. This pluvial flood 

calls for a re-design of this area of 

Esbjerg and its water system in order 

to prevent flooding damage. 

A MIXED NEIGHBOURHOOD WITH 

SPECIFIC SOCIAL CHALLENGES 

The eastern neighbourhood consists 

of a variety of housing typologies 

and living conditions, which pose 

different challenges. Historically, 

this area of the city consisted 

of allotment gardens with small 

summer houses on the inexpensive 

grounds of riverbanks and wetlands. 

Then gradually, from the station 

towards the east, more freestanding 

villas were built on these low-priced 

plots. This makes the district a very 

mixed area that evolved differently 

over the last decades. 

Firstly, the utmost eastern part of the 

neighbourhood shifted from being 

a very attractive neighbourhood 

towards a roughened and neglected 

area. It struggles with a negative 

identity: it is seen as a low-income 

part of the city and with historical 

issues (what issues?). It is telling 

that the social housing area (name?) 

is currently on the observe list of 

ghetto districts* and the northeastern 

housing area ‘Stengårdsvej’, just 

outside the inner ring road of 

10 

Esbjerg


Esbjerg, is currently on the ghetto 

list. The government puts a lot of 

demands for these districts on 

the ghetto list: extreme measures 

need to be taken, like tearing down 

buildings. It is clear that the area 

(name?) needs urgent measures 

to prevent further deterioration, in 

order to better the living conditions 

of its inhabitants but also to make 

the whole neighbourhood more 

attractive. It is not only a social 

challenge here: it is also in this 

area that lots of pumping keeps 

the basements dry and temporary 

solutions are being explored to keep 

the buildings in a good enough 

condition. However, long term 

solutions become more and more 

urgent. 

The more western part of the district 

with the single-detached housing 

attracts more younger families and 

the renovation of certain buildings 

is occurring more and more. The 

area has a big potential, since it 

is close to the city centre and the 

station. The perception of the area 

needs to be shifted to make it a 

more attractive place to live. The 

municipality is working on several 

projects, making the city centre 

more vibrant and attractive, and this 

district could be a part of it. 

AN EXPANDING PORT AND A 

RISING SEA 

The city of Esbjerg is a seaport 

city, which was and is on the one 

hand an important leverage for the 

development of the city and its 

socio-economic context. On the 

other hand, it also poses a difficult 

question: how can the city be 

reconnected again with the Wadden 

Sea, since the port is literally a vast, 

hardened and rather inaccessible 

area, cutting off the aquatic 

experience of the city? Esbjerg’s 

relation to the sea is compromised 

even more in the coming years, as 

the port is expanding to the north 

and south side. New infrastructures 

are foreseen, for example, to 

ensure the energy delivery to the 

companies in and outside of the 

port, and towards the islands and 

hinterland. Next to that, the EU 

Flood Directive stipulates that a new 

storm surge barrier must be built by 

the municipality to tackle the rising 

sea level. The question is how this 

new barrier will be embedded in the 

existing waterfront of Esbjerg, and if 

it will cut off even more the city from 

the sea. 

* Explanation criteria ghetto 

The five parameters on which the residential 

areas are measured are the proportion of 

residents with a non-Western background, 

proportion of residents outside the labour 

market, proportion of residents with a 

conviction for breaching the Penal Code, 

the Act on euphoric substances or the 

Weapons Act, proportion of residents with 

primary school as the highest education and 

residents’ income compared to the average. 

Esbjerg 11

flooding due to high groundwater 


ferry to Fanø 

no connection with 

the sea 

harbour as a bathplug 

important 


12 

Esbjerg

Expanding port 


single houses 

stream is covered up 

social housing 

former wetland 

groundwater in basements 

negative identity 

windmill hotspot 

new storm surge barrier 

discharge via stream 


Esbjerg 13


Esbjerg 


Bringing Esbjerg and 

its water to the front 

The eastern neighbourhood can take 

up its different water challenges and 

use these as a leverage to redevelop 

this part of the city. Both the 

vulnerability on the socio-economical 

level as well as the flooding issues 

can be tackled together, thus 

heightening the overall liveability of 

the area and reconnecting it with 

the sea. An integrated approach 

is needed to think out innovative 

solutions, looking beyond technical 

means, towards more resilient and 

nature-based concepts, where water 

takes the leading role. 

Concretely, the opening up and 

rehabilitation of the absent stream is 

the provocation for the renewal and 

transformation of the entire area. 

This is a complex and expensive task 

that requires drastic measures and 

brings many considerations to the 

fore: what is the role that different 

owners can play in this project, what 

are the municipal instruments that 

can be activated, what does this 

mean for land management… Next 

to that, solutions need to be found 

to tackle the high groundwater table 

in a sustainable way — pumping 

is not a long-term resilient solution 

and climate change with more 

heavy rainfall will only worsen the 

situation. The discharge of the water 

catchment area through the port is 

another complex question: how can 

a middle ground be found between 

maintaining the harbour aspects 

and the much needed reconnection 

of both the water system with the 

sea for the discharge as well as 

the coastal experience of the city 

with the uniqueness of the Wadden 

Sea. Lastly, the narrative of the 

whole neighbourhood needs to 

shift towards a positive story, where 

solutions need to be developed that 

take the different socio-economic 

contexts of the neighbourhood into 

account — ranging from low-income 

to higher income. 

To develop Esbjerg into a more 

attractive city, these needs and 

dreams need to be formulated 

into realistic projects. This asks 

for the involvement of the different 

stakeholders present in the area, 

with each of them having their own 

goals, solutions, approaches, and 

financing principles. Actors like the 

port authority of Esbjerg, the utility 

company of Esbjerg, the other public 

actors, the citizens… need to be 

involved in the redevelopment of the 

neighbourhood, where the exchange 

and bundling of forces has to lead to 

integrated solutions. A good process 

and participation are needed to 

involve investors from the beginning. 

The redevelopment of the east 

part of the city can be used as a 

pilot project, where the principles 

and approaches could be used in 

other parts of the city — or even 

in other cities. It is important to 

take the scalability, fundability and 

integral character into account 

when investigating and developing 

solutions. 

14 

Esbjerg


To do so, the case of Esbjerg 



• Hydrologists: need for 

calculations for water plan, 

knowledge on surface water and 

groundwater levels 

• Design team + technical: develop 

intelligent solutions for the 

eastern part of the city (opening 

old river) 

• Juridical: legal part 

• Economical: how to combine 

funding 

• Social: participation of local 

stakeholders (public services, 

inhabitants, companies) of the 

neighbourhood 

Esbjerg 15



Leverage Esbjerg 


Municipality of Esbjerg / Esbjerg Kommune 

Contact 




Commissioner 



Management 












Sources 

Data: Boligsiden, data provided by Municipality 

of Esbjerg 

Maps: data provided by Municipality of Esbjerg, 

Open Street Map 

Image Credits 





Maps 

p. 8-9: MEDVIND/Bent Sørensen for Port of 

Esbjerg (source: https://energycities.org/sharingknowledge-sharing-success/attachment/fotophoto-medvind-bent-sorensen) 







Agency) 









Disclaimer 








Publisher 



Management






Ribe 







Ribe 




2 

Ribe













Karin Lochte 







This booklet on Ribe is part of a series, literally setting the scene 









4 

Ribe


Ribe 5


Ribe 

Welcome to the oldest 

city of Scandinavia 

Context 

Ribe is the oldest city in 

Scandinavia, with a rich history 

and many valuable heritage 

buildings. For centuries, starting 

from the Viking-Age around 

AD 700, it was an important 

commercial hub for the coastal 

region of the Wadden Sea. It is 

situated in the estuarium of the 

Ribe Å, where the river flows 

via four branches through the 

city center of Ribe, and passes 

then the open landscape of 

wetlands, before it flows via 

the Kammerslusen into the salt 

marshes and the Wadden Sea. 

The city was its own municipality 

until 2006 and is still very proud of 

its identity. It has the appearance 

of being a local capital, with many 

known inhabitants and highly 

educated people. But also outside 

its own and national borders, Ribe 

is a known city. Yearly, around one 

million tourists visit Ribe and enjoy 

its history. 

However, many water issues come 

to the fore in the city, and climate 

change will only worsen these 

challenges. The identity of the city 

is under pressure, since the old 

buildings risk to deteriorate due 

to unstable soil humidity, while the 

frequency and impact of flooding 

is also getting higher. 

The case study of Ribe in the 

Water as Leverage trajectory 

wants to investigate solutions 

to maintain the valuable identity 

of the city, while also being 

futureproof considering climate 

change and sustainability, all this 

in respect with the wonderful 

landscape. 

6 

Ribe


Geography 

Municipality 


Country 

Land use 

Surface area 

Nature 

Agriculture 

Urbanisation 

Recreation 


People 



Economy 

Housing price 





Transport 




Esbjerg 


Denmark 

Municipality 

742,5 km 2 9,3 km 2 

40 % 12 % 

46 % 0 % 

10 % 72 % 

2 % 13 % 

1 % 3 % 

Municipality 

115.748 (2021) 

1.250.000 


Ribe 

Municipality 


Ribe 

2.160 euro/m 2 2.323 euro/m 2 (2021) 

postal code 6700 postal code 6702 

2.323 €/m 2 (2021) 

7 % 

27 % 

16 % 

3 % 

17 % 

11 % 

19 % 

Ribe 7


8 

Ribe


Ribe 9


Ribe 

Water threats 

from all sides 

Challenges 

HERITAGE IN DANGER! 

In the city of Ribe, the stream 

is raised via four stems (small 

sluices). This heightened water 

table heavily affects the humidity 

and groundwater level of the soil, 

which consists of a high percentage 

of organic material. How come? 

Historically, new buildings were 

always built on the debris of the old 

ones (often in wood), creating a soil 

which contains organic materials. 

In short, they call this kind of soil a 

‘cultural swamp’. It renders the soil 

very sensitive to changing humidity 

conditions. As such, the current 

water table must be maintained or 

sometimes even kept high enough 

as to not compromise the structural 

characteristics of the old buildings. 

Changes in the urban fabric have 

proven to be dangerous — for 

example, the recent repavement 

of the square around the church 

affected the water table and the 

consistency of the soil, which 

impacted the stability of some 

old buildings, as cracks started to 

appear. Climate change is bringing 

periods of more extreme rainfall and 

drought, thus surely impacting these 

soil conditions even more, putting 

the valuable built heritage of the city 

at risk. 

WATER FROM THE EAST, 

WATER FROM THE WEST 

Each year, Ribe has to deal with 

flooding, coming from different parts 

of the water catchment area. There 

is an excess of water coming from 

the whole catchment area in the 

east, which spans over 960 km 2 . In 

winter times, the land more upstream 

becomes too saturated with water, 

which causes a sudden flash flood 

— or flom — to arrive in the urban 

center of Ribe. The stems, which 

regulate the water level, cannot 

handle this huge amount of water, 

and the river exceeds its borders. 

The waterways in the city center are 

literally bottlenecks, and flooding 

happens regularly. 

From the west, the water threat 

is coming from the sea. The sea 

dyke with the sluice Kammerslusen 

was built in 1912 and is currently 7 

meters high. This infrastructure is 

a critical point in the whole water 

protection of Ribe on two levels. On 

the one hand, the dyke and sluice 

need to be renewed in the future in 

order to deal with the predicted sea 

level rise. On the other hand, there 

are currently floods happening when 

the discharge of water through the 

sluice into the sea is not possible. 

There is a build-up of water at the 

level of the sluice, and when heavy 

rains occur, this huge amount of 

water reaches the city center of 

Ribe. The area between the dykes 

and Ribe city is covered by the water 

every year during winter months. 

More and more often, the water 

even reaches the city center... It is 

inevitable that this will only worsen 

in the future, when heavy rains occur 

more frequently. This two-fold threat 

in the west poses a lot of questions 

related to the renewal of the dyke 

and sluice. 

10 

Ribe


TOURISTIC PRESSURE 

On average there are a million 

people a year visiting Ribe. While the 

housing market is protected from 

this demographic flow by Danish 

legislation, it still puts quite some 

pressure on the livability of the city, 

for example in terms of traffic. On 

the other hand, a lot of economic 

activity relies on tourism. 

Ribe 11

shorter timeframe for discharge 

dyke and sluice built in 1912 


urenovation of dyke and sl 

ice 


12 

Ribe

need for constant groundwater table 

tourist mobility pressure 

raised water table via 4 stems 


flooding from the West 

‘cultural swamp’ 

flooding from the East 


Ribe 13


Ribe 

From source to sea 

Call For Action 

1. Understanding the causes and 

detecting the potentialities 

In order to give an answer to the 

many challenges of Ribe, there is 

a need for a better understanding 

of the different dynamics behind 

these challenges, and especially the 

potential solutions. 

The different water issues cannot be 

solved in the center of Ribe itself, but 

are dependent on the whole water 

system of the water catchment area. 

The issue of flooding can probably 

only be solved when measures are 

also taken further upstream, and 

in the landscape on the eastern 

side, and by intervening in the area 

between the city and the dyke 

on the western side. Today, the 

question lives whether or not a new 

dyke is needed according to the 

Risk and Climate Adaptation Plan 

in development, whether this is the 

best option and what this means 

for the possible land use. What if 

the position of the dyke would be 

moved more inland towards the city 

of Ribe? How would this affect the 

water level balance of the city? What 

about the landowners of the now 

flooded land? Could a double dyke 

system be implemented, creating a 

new kind of agriculture in this inbetween 

area? How does this affect 

the natural values? 

Next to that, the water level balance 

of the soil is fragile and there is a 

need for a better understanding of 

its conditions and possible solutions, 

in respect to the heritage value but 

also in light of being sustainable 

and futureproof. Moreover, there is 

a need to improve the conditions 

for fish passage from the seaside 

of Ribe through the stems of the 

river system. This might call for 

more water on the western part. 

The city of Ribe has a unique and 

important historical value that 

needs to be maintained. However, 

this asset is under pressure due 

to the touristic attractivity and the 

maintaining of the fragile water 

balance of both soil and river, all this 

while considering current and future 

climate dynamics and the impact of 

new developments. Making the past 

more sustainable is a very delicate 

question, which asks for innovative 

solutions. 

In short, different scenarios need 

to be considered on how these 

multiple threats and challenges 

could be solved in an integrated 

way, since they are all dependent 

on each other. Future investments 

should be done by bundling forces 

and by diminishing unwishful effects. 

Next to the participation of experts 

to understand the issues better, 

this asks for the participation of 

the many local stakeholders in the 

area: inhabitants, actors of tourism, 

heritage organizations, farmers, the 

sportfishing association, inhabitants, 

industry, the municipality, the 

wastewater company, Natura2000, 

and so on. 

2. Detecting design principles for a 

sustainable ‘past’ 

The possible scenarios for tackling 

the challenges of Ribe in an 

integrated way should lead to the 

14 

Ribe


formulation of design principles 

that are in respect with the local 

context but which are futureproof 

and integrated. How can the city 

be redesigned to maintain the 

presence and identity of the heritage 

buildings, while being adaptive 

for climate change? How can the 

natural landscape be rethought as a 

sponge to be more resilient for future 

flooding and drought? What kind of 

design principles are needed? How 

can nature-based solutions help 

maintain the heritage, while giving 

it a new attractive face, and help 

strengthen the wonderful landscape? 

3. Integrated plan from source to 

sea 

Next to the design principles, there is 

a need for a plan which looks both to 

the city of Ribe as well as beyond its 

borders. The different issues cannot 

be solved in the city itself but ask 

for an integrated approach for the 

whole water catchment area, from 

source to sea. Which action should 

be taken where, to give an answer to 

the different challenges? This asks 

for an integration of the different 

wishes of each actor and the various 

thought-out design principles. That 

is the contribution that the Water As 

Leverage trajectory will bring to Ribe, 

and which will be taken into account 

within the development of the local 

Risk and Climate Adaptation that 

is being developed in the coming 

years. 

To do so, the case of Ribe asks for 


experts in: 

• Hydrology: understanding the 

water system from source to 

sea and on the characteristics of 

the ‘cultural swamp’ in the city 

centre 

• Design: thinking out new 

solutions to combine past and 

future together 

• Biodiversity: impact of solutions 

on the ecosystems, with special 

attention to birds and fish 

• Technology: understanding and 

thinking out new solutions, with 

a preference for nature-based 

solutions 

• Heritage: how to maintain the 

historical value of the city and 

landscape? 

• Juridical matters: understanding 

the different constellations of 

land ownership and thinking of 

new innovative approaches 

• Participation: how to get 

everybody on board, with each 

of the stakeholders having 

their own mindset, values, and 

wishes? 

Ribe 15



Leverage Ribe 


Municipality of Esbjerg 

Contact 




Commissioner 



Management 












Sources 

Data: Boligsiden, data provided by Municipality 

of Esbjerg 



Image Credits 





Maps 

p. 8-9: Destination Wadden Sea (source: https:// 

www.vadehavskysten.dk/ribe-esbjerg-fanoe/ribeesbjerg-fanoe/transport-i-ribes-lokalomraadegdk1111982) 







Agency) 









Disclaimer 








Publisher 



Management






Fanø 







Ribe 
















Karin Lochte 







This booklet on Fanø is part of a series, literally setting the scene 









4 

Fanø


Fanø 5


Fanø 

Context 

The Northernmost 

Wadden Island 

Fanø is the northernmost island of 

the Wadden Sea, just off the coast 

of Esbjerg, and Denmark’s second 

smallest municipality. 

The island has three main towns. 

The most northern urban center, 

the port town of Nordby, is the 

gateway to the mainland. Here, the 

ferry to and from Esbjerg arrives. 

Secondly, the sommerhusområde 

or summerhouse town of Rindby 

is the main touristic area in the 

middle of the island, with newer 

houses built against the dunes. 

The third village, Sønderho, lies 

at the southern tip of the island. It 

is considered the most beautiful 

village of Denmark and has a 

long-standing maritime history, 

which it has in common with 

Nordby. Both towns are dotted 

with its typical brick-and-straw 

thatched roofed vernacular 

architecture, all following the 

east-west orientation, since it is 

the most dominant wind direction. 

Sometimes people speak of a 

fourth village: the beach town of 

Fanø Vesterhavsbad. 

A large amount of nature 

surrounds the urban centers of 

the island. On the western side, 

there is a large compacted sand 

beach — even accessible by car — 

followed by dunes. Overall, nature 

consists predominantly of heath, 

with some small trees that never 

grow tall due to the North Sea’s 

western winds. Around 80 % of 

Fanø is protected by Natura2000 

while more than half of its area is 

protected by Danish nature law 

(Naturbeskyttelsesloven §3) to 

preserve certain types of nature. 

Most of the Southern part of the 

island (1.400 hectare) is preserved 

through maintenance of the 

landscape. However, some parts 

of nature are reclaimed for other 

purposes, like golf terrains and 

summer houses. Scattered on the 

island, different bunkers from the 

second World War can be found. 

The island is only connected by 

the mainland by means of a ferry 

to Esbjerg, which is currently 

going back and forth 3 times an 

hour during the day, taking 12 

minutes to reach the other side. 

6 

Fanø


Geography 

Municipality 


Country 

Land use 

Surface area 

Nature 

People 




Average age 

Fanø 


Denmark 

Municipality 

55,78 km 2 

52,73 km2 Natura2000 area 

Municipality 

3.427 (2022) 

850.000 

61,44 inh/km 2 

50,3 

Peculiarities 

> Hosts the yearly Kite Fliers 

Meeting (with more than 5.000 

attendees) 

> Of the municipalities of Denmark, 

Fanø has the largest share of 

nature 

> 29% of the houses on Fanø are 

built before the year 1900 

Economy 

Housing price 


Municipality 

1.964 €/m 2 (2021) 

2.323 €/m 2 (2021) 

Fanø 7


8 

Fanø


Fanø 9


Fanø 

Challenges 

From Dykes to Dunes 

THE PROTECTION OF NORDBY 

As a Wadden island, Fanø is a dynamic 

island whose edges will always be 

under the influence of constant erosion 

and sedimentation processes. The 

western coastal strip grows naturally, 

but is subjected to severe erosion 

during stormy weather and spring 

tide, balancing out the process. The 

eastern coast, by contrast, has a 

constant chronic erosion sensitivity. 

In the south of the island, a project 

is already underway to extend the 

dyke of Sønderho — potentially with 

local building materials —, taking 

into account the ongoing nature 

conservation measures. In the north, 

Nordby is currently protected by a 

semi-circular dyke; a concrete quay 

wall that runs from the ferry terminal to 

the marina, extending into an earthen 

dyke both to the north and south. The 

2021 risk management plan for Nordby, 

however, stipulates that this dyke 

will be insufficient when considering 

climate change and corresponding sea 

level rise, putting the whole town of 

Nordby at a high flood risk. This calls 

for a renewal of the protection strategy 

that is very strongly felt by the maritime 

population of Fanø. This strategy must 

be done with respect for the entire 

Natura2000 area of the Wadden Sea. 

A raised dyke also makes the docking 

of the ferry more difficult, so organizing 

the ferry inside the concrete part of 

the dyke is being considered. Within 

this project, too, consideration is being 

given to using local building materials 

to limit emissions, but this also 

appears to be in conflict with nature 

conservation. Dredging material from 

the Esbjerg harbor channel could be 

used on both dykes. 

HOUSING (RE)DEVELOPMENT 

Like any larger Wadden island, Fanø’s 

population sways according to two 

seasons. In the summer, the number 

of island residents increases tenfold 

and the summer houses and holiday 

facilities are well stocked. In winter, the 

permanent island population shrinks 

to a minimum. This also makes the 

housing supply on the island equally 

divided: rentable holiday facilities 

versus permanent housing supply. 

To counteract extremes, Denmark 

has strict legislation on acquiring 

property—you can only buy real 

estate if you hold your permanent 

residence there or have lived there for 

five years. Foreigners are even further 

restricted by “bopælspligt” which 

means that you have to live at your 

residence for at least 180 days per 

year. This is one of the reasons why 

Fanø does not have extremely high 

housing prices nor any large residential 

expansion plan in place compared to 

other Wadden islands. Another is the 

strong commuter relationship with 

the mainland. On average 24,6% of 

the people working on Fanø are not 

living on the island, while 47,4% of 

the islanders work elsewhere, typically 

in Esbjerg. It remains therefore a 

challenge to keep the island attractive 

and lively through all-year-round job 

creation, diversification of tourism, 

10 

Fanø


high quality infrastructure and also 

housing. Small explorations are 

underway that look at where tiny 

houses could be located or what the 

possibilities are for reprogramming 

old institutional buildings into 

collective housing facilities. This is 

the case, for example, in the innerdyke 

area in the north of Nordby. 

In addition, the pressure of tourism 

development also increases. A 

spatial study arose in response to a 

specific request to develop a hotel 

on the west coast. Next to that, 

the Udviklingsplan is researching 

the desired development potential 

of the area along the Strandvejen 

(from Nordby, over Rindby, to Fanø 

Vesterhavsbad) which is currently 

dominated by summer house 

development in the western dune 

area. 

FOSSIL-BASED MOBILITY 

PRESSURE 

Old vintage posters from the 

1910s-1930s show a unique feature 

of Fanø: the driveable beach on the 

west coast of the island. Although the 

legendary motorcycle and car races 

have not been organized for almost a 

century, driving your car on the beach 

is still a must-do for every island visitor. 

And although Fanø was also lauded for 

its bicycle-friendly infrastructure, it is 

mainly that car idyll that still resonates 

in collective memory. It means that 

many tourists drive their car onto the 

ferry and explore the island, many 

of them arriving at peak moments 

of the Dragon, Music or Knitting 

Festivals. Also commuters are largely 

dependent on car ownership or bus 

frequencies. This puts great pressure 

on the infrastructure and sometimes 

generates long waiting times (and 

accompanying traffic queuing) to get 

back to the mainland. Both in Fanø 

and Esbjerg, the waiting areas for the 

crossing are not the most attractive 

places in the village and harbor. The 

municipality of Fanø is making efforts 

to significantly reduce the associated 

emissions by promoting bike use (free 

of charge on the ferry), car sharing 

and having the first electric ferry make 

the crossing. However, the current 

energy crisis prevents this investment 

from being scaled up. And the shift to 

more electrical vehicles often does not 

reduce the pressure on infrastructure 

and spatial needs. 

Fanø 11


LOCAL DRINKING WATER 

PRODUCTION 

Fanø is one of the only Wadden islands 

that can still produce its own drinking 

water. The central dune massif southeast 

of Rindby is the main source and 

reserve area exploited by the public 

limited company Fanø Vand A/S 

according to the water supply plan of 

the municipality. Fanø Vand extracts 

ground water from a depth of 40 

meters and pumps the water to three 

separate pipeline networks, owned by 

Fanø Vand, Fanø Vesterhavsbad and 

the cooperative Rindby Vand. Due to 

the recent reduction of the allowed 

PFAS treshold in drinking water by the 

European Union, the local water turned 

out to contain too much PFAS. An 

ion exchange plant was added to the 

water treatment plant of FanøVand this 

year to achieve the reduction of PFAS. 

Sewage water is handled through a 

sewage system or through seepage. 

Sewage water from the different areas 

is gathered at the main pump station 

in Nordby and pumped through a 

pipeline to Esbjerg to be cleansed. 

The protection of the dune massif will 

remain essential in the long term so 

that, like a number of other islands in 

the Wadden Sea, Fanø does not have 

to rely on an infrastructural connection 

with the mainland. 

SALTY MEADOWS 

With its open landscape prone to 

strong winds and nutrient-poor 

soils on its heaths, beaches and 

dunes, Fanø has always faced harsh 

conditions, the extremes of which 

will only increase under the influence 

of climate change. Recent periods 

of drought already resulted in low 

levels of water in the meadows in 

springtime. Endangered bird species 

breeding there are dependent on these 

conditions to secure sufficient fodder 

for their offspring. In summer, species 

like heather (hedelyng) are especially 

under threat. Farming takes up about 

18% of Fanø’s surface area and is 

predominantly extensive. As there are 

no pig farms or biogas plants on the 

island, the majority of livestock is cattle 

for meat production. The large salt 

meadows are mainly used for grazing, 

while fields a little bit higher up yield 

the cultivation of spring barley and 

potatoes. As large areas are frequently 

flooded, these fields are not part of a 

rotation scheme, though to prevent 

subsequent drought, many drainage 

ditches have been closed in recent 

years. Rise in the sea level, however, 

is considered a threat to the salt 

meadows. This becomes an issue for 

the farmers if their cattle cannot graze 

in the area as frequently as today. It 

could also be an opportunity, as more 

extensive grazing in areas that are not 

being grazed today can counteract 

unwanted overgrowth of the meadow 

into a boggy landscape. Appropriate 

farm management can be instrumental 

in maintaining Fanø’s fragile flora and 

fauna in a dynamic manner. 

12 

Fanø


Fanø 13

maintaining drinking water prodction 

summer houses in du 

ea 


drought a 

study on connecting road 

waterfront development 

development 

camping 


14 

Fanø

tourist mobility pressure 


ffects nature 

need for approprate farm management 

earth dyke 

nes 

an attractive and lively island 

ferry to Esbjerg 

risk of flooding (>2m) 

rth dyke 

urenovation of dyke and sl 

ice 

concrete dyke 

sites 

in respect with Natura2000 


Fanø 15


Fanø 


Sustainable 

Seasonal Growth 

1. From infrastructural protection 

to climate resilience, case 2030 

Dyke 

The biggest short-term challenge 

is Nordby’s future-proof coastal 

protection. Local ambitions 

push forward the goal of having 

implemented a new active protection 

system by 2030. The challenge 

here is to find maximum integration 

between civil engineering measures 

and nature-based solutions, between 

the accessibility of the ferry and 

marina and the extension potential 

and quality of the first series of 

inner-dyke homes, and between 

the financial pragmatics of shortterm 

solutions versus long-term 

resilience. The design issue will 

also have to weigh up the different 

climate scenarios that are included 

in the existing risk management plan 

and translate these into a feasible 

and financeable solution. There is 

also a local desire to realize this 

implementation as low-emission as 

possible, with the possibility of using 

local materials (as is currently being 

considered in Sønderho). Finally, 

the new protection system cannot 

jeopardize the conservation of the 

Natura2000 area. 

2. Long-term transformation vision 

for Rindby 

In the framework of the 

Udviklingsplan Fanø, a short 

participatory trajectory focused 

on the desired future tourism 

development of the area between 

Nordby and Fanø Vesterhavsbad. 

This exercise could be expanded 

and lead to a long-term development 

vision for the northern half of 

the island. Here, water can quite 

literally be a leverage for residential 

development. The soil quality, the 

surface water and the ground water 

in the dune massif must remain 

of high quality, for example, in 

order to sustainably maintain the 

local drinking water production. In 

addition, there is also an irrigation 

problem in Rindby because the 

high groundwater table and poorly 

maintained private irrigation systems 

cause local seepage problems. A 

participatory total plan could link 

high-quality residential renovation 

and residential development (for 

both permanent homes and summer 

houses) to the maximum functioning 

of the natural and biodiverse 

landscape. 

3. Slow mobility planning 

Emission reduction is one of the core 

themes of Fanø’s climate plan, but 

it is not easy to translate this into 

practice. Limited imagination leads 

to a disbelief that it will be possible 

to evolve from the current situation 

to a future where a radical modal 

shift has taken place that also entails 

a real reduction in infrastructural 

pressure. Therefore, through analysis 

and participatory discussion, a 

number of very concrete imaginaries 

were developed that form the 

basis for the development of an 

infrastructure and mobility plan 

(which the municipality does not 

yet have). Behavioral change, 

public transport, the expansion and 

promotion of the cycling and walking 

network, as well as the logistical 

dependence on Esbjerg (and the 

associated facilities) must be taken 

into account. 

16 

Fanø


To do so, the case of Fanø asks for 


experts in: 

• Climate adaptation and 

development in harbour planning 

• Harbour building 

• Nature-based dyke design 

• Valorisation of social and cultural 

aspects 

• Process facilitation and 

participation 

• Design 

Fanø 17



Leverage Fanø 


Municipality of Fanø / Fanø Kommune 

Contact 

Anne Hammer Lauridsen (Fanø Kommune) 

Commissioner 



Management 














Agency) 













Risikostyringsplan for Nordby (2021) 

Klimatilpasningsplan (2022) 

Udviklingsplan (2023, if approved) 

Sources 

Data: Boligsiden, Risikostyringsplan for Nordby 

(2021), Klimatilpasningsplan (2022), data 

provided by Municipality of Fanø 



Image Credits 





Maps 

p. 8-9: Municipality of Fanø 

Disclaimer 








Publisher 



Management

Water as Leverage - Wadden Sea Region

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