Projects

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Project output

Public procurement for sustainable river maintenance and ecosystem services.

Challenge

Over the past decades Dutch river management has become more complex. There are fierce organizational challenges and growing pressure to become more efficient, market oriented, transparent and collaborative. All these developments urge organizations which are involved in river and floodplain management to develop public-private partnerships and explore innovative ways for more cost-efficient maintenance. This can be achieved by austerity and efficiency but also by finding ways to gain revenues from the river area with technical and social innovations and utilizing ecosystem services. We explore ways in which public-private partnerships can ensure a more cost-efficient maintenance of river floodplain while still complying with the societal needs.

Innovative components

• Analysis of the current practice of biomass utilization in river management regarding the organizations’ ambitions and conditions in collaboration with the RiverCare project about riverine biomass.
• Policy review referring to the program Self Supporting River System in the Dutch Rhine delta. The program actively seeks different types of relationships and rules within the water sector to address the societal challenges that are summarized by the increasing mismatch between the (present) static approach of river maintenance in a complex and dynamic environment.
• Evaluation of one of the main projects of Self Supporting River Systems which is about “Learning space IJsseldelta- Twentekanalen”. This case-study focuses on market orientation, risk-sharing, public-private partnerships and innovation.

For whom and where?

Governmental/public organizations looking for more cost-efficient sustainable river and floodplain maintenance via public procurement arrangements.