Workshop about sustainable development of the Wadden Coast:

BIP (Blended Intensive Programme) project in The Netherlands

Photo detail of a group of people smiling at the camera. In the background, other people, meadows and a cloudy sky.

Excursion to the Frisian salt marches: stop at a viewpoint during a kwelderwalk (Photo © Stefanie Gruber)

Photo of a group of people walking along a fenced path on a grassy embankment. Trees and buildings can be seen in the background. Another path runs parallel in the foreground.

Visiting a so-called Terp (historical settlement hill) at Hegebeintum (Photo © Stefanie Gruber)

Photo of a group of people standing on the top of a dyke. A fence, a paved path and buildings can be seen to the left of the dyke. The sea can be seen to the right of the dyke.

On the dyke near Wierum (Photo © Stefanie Gruber)

Photo of a group of people standing on a stony beach. The sea and cloudy sky in the background.

Exploring the Wadden Coast (Photo © Stefanie Gruber)

Photo of a group of people in a forest clearing. In the background an embankment with trees.

Guided walk on Ameland with Johan Krol, Natuurcentrum Ameland (Photo © Stefanie Gruber)

Photo of a group of people standing on a sand dune and listening to a speaker. In the background, more sand dunes with vegetation and a cloudy sky.

Guided walk on Ameland with Johan Krol, Natuurcentrum Ameland (Photo © Stefanie Gruber)

Photo of a group of people standing in a row and smiling at the camera. In the background a building and a cloudy sky.

The IMLA group in front of the group accommodation 'Blierherne' on Ameland (Photo © Erik Van Mullem)

Photo detail of a room in which students and teachers are standing or sitting at tables with notebooks and sketches.

Intensive workshop at our second working location: 'Het Lage Noorden' in Marrum (Photo © Stefanie Gruber)

Photo detail of a group of people in a room, sitting in two rows and looking to the left. In the background is a table with laptops and a wall.

Attentive audience, including local stakeholders, at the final presentation in Marrum (Photo © Stefanie Gruber)

Photo of a man on the left and a woman on the right with papers in their hands. An empty wall in the background.

Adrian Noortman and Brechtje Horsten, the workshop organizers, during the farewell at the VHL in Velp (Photo © Stefanie Gruber)

Mid of November 2024 an international team of 38 students and 7 lecturers - including 13 participants of the IMLA programme - took part in a workshop about sustainable development of the Dutch Wadden Coast on the West Frisian island of Ameland.

This workshop was the kick-off project of a so-called 'Design Caroussel', which is organized as a series of four different BIP (Blended Intensive Programme) projects in the upcoming years, as cooperation of the following four university partners (each year with a changing responsibility and a different project focus):

VHL / Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences, Velp (The Netherlands)
EhB / Erasmus Brussels University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Belgium)
Vilnius Tech / Vilnius Gediminas Technical University (Lithuania)
HSWT / University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf (Germany)

The Wadden Coast project was initiated and organized by the VHL colleagues from the Netherlands: Adrian Noortman and Brechtje Horsten did a really great job!

In the weeks before the on-site phase in November, a series of introductory online lectures gave the participants a very good theoretical basis.

The workshop itself started on 10th of November and took mainly place on the island of Ameland. The workshop week included several excursions (both on the West Frisian mainland and on Ameland), presentations and explanations of local experts and - of course at the heart of it all - the project work in the teams.

This was the central question of the workshop assignment:

How can we adapt the Wadden Sea coastal area so it becomes a future-proof, resilient, and biodiverse landscape, building on the values that make up the richness of the Wadden Sea region?

Project area was the Dutch Wadden Coast between Harlingen and the Dollart bay at the border between The Netherlands and Germany. The students from the four universities were mixed up in 7 teams of 5-6 students, each team working on one part of this coastline.

All participants learnt a lot about

the coastal system in general
development of the Dutch Wadden coast
landscapes of the Dutch Wadden coast
ecology
coastal villages
human interventions
effects of the climate change and sea level rise
risks for agriculture
dike systems (also with regard to the 'Living Dikes' research project)
nature-based solutions

The final results of the working groups' analyses, visions and design proposals were presented on 14 of November in Marrum, with involvement of local stakeholders.

On 15 of November the workshop week ended at the Landscape Architecture Department of VHL (Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences) in Velp, with a guided campus walk and a nice farewell event.

In addition to the intensive professional exchange and learning, the participants also enjoyed the very nice social setting in the wonderful group accommodation on Ameland, with home-cooked meals and a lot of (also intercultural) exchange. Certainly some new friendships and good contacts were made here.

A special thanks goes to Adrian, Brechtje, all local experts and to all participating students and colleagues!

The BIP projects are funded via Erasmus+. Therefore, we would like to thank also our HSWT International Office for the great support.

We are very much looking forward to the next 'Design Caroussel' BIP project 'Voralpenland' which will be organized for autumn 2025 by the IMLA team of the HSWT (University of Applied Sciences Weihenstephan-Triesdorf) in Germany.

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