Together with UNESCO-IHE, Deltares organised a coastal erosion course in Delft this week for a group of Colombians from research institutions and a number of regional government authorities.
The course consists of passing on information, but there are also workshops during which possible solutions are being elaborated for tackling the erosion in seven coastal areas to which the Colombian government has assigned ‘urgent’ status.
Coastal erosion is a major problem for Colombia. Not only does it, for example, make floods more likely, it also destroys beaches and therefore negatively impacts the tourist industry. The expectation is that the problems will only get worse in the years to come as a result of building on the coastline and rising sea levels.
The Colombian government, including the Ministry of the Environment and regional authorities, is looking for a sustainable solution and is therefore very interested in concepts on the lines of ‘Building with Nature’.
The course in Delft is one result of the agreements made by Colombia and the Netherlands in 2010 to provide Colombia with support in the area of water management. This includes exchanges of information between Dutch research institutions and Colombian agencies.
[mappress]
Press Release, December 13, 2012