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A Netherlands Culture Of Experimentation Leads To Creative Solutions

Chris Granger
/
Times-Picayune | The Advocate

The Netherlands is a coastal nation and faces similar threats to Louisiana, like rising seas, stronger storms and a sinking coast. Over the past thousand years, the Dutch have built giant floodwalls and levees to protect them from the North Sea, just like officials continue to do in Louisiana.

But climate change is bringing new threats, and the Dutch are trying some unusual approaches. They are rebuilding land with the power of nature, using some tools that we could use here in Louisiana.

On a freezing cold, grey November day on the coast, waves from the North Sea crash on the shore. Yet kite-surfers find the weather perfectly acceptable. Several of them battle the wind in dry suits in a small lagoon where the waves are smaller. It’s a favored location for the sport. But over the next several decades this whole beach will wash away, just like it was engineered to do.

Read more at Crescent To Capitol.

Tegan has reported on the coast for WWNO since 2015. In this role she has covered a wide range of issues and subjects related to coastal land loss, coastal restoration, and the culture and economy of Louisiana’s coastal zone, with a focus on solutions and the human dimensions of climate change. Her reporting has been aired nationally on Planet Money, Reveal, All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Marketplace, BBC, CBC and other outlets. She’s a recipient of the Pulitzer Connected Coastlines grant, CUNY Resilience Fellowship, Metcalf Fellowship, and countless national and regional awards.

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