SARCC Belgian based pilot videos!

With the SARCC project coming to a close in December following our final conference, we have had the opportunity to look back at some of the great work that’s been achieved by our partners across Europe. Having partners in the UK, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium has cemented the collaborative ethos the SARCC project proudly represents and has of course been the main leading factor in our success.

In Belgium alone we are fortunate enough to have six different partners. Whether they be Universities or local government bodies, each bring different resources and expertise to the project…

Blankenberge

Blankenberge is a town and municipality in the Belgian province of West Flanders, best known for its international seaside resorts and coastal attractions. Whilst apart of the SARCC project, the council at Blankenberge have developed and launched their own pilot. As part of the climate resilient ethos adopted from SARCC, the already exciting dunes along the coast have been widened with eleven more meters including a four-meter bicycle path within the new zone. To make space for these new dunes, an existing concrete road will be removed. This will also reduce the risk of heat stress and flooding as a result of rainwater. Blankenberge have equally been essential in building the Belgian authorities understanding of how nature-based solutions can be integrated into coastal flood defences. Using their own pilot as a point of reference, along with all the shared research across the project Blankenberge have been able to underline the benefits of nature-based solutions.

Vives university of applied sciences

Vives University of Applied Sciences is the second SARCC partner and only university partnered with SARCC located in Belgium. Being a university, Vives’ primary focus within the SARCC project has been evaluating the projects nature-based solutions, not only from a technological point of view, but also from an ecological, economical, legal, and social ethical perspective, both during and after the realisation of the pilots. Vives has taken the lead within the project in accumulating and packaging date, knowledge and research. Their aim has been to create a data collection tool with other knowledge partners in SARCC such as University college HZ, TuDelft, MAT and Exo Environmental in order to more effectively integrate nature-based solutions in urban coastal areas. Not only this, but the university in general has a specific focus on climate and is thus a particularly valuable partner within the project, helping us gain a far wider audience with academics and students, improving education and validating certain nature-based solutions as an effective solution to climate change. 

Oostende

The third Belgian SARCC partner is the municipality of Oostende, another game changing coastal city located in West Flanders with a direct focus on supporting sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions to climate change. Before the SARCC project the city’s council had worked consistently in collaboration with the Flemish community, taking responsible for the maintenance of the beaches while the Flemish community is responsible for the protection of the coast. A major problem prior to the SARCC project for Oostende revolved around dealing with heavy winds moving an excessive amount of sand onto nearby infrastructure, such as walk and cycle paths, tramways and the coastal road. With sand nourishment only adding to the problem, Oostende were convinced working with nature was the solution, joining to SARCC project and creating a natural landscape across their coast with planted dunes along the seawall, which lead to an ecosystem that keeps the sand on the beach, thus solving the problem and acting as a sea defence in the process. With a background in coastal management and a detailed understanding of designing sea defences to fit within urban spaces, Oostende were able to deliver a great deal of research on how to implement nature-based solutions in such close proximity to the public.

Department of the Environment - coastal zone management flanders

The Department of the Environmental – Coastal Zone Management Flanders is a department within the Flemish Government, based in Bruges. The department is directly responsible for the built-up areas in Flanders and its environmental aspects, focusing on climate adaptation measures in the Flemish coastal zone, such as land-sea interaction, nature-based solutions, tourism, and sea defences. Within the SARCC project they are a leading voice on the Urban Leaders capacity programme, leading talks and organising events in order to better communicate the work of SARCC and the benefits of nature-based solutions to urban decision makers and local civil servants. The team at the department are vital in persuading government officials to act now and pursue sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions to climate change, informing them of what the future challenge of climate change will be, and how it will impact their coastal zones.

Middelkerke

The fifth Belgian SARCC partner is the municipality of Middelkerke. More so than a lot of the other project partners in or outside Belgium Middelkerke is particularly vulnerable to extreme storms due to climate change. In the new spatial development plan for the city, a more resilient and sustainable city has been promoted, hence the cities collaboration with SARCC. Middelkerke is the lead in the reinforcing of the coastline of Middelkerke together with the Coastal Division of Flanders, aiming to develop reliant buildings, work on urban quality assessments of public places in the context of flooding, port development and much more. Middelkerke, along with SARCC have been building a soft sea wall in the form of a grass embankment dune, which has already seen a positive response from the public and has improved the safety of the shoreline.

Agency for Maritime and coastal services

The Agency for Maritime and Coastal Services (otherwise known as MDK) has been responsible for the sea defences and general coastal management along the Belgian coast with their top priority being guaranteeing protection against sea-levels rising due to climate change. This includes beach nourishments across the coast to avoid overtopping and damage of the sea walls, as well as renovating sea dykes at the same time. Within the SARCC project, MDK have focused on implementing nature-based solutions on a higher level in close cooperation with two coastal communities: Oostende and Middelkerke. In other words, MDK have overseen the implementation of the two main Belgian pilots, using the data provided by both teams on each site and the other Belgian partners to improve the implementation and management of future dunes across the country and EU.

To find out more about the project partners list above click HERE to visit the SARCC partners page, where you will find links to all of their websites.