Dredging for Sustainable Infrastructure Conference Wraps Up

A unique Dredging for Sustainable Infrastructure Conference – organized jointly by CEDA, IADC and Dredging Today – was successfully closed today at the Beurs van Berlage center in Amsterdam.

The Conference gathered a large number of participants from all over the world, including planners, designers, decision makers, regulators, contractors, project owners and environmental advocates.

The two-day-long program offered six highly interactive sessions with contributions from internationally renowned scientists and practitioners which addressed topics presented in the CEDA-IADC Dredging for Sustainable Infrastructure guidebook.

As Mr Polite Labyorie, President of CEDA pointed out at the event, “The book is very important because we are living in changing world, with big challenges like the climate change, energy transition, bigger and bigger cities and we have to cope with this problems and we need the tool and the guidance on how to deal with these issues in a sociable, sustainable and environmentally friendly way.”

He also added that the next big challenge will be in the further promotion of the guidebook. “We are going to give additional courses, webinars, presentations, also we’ll give courses at universities, etc. This is our next big challenge.”

The guidebook has been designed as an authoritative guide to delivering dredging projects that enhance the natural and socio-economic systems.

In it, the four key enablers vital to the industry were discussed: the issues of valuation of ecosystem benefits, stakeholder engagement, adaptive management of dredging projects and the beneficial use of dredged materials.

Apart from the highly interactive technical sessions, the conference also gave visitors the chance to visit some of the projects being undertaken in the Amsterdam region.

The four field trips, offering delegates a first-hand investigation into the sustainable approaches, included IJburg Extension with a 82 hectare new island emerging in the IJmeer lake; Eendenkooi a duck decoy – dating from 1652 – being reconstructed in its original location on the former island of Ruigoord; Markermeerdijk which is being updated to ensure the region is protected from rising sea levels by 2021; and Plastic Whale that will help remove unwanted plastic from the Amsterdam’s rings of canals.