[Leeuwarden - A test bed for innovative water technologies with a portfolio of projects aiming for long term sustainable goals]

▷ Description

Leeuwarden is the capital of the province of Friesland, one of the 12 provinces in the Netherlands.

The province is part of a delta, which means that the pollution carried by the large rivers is deposited in this area and most of the province is below sea level. So we are one of the areas that will suffer the consequences of climate change.

The history of our province and with it of the city of Leeuwarden has been marked by the struggle against water for centuries.

Around the turn of the century, it was decided to look at how this struggle against water could also be translated into new economic opportunities: water as a driver for innovation.

We have taken up this new challenge programmatically. In other words, we developed a portfolio of projects (and that process is still continuing) that should give shape to the above ambition.

This all started with improving the water quality of the many waterways in the municipality of Leeuwarden. We also invested in building up an international knowledge position (including Wetsus) and a business cluster (Wateralliance).

As provincial and municipal government, we support the further expansion of our position through investments in talent, technology and many model projects. In doing so, we as governments play various roles (e.g. what- and regulations, subsidy, launching customer, host of foreign delegations etc.).

▷ Scale

The province of Fryslan;

The approach is not limited to the borders of the City of Leeuwarden

▷ Key Specs

Waterquality

Waterquantity

Water as driver for economics development

Quadruple helix

▷ Additional Info

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