A report of Mathilde de Jongh of Delfland
Delfland hosted the second week of the programme in the week from 9 to 13 September.
It was, just as week one, an intensive programme. On Monday morning, the week started with a warm welcome from Marcel Belt, board member of the Waterboard Delfland. Wherafter the programme went on to the project presentation of our first project executed for Water Europe. The presentation took place within a Working Group session of the Working Group Human Capital of Water Europe at Delfland. Beside the project presentation we worked in the afternoon with all the external participants on the question what a common European Agenda for the Water Sector on Human Capital should look like. What are the good examples and which theme’s should we be working on?
On Tuesday we had the time to dive into the our Water system and connected stakeholders. In the morning we had a Masterclass Stakeholder analysis and Mutual Gains Approach from Martijn van Amelsvoort and Annemarieke Verbout (Stakeholder managers of Delfland). Mathilde: “What I found interesting to see is that the way in which Delfland cooperates with the environment is still relatively unknown to many European organizations.” explained how Delfland took residents / stakeholders into account when adapting a barrier. A participant from Eastern Europe later said that it is very interesting, but that this way of working in his country is really unthinkable due to, among other things, hierarchy. It was very interesting to hear the different stories. “In the afternoon we went on a Water Cycling Tour in The Hague. Together also with colleagues from Young Delfland and Young Dunea we had a field visit on the Water production location of Dunea in the Meijendel. With a stop at the Boulevard of Scheveningen and a visit at the Harbour to eat fish, but also discuss the integral work of our water safety projects in the area.
Wednesday and Thursday we focused on training: communication and team processes. Intensive days in which we learned a lot about ourselves and how we connect with others. Focussing these days on effective team communication and the connection with ‘the other’. Thursday night we had a very nice BBQ with young professionals from the Nationaal Watertraineeship and Wetskills. Both programmes supported the start of the EJWP.
The week ended with the Project Start Up of the projects of Delfland and Water Footprint. We had time to consult with the client and make a plan what we will do to come to a nice result in three months, when we meet again in Brescia, Italy.
Mark Brandt, Director of Delfland, closed the week with an inspiring story.
We look back positively on this interactive and educational week. A lot of thanks to Delfland for hosting this!
