The Dutch national identity is grounded in a proud self-image as expert water managers, and beyond its borders, the saying ‘the Dutch are everywhere’ is commonly used in colloquial and informal water-sector conversations to point to the prominent roles of Dutch engineers, consultants, researchers, and institutions in shaping technical and policy-oriented responses to water challenges worldwide.
In this episode, we aim to open a reflective and constructive conversation rather than to pass judgment, to explore how Dutch water experts operate and what they learn from working in diverse sociocultural and political contexts. We focus on understanding how their knowledge, methods, and assumptions travel between the Netherlands and project locations, and how their experiences and knowledge obtained are translated back into Dutch water management thinking and practice.
Speakers:
- Adriaan Duiveman
- Willem van Deursen
- Alejandra Burchard Levine
- Danick Trouwloon
This discussion took place on 26 February 2026 and was moderated by Shahnoor Hasan and Douwe van der Meer.
