Title:”هزینه قبل از منافع است” – سفیر رنه جونز-بوس سخنرانی اصلی

رنه جونز-بوس، سفیر هلند در ایالات متحده، سخنرانی کلیدی پایانی را برای شرکت کنندگان در کنفرانس برنامه ریزی ملی ۲۰۱۲ در لس آنجلس، کالیفرنیا ارائه می کند. سخنرانی او بر چگونگی برخورد هلند با مسائل مربوط به سیل در طول تاریخ خود متمرکز است و دیدگاه منحصر به فردی را در مورد اینکه چگونه برنامه ریزان آمریکایی می توانند در رویکرد هلندی برای مقابله با مدیریت آب ارزش بیابند، ارائه می دهد. مقدمه پل فارمر، FAICP، مدیر اجرایی انجمن برنامه ریزی آمریکا www.planning.org

قسمتي از متن فيلم: Thank you all and good afternoon i hope you’ve all had a really great time at this fantastic conference in a really excellent city and the planners here have done a great job in hosting us again and we look forward to coming back next time in california in a few years back north in

San francisco but today i have the pleasure of once again introducing our closing keynote speaker ambassador renee jones boss but first i do want to recognize again our sponsors who have generously supported this our 104th national planning conference so again i’d like to thank them and uh many of you here are

Associated with these sponsors so we thank you as well we are very pleased today to welcome the ambassador to her second national planning conference i was thinking that since this is our 104th ambassador uh you’ve now spoken at almost two percent of our conferences but uh she first attended the national planning

Conference in new orleans where she spoke at the opening plenary as well as the opening of the delta urbanism symposium the ambassador is also a recipient of the apa president’s award which is given in the second year of a two-year presidency the ambassador and the royal embassy of the netherlands have been strong

Supporters of apa’s delta urbanism initiative and she has facilitated access to dutch water management experts and has helped shape the future water management strategy for new orleans it’s the first time any major u.s city has undertaken such an initiative and i think we’ll all be learning a lot from that

Initiative that’s underway right now under the ambassador’s leadership the dutch embassy and the netherlands government have strengthened the economic ties between the u.s and the netherlands those economic ties support more than 625 000 jobs in the u.s ambassador jones boss has a distinguished public service career that has taken her around the globe

Her appointments have taken her to moscow prague bangladesh and to the united states in 2008 when she was appointed ambassador to the united states she is the 44th diplomat to represent the kingdom of the netherlands and the united states and the netherlands first woman to serve as ambassador in washington

Soon the ambassador will return to the netherlands for her new position as secretary general of the dutch ministry of foreign affairs the highest civil servant position in the ministry and i’ll add one more note a couple of years ago uh i had the pleasure of uh meeting uh ambassador’s husband

And the two of them talked about the trip that they had taken in the u.s and they had decided to take a vacation while in the u.s and the objective was to visit as many state capitol buildings as they possibly could and i think they went on from the

East coast through kansas and uh to the west coast and then made their way back uh certainly they have visited more state capitol buildings than anyone that i have known and i dare say probably more than anyone in this room so they’re very knowledgeable about our state’s

Uh as well as the national perspective so ladies and gentlemen it is my pleasure to welcome apa’s friend and colleague ambassador renee jones boss thank you very much paul for those very kind words of welcome actually we’ve visited 46 states and 46 capitals so we’re almost there so

I’ve said to my minister you have to let us be here a little bit longer still well ladies and gentlemen two years ago at apa’s new orleans conference i was very privileged to join paul he just mentioned it and us secretary of housing and urban development sean donovan for the middle keynote speech

That was a wonderful experience and i remember being over awed by a whole roomful of so many members of the american planning association when paul invited me to give this year’s closing keynote i didn’t know what to think i wondered what did i do to warrant a second invitation

Did i need to redeem myself had i not quite lived up to expectations or maybe paul is getting forgetful but i’ve come to a different conclusion the dutch are good at planning design and climate adaptation but we are told that the tallest blade of grass gets mowed down first

So i guess paul invited me back to show me how good americans are at planning and design at adaptation at new urban and green strategies paul and mitch it worked i’m very impressed with what i’ve seen and heard here i have to say it’s a truly amazing conference and i

Think all of us here at all of the team at the embassy and from the netherlands have learned a lot so thank you for giving us that second chance during my time in the us i’ve seen many seeds grow into large trees but one of the best things that we

As an embassy have done has been to nourish and support the blossoming apa dutch partnership this partnership had an all beginning with paul traipsing around the netherlands in cold damp december days seeing our water planning and landscape practices but out of that very cold visit growth warm things between the dutch and the

Apa including the delta urbanism symposium in new orleans boston and la delta urbanism was funded primarily by primarily by the lincoln land institute and it was the sweat and dedication of apa staff that made it happen john reinhardt if you’re in the room thank you jen grave carolyn thorma

You’ve done an amazing job so why are we here today my dutch colleagues and i wanted to use this week to share learn make new friends and new partnerships this is important because coastal and delta cities have a challenging future and new adaptation practices are urgently needed

This afternoon in the next 40 minutes or so i wanted to talk to you about a few things first of all about how floods shaped our history second about how cost-benefit analysis underpins our policies and have produced a paradigm shift third about some projects demonstrating that new paradigm

And last about our partnership with the apa and how the new paradigm has found its way to the american shores in particular in new orleans and david wagoner david you talked a little bit about this before in one of the workshops so two years ago i left the apa audience

With a clear message about my country sophisticated integrated water management is the scenic one of keeping the dutch feet dry to be dutch means that you must live with water whether you like it or not and water management is part of dutch dna so let me expand a little

In the netherlands we’ve had our share of civil wars uprisings against foreign occupiers a golden age a win trade in july bulbs napoleon a brutal occupation during world war ii and my american friends are quick to remind me of a high point in dutch history and this is when we traded new amsterdam

Today’s manhattan new york for suriname although with the head of the british planning association here i have to say that the trade was not all together voluntary and i think some cannons came into play as well but it should surprise no one that the true cadence of dutch history is best

Defined by floods and our response to them we can go back more than a thousand years the north sea flooded in thousand ninety nine we had the old saints floods of 11 1170 the saint elizabeth flood in 1421 the harlem lake flood in 1836 the zoidesi flood of 1916

And the zealand floods of 1943 and much more recently in the 1990s we had major river flooding in the netherlands we have in fact averaged two major floods each century over the last millennium geography is destiny as they say these floods claimed hundreds of thousands of lives they forever changed our landscape

And they left potent legacy in the dutch dna strengthen the dikes fight the water manipulate the landscape the saying that while god created the earth the dutch created the netherlands has more than a kernel of truth in it another part of dutch dna is found at the entrance to the old port of

Amsterdam close to the amsterdam stock exchange and it says the cost cut for the bath out and for those of you who don’t understand dutch that means the cost comes before the benefit the cost comes before the benefit that golden age motto and our modern approach to water management are oddly enough

In alignment whether in planning in economic and environmental and resiliency perspectives let me explain our geographical destiny has made the note the dutch known for many things we have an entrepreneurial spirit that’s why we came to this continent 400 years ago we’re penny pinches that’s why the dutch

Bankers are still very good at what they do we’re world traders we’re calvinist preachers with at the same time an open mind someone once described our collective personality as one of sober optimism we find ways to make lemonade out of lemons to adapt and even stand those

Disasters on their heads to make the best of it it was this mentality that enabled us to rebuild and see new opportunities after every major flood even after the old saints flood swept away our pt northern coast amsterdam was able to grow into the commercial hub between saint petersburg

And london between the mediterranean and the baltic when river floods swept through our delta and made and major rivers we placed our rivers between dikes and created productive farmlands and the gateway to northern to europe’s northern kingdoms now went through holland in 1836 the huge inland harlem lake jumped its banks killing thousands

We drained that lake and then built houses on it and created skipple airport some of you may have been there and that literally means the ship’s hole today one of europe europe’s largest airport more than four meters 12 feet below sea level close to the dutch tulip and flower industry and in rotterdam

Three centuries of repeated floods forced us to create better protection for the port and its workers and today rotterdam is europe’s largest sport and is the lifeblood of the dutch economy so our forefathers had a choice to invest in the future to put the cost before the benefit or to ignore the past

Without public investment engineering and innovation the dutch would not now be living in the netherlands we’d probably all be living in germany or belgium and who knows what that would have done to those countries we did that by cobbling together coalitions of the various provinces and states to support such investments

These coalitions could only be swayed by strong arguments and good cost-benefit data and because the cost-benefit analysis was quite clear those investments were made and the benefits today the netherlands on that small piece of land is the world’s 17th largest economy it’s the seventh largest trading nation

We are the third largest investor in the us by the way and we are the third most densely populated country in the world we derive tremendous opportunity from being the gateway to europe not bad for a land of swampy marsh gloomy weather and stingy preachers

So let me now move to how our response to floods has changed over the last 50 years or so 1953 marked our last major flood just as we were emerging from the long shadows of the second world war still poor still struggling we invested 40 billion dollars in a massive coastal flood

Protection system known as the delta works the delta works protect our entire delta and the areas around rotterdam it has repeatedly prevented nuisance and costly localized flooding it also has prevented major floods on those terms alone it was a wise investment the main barrier of the delta works was designed to

Permit dynamic salt fresh water exchange this was not a flood protection goal but an environmental and an economic one the dynamic design doubled the barriers cost were those additional costs justified instead of having degraded compromised back swamp waters our delta now has a vibrant local fishing industry robust regional tourism and abundant recreation

And an ecosystem whose future health is guaranteed the marginal cost of the dynamic design have surely returned their investment international trade and the port of rotterdam are the lifeblood of the dutch economy without protection rotterdam is at the mercy of north sea storms a major flood that closed the port would

the dutch economy most likely for years belgian german and danish competitors would permanently steal away our logistics and shipping industries so the massive storm surge barrier that that protects rotterdam is also flexible it keeps the port open to commerce yet it is closed to protect life and

Property when a big coastal storm threatens making the barrier flexible was an added cost but keeping the port open is crucial so we think the flexible solution was a smart investment so let me say a little bit about cost benefits and our move towards a new paradigm the netherlands in the 21st century

Faces new challenges sea levels are rising coastal storms will become more extreme there’s erosion increased river discharge more rain periodic droughts salt intrusion subsidence and the many challenges of occupying a dynamic landscape our old higher dikes approach is no longer sustainable or affordable we are learning to adapt

To live with water and not always fight it so our collective dna is mutating it’s mutating away from flood resistance at any cost to flood accommodation wherever possible this means that today we are looking at a new paradigm in our cost-benefit analysis let me step back here away from

Geography and past projects and into the realm of public finance of costs and of benefits and how climate change is nuancing traditional cost-benefit analysis economics is a dismal science so i try to make this painless since the early 1990s the netherlands has applied cost-benefit analysis to infrastructure and planning decisions

We know that these analyses are imperfect and we know with certainty that politicians maybe even dutch politicians although of course i’d hesitate to say so don’t always make rational decisions even if they have perfect information but that’s a different keynote speech and i’ll do that paul after i retire i

Promise you i’ll be back we ask do the costs of increasing flood safety exceed the benefits of reduced flood damages on the cost side of the equation we look at fixed and variable investment aspect of a project and operations and maintenance on the benefits side we estimate the

Value of reduced flood damages to roads buildings and infrastructure we estimate the economic benefits floods might produce for instance the additional wages and materials production needed to rebuild after a flood these types of valuations are traditional and pretty easy if you’re an economist that is where it gets tricky but crucial

Is in the assessment of indirect flood damages like lower economic activity business interruption flood-related environmental damage pollution the damage to unique fauna flora buildings and cultural assets valuing the loss of life is even more difficult and and i know economists would say this in a way it is even more difficult i

Personally would say valuing the loss of life is impossible no international consensus exist on how to precisely quantify these indirect damages many assumptions are made are assessments imperfect yes but are we trying but we are trying because by capturing these values better investment decisions can be made and better policies designed

If you’ve seen the dutch landscape and understand our risks you might wonder why our dikes are not higher are rivers not more contained are buildings not more elevated the primary reason cost-benefit analysis says we can’t afford it because those very actions might increase the impacts of a

Catastrophic event this is a change in mentality driven by recent events which show us that low probability high impact disasters are still too common and another reason because we don’t want to live in an overly engineered landscape that has that has lost its aesthetic charm we like our modern cities but we also

Like our deep green polders our amsterdam canal our low skies and distant horizons and that is why a new paradigm called living with water infuses our policy and our public investments today of course we must always be on guard against floods that cannot and will not change

The new paradigm means however that we can’t always fight the water instead we need to accommodate water and give it room and in the world’s third most densely populated country giving room to water means taking space from something else now you would say that seems like a zero-sum game or is it

Climate change oddly enough is reminding us of both the beauty and resiliency of nature and the benefits of sustainable design the sober optimist is again making lemonade out of lemons let me give you a few examples you will see that the new paradigm extends into many fields and disciplines

And my first example would be the program that i just mentioned room for the river our room for the river program a 3.1 billion projective driven investment which started in 2007 and will be completed by 2015. the projects are restoring resiliency the and i quote natural and beneficial

Functions unquote to our river flood plains the room for the river project has two explicit and equal goals improving floodplain functions and increasing the area’s spatial quality one of this project is in neymar a city of almost two hundred thousand along the rhine river the river channel near neymar narrows drastically

From one mile wide to less than a third of a mile wide when the snow melts in the alps or it rains heavily in germany water stacks up just above the city threatening life and property a river bypass is the obvious option but that option would mean takings land acquisition increased infrastructure cost

It would not improve the area spatial quality it would place citizens on a fortress surrounded by a raging river the bypass the less costly option was therefore rejected instead the project will set back the river dike creating a new water channel new high value waterfront living opportunities new parkland the projects cost

۴۰۰ million dollars but its benefits are many additional economic activity from new retail residential and commercial opportunities environmentalists get new parkland water managers get lower flood risks shippers get more reliable navigation local government has new high value riverfront land so the dike setback option was more costly than the bypass option

But its benefits far exceed the additional cost further west in the river delta we are notching levees to create a wide high water channel that will purposely flood farmland the northward boulder project at eleven thousand square acres will reduce water levels and flood risk in nearby cities of horningham and dordrecht

It will restore a previously direct wetland wetlands to its natural state improve ecosystem connectivity in a nearby national park and broaden a major european migratory bird flyway it provides lower flood risk to citizens in nearby cities and recreates a resilient landscape that disappeared almost 200 years ago

A second example of the new paradigm can be found in amsterdam where the past is prologue amsterdam is a great city some of you may know it lively cultural walkable controversial but it’s also watery and beautiful and it has a shortage of homes a new development just east of the city

Is rising from the bottom of lake a that will house 45 000 people in 18 000 residences and will provide jobs to for twelve thousand people land uses are mixed and dwellings while dense are spread across six man-made islands public transport is close by new urban architecture is embedded

Recreation parkland and water storage areas abound the original amsterdam floating home which was a converted barge anchored in an old amsterdam canal is being replaced by a climate ready version the navigable canal and waterfront living so prevalent in historic amsterdam infuses also the spirit and the reality of this new area

And the entire area is elevated well above water level the costs of ayberg were substantial the benefits even more so this is a great example of a dutch saying it’s not either or but it can be an n you can have both if you try a third example is in rotterdam

Which is as different from amsterdam as los angeles is from san francisco rotterdam sees climate change as a mixed blessing as a threat and an opportunity climate change means water variability will increase from four directions storm water from above groundwater from below rising sea levels from the west

And more river discharge from the east raising the dikes is not an option additionally as the old inner port is abandoned for newer larger facilities closer to the sea urban renewal needs and opportunities abound making new communities flood resilient is giving rise to an entire school new school of water-based design

Parking garages and skate parks are storing water old long buried canals are being reopened water taxis and water bikes are connecting neighborhoods green roofs and household storm water collection systems are commonplace all of this and a climate neutral by 2030 goal is actively supported by the city government

My last two examples from the logistics and the research realms show the reach of the new paradigm at mass fluctuate 2 where rotterdam sport is growing through a major 4 billion expansion into the sea we are showing that economic development or economic darwinism can also be resilient

More than eight square miles of deep sea port is being created to triple the port’s container handling capacity this investment is crucial for the dutch economy but those investments are made with climate goals in mind responsible dredging practices are required for 13 billion cubic feet of sand necessary for the expansion

Send reuse has the highest priority to mitigate the sand mining impacts sea beds echo reservations are being created dunes are being enlarged and 20 percent of the project is set aside for nature and recreation 2500 workers for the project reside nearby in residences made from recycled shipping containers

A clean coal plant has been built for the site making electric generation incredibly efficient and close by depleted oil fields will be used as a massive pilot project to test seabed co2 storage are these environmental features costly yes they are are they wise we think so are they beneficial no doubt about it

So my final example is about a research project called the send engine every year we must stabilize our coastline by adding 12 million cubic meters of sand to our foreshore sea level rise scenario suggested doubling tripling or quadrupling of annual sand additions to maintain our shoreline we’re lucky to have large volumes of

Sand nearby and innovative cost effective dutch dredges to do the job our building with nature program seeks to harness nature’s dynamic forces for public benefits and how do we do that 21 million cubic meters of sand double our annual amount and occupying about one square mile has been placed in a big pile

Along the dutch coast over time nature’s engine wind water and waves will distribute the sand along the coast some of the sand will find its ways into the dunes increasing their strength and environmental attractiveness some of the sand will settle on the foreshore providing immediate flood protection benefits

And some of the scent will make its way northward along our coast this 70 million dollar send engine project is expected to make nearby sense supplementation unnecessary for the next 20 years it will save tens of millions of dollars this big sandbox will be open for recreation and teaching

And accessible to people plants and sea mammals as the sun dissipates the dutch will learn to maximize the scent engine’s applicability to other parts of the dutch coast and maybe to other coastal areas around the globe so having talked about the shift in paradigm i want to return back to the

Realm of economics and science just for a moment also because of its relation to the cost come before the benefit idea i noted that the new paradigm is reminding us of the beauty and benefits of natural systems descend engine demonstrates that the benefits of the natural system are real

In our building with nature program of which the send engine is but one part we are learning to harness nature’s energy to improve our lives and we are trying to better understand the economic value of what is known as ecosystem services ecosystem goods and services are the

Things from nature we need and use clean air water food they are produced by natural capital trees mountains oceans rivers and yield beneficial processes like flow and flowing water nutrient cycling they provide habitat food water storage and generate thousands of services we know that these services and functions have value

The economists have a difficult time quantifying these values in ways that will improve cost benefit analysis and if our public investment strategies must yield certain benefits capturing the value of these ecosystem services could substantially improve project design and in turn our return on investment let me try to explain this in simple terms

A neighborhood with many trees and a clean pond should have higher value than a neighborhood without these goods a house on the beach should have higher values than houses three blocks away it is easy to look at house prices and see the value of being beachfront or pondside

But we aren’t very good at quantifying the value of the ecosystem services created for individual properties or neighborhoods because of the ocean pond or trees we know those values are there we know they are important and not inconsequential and if we learn to quantify their value with more precision

Our investment decisions will lead to a better appreciation of our natural capital a byproduct of our new paradigm is more research into this quantification fantastic work is also being done on this topic here in the western us on the west coast perhaps a small but true anecdote will help

A swiss landscape architect had worked in the napa valley and in france’s rhone valley restoring the riverbeds native plants and species and creating more water natural storage he loved his work he said the charm of the riverbed was improved as its function was improved but now i quote him he also said

It’s a damnedest thing everyone agrees with me and we can all see it and we can all sense it but no one can tell me how much this charm is worth so a last thing i wanted to mention deals with science and is also linked to better cost before benefits

I’m talking about tipping points hurricane katrina showed us that the variability and intensity of climate impacts are large unpredictable and possibly catastrophic the consequences of a changing climate demand that we understand climate variability and climate intensity that understanding may lead to different policy choices investments are always more effective

When they are proactive and preventive and thus knowing when to start changing is an important piece of the puzzle dutch scientists are using adaptation tipping points to help us an adaptation tipping point is the point at which a water management strategy can no longer meet its objectives at that point

The strategy is insufficient and likely to fail tipping points shows us also that the forces making failure likely are self-sustaining that they are not one-off cyclical events now reaching a tipping point does not mean that water management is impossible or that the consequence of passing a point will immediately be catastrophic

Instead tipping points help us understand how much climate change how much sea level rise how much weather intensity the current management regime can absorb after all if the costs come before the benefits a crucial question is which costs at what place precisely when so i have talked about our flood-shaped history

About the cost before the benefit approach and about our changing paradigm the adjustment in our dna i now want to wrap up by talking about the relevance for you here in the united states about our partnerships and let me do that by addressing a threat an opportunity and an inspiration

The threat first of all is captured by the surging seas report issued last month which draws a few star conclusions for the united states one is that sea level rise along the u.s coasts will double the frequency of one to a hundred year storms the takeaway of that

More regular flooding and more flood impacts five million people live in areas that will be below the normal high tide line if the seas rise as projected millions more live in areas just beyond the projected high tide line those areas will be flooded with storm surge florida and louisiana are most at risk

But new york maryland virginia new jersey and north carolina are vulnerable too they say that imitation is the most sincere form of flattery i’m not happy that those places are becoming more like the netherlands but as the dutch ambassador to the united states i do see a golden opportunity and this

Brings me to the opportunity more things for the netherlands and the united states to share more joint learning more research partnerships and more reasons to travel to new york new orleans and miami and for you to come to amsterdam rotterdam and zealand but most of all i see an inspiration

The dutch calvinist in us demands that we do the right thing that means to accept things as they are prepare to make things better work hard do right by your neighbor and be thankful and paul farmer of the apa david wagner from new orleans and dale morris from our embassy in washington dc

Started down a path that embodies that inspiration they started the dutch dialogues to show how new orleans could be safer more attractive more resilient if it took and applied living with water ideas and practices to its urban areas over the last year a comprehensive integrated water management strategy for new orleans

Funded by the louisiana state government and hud is being developed by a calvinist cajun team now that’s a new combination for you the dutch american team is designing a new future for one of america’s most unique and beautiful cities neighborhoods and community blocks will get water assignments covered buried ugly and constricted

Drainage systems will be opened restored made functional and attractive a circulating water system will yield a healthy flood resilient ecosystem that same system will store more more storm water and decrease the area’s flood risk crucial iconic water bodies like the bayou syndrome and the carondelet canal can be restored to their past glories

And serve their historic purposes conveyance linkage and water storage tweaking their designs and functions can add new amenity to these corridors of significance and to the neighborhoods surrounding them a more imaginative multi-purpose use of drainage can enhance water quality filter pollution and provide places for recreation and reflection creating better economic opportunity and

Better flood safety for those living nearby and abandoned properties can be redesigned to provide new innovative water storage assets that also improve community functions and community values what a water management strategy for new orleans demonstrates is that engineering alone is not a sufficient response to complex landscape challenges

Planning and design and function and form must also inform investment decisions and that if you do this wisely you weigh and value all costs and all potential benefits the flood protection and other community needs in new orleans in the netherlands today and in the us coastal communities of tomorrow demand this broader approach

In the netherlands and in new orleans businessmen activists politicians stakeholders other leaders are learning that only by comprehensively defining the problem can we design an optimal solution so that when you invest maximum benefits will follow but i think you planners in here knew that already so finally let me say this

Hon mayer a distinguished member of the faculty of the technical university of delft in the netherlands and a full professor of urban design was intimately involved in dutch dialogues and in the new orleans water management strategy he was also inspired and he said and i quote him what’s happening in new orleans is

Breathtaking never before have i seen a water strategy developed so organically the complexity of the task is overwhelming maybe impossible but the passion of the participants is inspiring maybe because the need is so high and if they are successful in new orleans they will have done something

That even we in the netherlands have not yet been able to do combine urban function form and need into a strategy for resilience a respect for nature and for the place where you live and a clear path to guaranteeing new orleans future unquote and that my friends is very high praise indeed

Certainly for a calvinist dutchman success there is a direct intentional product of the dutch partnership with new orleans with committed local planners with the vision of concerned citizens and architects like david wagner the warm friendship out of that cold december visit with paul farmer and the apa leadership

And the professional drive of the staff and members of the american planning association and may i add i think also the drive and professionalism of my colleagues and my friends at the dutch embassy and at the consulate here on the west coast so that i think is a truly inspiring story

And i hope it will be a continuation and a true inspiration from all of us thank you for working with us thank you for a wonderful conference and thank you for your time and attention this afternoon thank you

ID: J-dJM1vctXY
Time: 1353529814
Date: 2012-11-22 00:00:14
Duration: 00:43:59

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