Watersymposium

On 6 and 7 November 2019, the symposium Water in Times of Climate Change was held in Amsterdam. This symposium aimed to build dialogues between cities, activists, scientists, governments, businesses, NGO’s, and religious communities. It investigated issues related to water and climate change on four interlocking dimensions: science, politics, economics, and religion. The symposium addressed the challenges from the vantage point of three major urban areas: Cape Town, Jakarta, and Amsterdam.

Teaser

The morning session at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam started with discussing the four dimensions (science, politics, economics, and religion) on a global scale and included speeches by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, professor Jan Peter Balkenende (former Prime Minister of the Netherlands), professor Vinod Subramaniam (Rector Magnificus Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam), professor Jeroen Aerts (international leading scientist in the field of water and climate risk management), professor Caroline Nevejan (Chief Science Officer at city of Amsterdam), a youth panel, Pieter van Oord (CEO Van Oord), dr. Iyad Abumoghli (United Nations Environment Programme), and Cardinal Turkson (Roman Catholic Church). Kadir van Lohuizen (award-winning Dutch photojournalist) shared his images of the consequences of rising sea levels across the world. 

The dilemmas, needs, and good practices presented in the morning were explored further in the afternoon through three cases studies of the cities Jakarta, Cape Town, and Amsterdam. Delegations from these three cities presented their city’s situation regarding water and climate change through the perspective of science, youth, politics, economics, and religion. Each presentation also contributed a cultural element, including a singing performance by Inke Prima Diyarni from Jakarta and a poem by a local poet from Amsterdam. The contribution from a religious perspective from Cape Town, expressed in a video message of Archbishop Thabo, can be found below.

At the end of the presentations, participants of the symposium joined a boat excursion through the canals of Amsterdam, which provided space for informal conversation and exchange on the topics raised in the day’s presentations. The day concluded with dinner at the IJ-kantine, a local restaurant situated on the IJ, Amsterdam’s waterfront.

The morning sessions of the second day of the symposium took place at CIRCL, a pavilion part of ABN AMRO’s headquarters (financial district Amsterdam), designed and constructed according to sustainable and circular principles. Through two rounds of parallel workshops, participants investigated issues related to water and climate change, covering at least two of the three cities Jakarta, Cape Town, and Amsterdam or at least two of the interlocking dimensions of science, youth, politics, economics, and religion. Central question was: can we can bridge gaps between the different ‘worlds’ to gain a fuller understanding of problems at hand and provide better responses?

As a result from the morning session, each workshop came up with two concrete recommendations. The participants were invited to rank the total amount of sixteen recommendations, which were consolidated into an Amsterdam Agreement. During a ceremony in the closing session of the symposium this agreement was signed by representatives of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, water utilities Amsterdam, Jakarta, and Cape Town, dredging company Van Oord, United Nations Environmental Program, ABN AMRO, Old Catholic Church, Soetendorp Instiute, Tear, Deltares, Water Institute Cape Town, Netherlands-Indonesian Consortium for Muslim-Christian Relations, and the Amsterdam Sustainability Institute (VU Amsterdam). In the coming months the recommendations of the this agreement e.g. on community building, nature based solutions, and radical uncertainty will be further developed.

After the conclusion of the water symposium in Amsterdam, an additional one-day symposium with NGOs, academics, diplomats, journalists and
politicians was held in the Senate, The Hague. During this symposium participants explored the roles religion play and can play in the public sphere. Questions raised include how to foster a constructive dialogue between secular and religious actors and how to stimulate freedom of religion and of beliefs. The opening was given by Jan Anthonie Bruijn (President of the Senate). His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew shared his vision on ‘Religion and Peace’. Reflections were given by Jos Douma (Special Envoy on Religion and Belief), Ernst M.H. Hirsch Ballin (Professor of Human Rights Law, President of the Asser Institute and former Minister of Justice) and Azza Karam (Secretary General- elect Religions for Peace and professor Religion & Sustainable Development).

Take a look at the pictures for an impression of the symposium or watch the videos below.

Archbishop Thabo Makgoba - Water in Times of Climate Change

Masters of Ceremony

• Professor Azza Karam, Secretary General-elect of Religions for Peace, and Professor Religion and Sustainable development (VU Amsterdam)
• Jan Jorrit Hasselaar, Economist & Theologian, Coordinator Amsterdam Centre for Religion & Sustainable Development (VU Amsterdam), and Staff Dominican Study-centre for Theology and Society

Date: Wednesday 6 November 2019 
Location: Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (VU Amsterdam) 
De Boelelaan 1105, 1081 HV Amsterdam. The university is a 10 minutes’ walk from train station Amsterdam South. This station is easily reachable by train, metro and tram.

08:30 - 09:15 - Reception with Tea and Coffee

09:30 - 12:00 - Session I: Opening 

• Moderator: Professor Ruard Ganzevoort, Dean Faculty Religion & Theology (VU Amsterdam) and Senator

09:30 - 09:35 - Welcome by Professor Vinod Subramaniam, Rector Magnificus VU Amsterdam 
09:35 - 09:40 - Welcome on behalf of the City of Amsterdam by Professor Caroline Nevejan, Chief Science Officer Amsterdam 
09:40 - 09:50 - Opening by Professor Jan Peter Balkenende, former Prime-Minister of the Netherlands (2002-2010), Professor of Governance, Institutions and Internationalisation (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and Chairman Dutch Sustainable Growth Coalition 
09:50 - 10:10 - Speech by His All-Holiness Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew 
10:10 - 10:35 - Multi-media Presentation on Consequences of Rising Sea Level by Award-winning Dutch photojournalist Kadir van Lohuizen. His documentary ‘Na ons de zondvloed’ is broadcasted on Dutch television. The exhibition ‘Rising tide’ is on display at the National Maritime Museum. Addresses Representing Different Perspectives on ‘Water in Times of Climate Change’ at Global Level 
11:35 - 11:05 - Science: Professor Jeroen Aerts, International Leading Scientist in the Field of Water and Climate Risk Management, and Director of the Institute for Environmental Studies (VU Amsterdam) 
11:05 - 11:30 - Youth: ‘Our Cities, Our Future. How Dare You’, panel-discussion by six young people, moderated by Azza Karam 
11:30 - 11:40 - Economy: CEO Pieter van Oord, Van Oord is a Leading International Company Specialised in Dredging, Marine Engineering and Offshore Projects 
11:40 - 11:50 - Government: Dr. Iyad Abumoghli, Principal Coordinator of United Nations Environment Programme’s Faith for Earth Initiative 
11:50 - 12:00 - Religion: His Eminence Cardinal Turkson, Prefect of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development (Roman Catholic Church) 
12:00 - 12:15 - Closing by Azza Karam

12:15 - 13:30 - Lunch

13:30 - 16:30 - Session II: Water in Times of Climate Change in the Cities Jakarta, Cape Town and Amsterdam 
- Moderators: Azza Karam and Jan Jorrit Hasselaar

Cleansing Water: Jakarta, Fastest-Sinking City

•  Moderator and government perspective: Ms. Elisabeth Tarigan: as a Commitment Making Officer for Priority Infrastructure she is in charge of one of the biggest projects of DKI (Special Capital Region) Jakarta in order to manage domestic waste treatment: Jakarta Sewerage System Development Project.
• Science: Ms. Inke Prima Diyarni, working for the Development Planning Agency of DKI Jakarta. Inke participated at the Dutch Training & Exposure Programme (DUTEP) and developed an ‘Eco Mosque’ as a solution to recycle ablution water. 
• Economy: Ms. Feli Napraiseti, working for the Human Settlement, Spatial Planning, Land Authority Department of DKI Jakarta. Feli participated at the DUTEP and developed a ‘green-grey solution’ in order to create a liveable city. 
• Religion: Ms. Haryani Saptaningtyas, working as a researcher at a NGO in Central Java and PhD Candidate (Radboud Nijmegen University) on the relation between people’s perceptions of pollution (of Upper Citarum river) and purification (in Islamic teaching and local narratives) and their practices of water use. 
• Youth: Ms. Yolanda Pantou, minister of Indonesian Christian Church Jakarta and part of the zero-waste movement in Indonesia. She is a commissionaire of the World Council of Churches as a representative of the ECHOS Youth Commission. 
• Arts: Singing Performance by Inke Prima Diyarni

Life-giving Water: Cape Town, First Run-Out-of-Water City 

• Moerator and scientific perspective: Kevin Winter, Senior Lecturer in Environmental & Geographical Science Department (University of Cape Town).
• Government: Michael Webster, Director Water and Sanitation City of Cape Town 
• Economy: Charon Marais, Lead Researcher Water Institute University Stellenbosch and Manager Stellenbosch River Collaborative 
• Religion: Thabo Makgoba, Archbishop of Cape Town, Metropolitan of the Anglican Church of South Africa and Chancellor University of Western Cape 
• Youth: Amanda Gcanga, Economic Development Partnership and PhD Candidate at Stellenbosch University 
• Arts: Visual Design Performance ‘Tapping into nature‘s wisdom’ by Corbin Raymond

15 minutes break

Threatening Water: Amsterdam, Lowest-Lying Capital City Open Sea 

• Moderator: Kasper Spaan, Consultant Climate Adaptation and Urban Development (Waternet Amsterdam)
• Science: Esseline Schieven, Director of Traffic and Public Space City of Amsterdam 
• Government: Roelof Kruize, CEO Waternet Amsterdam 
• Economy: Marieke Abcouwer, Environmental, Social and Ethical Risk Advisor (ABN AMRO) 
• Religion: Awraham Soetendorp, Rabbi and Award-winning Human Rights Advocate 
• Youth: Samira Ibrahim, Student Religious Studies (VU Amsterdam) and Water Management (Delft University of Technology) 
• Arts: Spoken Word Performance by Sjaan Flikweert

16:30 - 17:30 - To the boats by foot or bus. Please, be prepared for a rainy walk of 25 minutes from University to the boats. 
17:30 - 19:00 - Boat Excursion Channels Centre Amsterdam, from RAI to IJ-Kantine 
19:00 - 21:00 - Dinner IJ-Kantine, address: NDSM Kade 5, 1033 PG Amsterdam 
21:00 - Return by public transport

Date: Thursday 7 November 2019 
Location: ABN AMRO Head Office (Financial District Amsterdam South) 
Gustav Mahlerlaan 10, 1082 PP Amsterdam. The bank is next to train station Amsterdam South, easily reachable by train, metro and tram.

Download an overview of the workshops (pdf).

08:15 - 08:45 - Reception with tea and coffee 
08:45 - 09:00 - Welcome by Rian Vens-Hagting, Director Relationship Management Instituten & Charitas (ABN AMRO)

09:00 - 12:30 - Session III: Building Bridges 

• Moderator: Professor Philipp Pattberg, Director Amsterdam Sustainability Institute, and Professor Transnational Environmental Governance and Policy

09:00 - 10:30 - Round 1 Parallel Workshops 
10:30 - 11:00 - Opening by Otto Beelaerts van Emmichoven, on behalf of Kees van Dijkhuizen (CEO ABN AMRO), with response by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew 
11:00 - 12:30 - Round 2 Parallel Workshops

12:30 - 13:30 - Lunch

13:30 - 14:45 - Session IV: Plenary 
Interviewing the moderators of the workshops. Each workshop resulted in 2 concrete recommendations. The participants are invited to rank the recommendations using Mentimeter.

14:45 - 15:15 - Break

15:15 - 16:15 - Session V: Covenant of Hope 

• Moderator: Azza Karam

15:15 – 15.35 - ‘What do you take home’, Interviewing representatives of the three cities 
15:35 – 15:55 - Summary Symposium 
15:55 - 16:05 - Ceremony with the 300-year-old Chalice of Water Authority Amstel, Gooi and Vecht. This chalice was used for underlining and celebrating agreements that were meant for the greater good. 
16.05 - 16.10 - Closing words by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew 
16:10 - 16:15 - Closing by Azza Karam 
16:15 - 17:30 - Reception