News article.
Waterbouwdag 2026: ‘Hydraulic Engineering in a Global Perspective’
This year’s Waterbouwdag had a special international side to it. On October 29th, not only Dutch clients and contractors, students and other enthusiasts found their way to the Beatrix Theater in Utrecht. Also foreign hydraulic engineers and other international guests were widely represented. With a broad range of key-notes from Dutch and foreign experts, there was a clear cross-border perspective: which opportunities do international markets offer the Dutch hydraulic engineering sector? What do Dutch hydraulic engineers have to offer and what can they learn from international developments?
In their opening speech, moderators Stefan Aarninkhof (TU Delft) and Bas Borsje (University of Twente) emphasized the long international history of Dutch hydraulic engineers and their strong global position in the industry. But also how the world is changing with more complex projects, increased local competition and other challenges. “Time to take a deeper look at how to materialize the mutual benefits in international projects and collaborations.”
Dutch hydraulic engineering abroad
The first speaker was Meike van Ginneken, water envoy at the Dutch ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management. She said that The Netherlands is a polder country that doesn’t build polders anymore. So it’s no surprise that over half the delta technology revenue comes from abroad. But that international presence is about much more than revenue. “For the Dutch, hydraulic engineering is the oil in our diplomacy. Our water knowledge helps us strengthen our international position and reputation. It’s also an important subject when it comes to solidarity, helping countries with climate adaptation and battling poverty. In the end, it’s not about engineering but about people.”
Van Ginneken states that Dutch hydraulic engineers have to keep moving along with the changing world to hold on to their strong position. That means adjusting to the worldwide market – for example by focusing more on standardization – and by explicitly competing more on quality and complexity. “Let’s keep sharing our knowledge, make the world a better place and make a buck while doing so.”
International water investments
Jeroen Plag, CIO of Invest International, elaborated on the strong Dutch international position. From his role in the investment institution – that has invested over 1,8 billion euros in more than 50 countries since establishment in 2021 – he explained how international investment initiatives contribute to the global strength of the Dutch water sector. Investments in foreign projects such as coastal protection, harbors and navigation channels directly or indirectly pay out in economic added value for the Netherlands and partner countries. Strong international collaborations, including with knowledge institutes, financiers and ministries are an important condition for success. “Let’s build the sustainable markets of tomorrow together.”
Singapore Coastal Protection and Flood Management Programme
No international Waterbouwdag without foreign speakers. The next key-note speaker was Adrian Law. He’s a professor at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (National University of Singapore) and executive director at the Coastal Protection and Flood Resilience Institute (CFI) of Singapore. He talked about the intensive climate adaptive measures that are being taken to protect the low-lying country against the water. Flood risks have increased, partly because of the intense tropical rainfall, boosted by climate change. A couple of key elements of the Singapore Coastal Protection and Flood Management Programme – compiled by PUB, that was appointed as the National Agency for Coastal Protection – were: holistic assessment, a flexible and adaptive approach and a focus on capacity building for long term success. Singapore makes grateful use of Dutch and other international knowledge for researching and executing this ambitious program.
Winners Waterbouwprijs 2026: Wouter Waasdorp, Erik ter Maten and Robin Jager
Before a tasty ‘walking lunch’ was served, a moment was taken for the award ceremony of the annual Waterbouwprijs (Hydraulic engineering prize). Several graduation thesis’ were judged on the extent to which they added new elements to existing knowledge with a multidisciplinary approach and the practicality of those new insights. First prize in the category WO (university) was awarded to Wouter Waasdorp, with his thesis: Assessing Unaccounted Events and Their Possible Impact on the Maeslant barrier’s Non-Closure Probability. Erik ter Maten and Robin Jager won first prize in the HBO (university of applied science) category, with their graduation project: Monitoring Buoycrete reinforced historical Amsterdam quay walls.
Read the full Dutch news item here: Waterbouwprijs 2026.
Connecting dreams in international tunneling
After the parallelsessions, Martijn Smitt took the stage for an inspiring story about the importance of building trust in international context. Smitt is executive director at Ballast Nedam and indulged the audience in a series of international tunneling projects – including countries such as South Korea, Brazil and Iraq – that initially seemed impossible. “Worldwide, we build immersed tunnels using Dutch expertise that connect more than just two riverbanks. By collaborating with people from different cultures, new insights, fresh ideas and ingenious solutions emerge for the most complex issues we often encounter abroad. It’s precisely these cultural differences that make us stronger and make our work so cool.”
Hydraulic engineering in the developing world
The last speaker before it was time for networking drinks, was Mathijs van Ledden, consultant at the World Bank. As an expert in disaster risk management, he has more than 20 years of experience with projects in the developing world. He shared a story about the Coastal Embankment Improvement Project (CEIP) in Bangladesh, where a lot has been invested to protect vulnerable coastal communities from high tides, cyclones and rising sea levels. A key element for the Bangladesh developments was local knowledge development. With the help of international experts, big steps were made in systematic data collection and setting up modeling tools to understand the processes with an impact on floods. “I firmly believe that going solo is not the way to go. Listen, work hard and collaborate. Then we can definitely make an impact.”
Something for everyone
As usual, a highlight of the annual Waterbouwdag was the extensive expo, where visitors could wander around stands of participating hydraulic engineering companies and related businesses: to make new connections, be inspired and possibly even lay the foundations for new and fruitful collaborations.
In between the plenary presentations, delegates got the opportunity to join six parallel sessions with speakers to their liking, in themes such as: Young professionals, Civil Hydraulic Engineering / Infrastructure Renewal and Renovation, Flood Protection, Nature based solutions, Internationalisation and a session with the Impact Board Waterbouw.
7 Waterbouw Community podcasts were recorded live during the day, featuring different (inter)national experts on the latest developments, innovations and challenges in the world of hydraulic engineering (2 in English) You can find the new podcasts and episodes of previous years here.
Long story short: the Waterbouwdag was an inspiring day to come home from with a pocket full of new ideas and (international) business cards.
The Waterbouwdag is organised by Rijkswaterstaat, the Vereniging van Waterbouwers and the Koninklijk Instituut van Ingenieurs (KIVI).
Would you like to participate in the next Waterbouwdag? Save the date 14th October 2027 and stay updated by following Waterbouwdag on LinkedIn.
Tekst: Tom van Velzen, hoofdredacteur De Waterbouwer
Eindredactie: Christine Greve, Confriends Productions
Foto's: Sabine Bison, Bisonder Producties