Dordrecht

Located in the Rhine-Meuse delta, the Island of Dordrecht is characterised by the long stretches outside the dikes, which includes the historic port area, which is part of the historic city centre and includes almost 800 listed buildings. Water levels are influenced by both the sea and the rivers and, due to climate change, they will be higher in the future.

Consequently, the HA will be periodically flooded as it is located on the lowest-lying area, as well as the rest of the areas located outside the dikes. As flood risks are increasing, and major adaptation of the buildings is potentially costly or socially unacceptable, Dordrecht considers the future realisation of a new flood defence to protect the old harbour area.

Despite having a deeper participation culture than the other SHELTER case studies, there are still challenges related to the impact of the institutional strategy on DRM, as well as finding proper arrangements for distributing responsibilities, decision-making procedures and financing mechanisms by the involved stakeholders: SHELTER will build upon existing practices in the city and will facilitate the design and implementation of measures to support the flood risk management and participation of citizens and key stakeholders.