Dutch Dialogues Virginia: Life at Sea Level, an integrated approach for sea level rise, redevelopment, flood risk mitigation and water management, is coming to Hampton Roads. The Dialogues will kick off on June 19th with a conversation about the process and setting the stage for the weekend long event. The public is invited to observe the opening meeting on Friday, June 19th, from 9am-Noon and the Wrap-Up and Recommendations on Tuesday, June 23rd, 9am-Noon. Both events will be held in Norfolk’s new Slover Memorial Library, 235 East Plume Street, Rm 605, Norfolk, VA 23510.

The Dutch Dialogues are collaborative efforts of Dutch technical experts, the Netherlands Embassy in Washington, D.C., local and state governments and other stakeholders. The first Dutch Dialogues were held in New Orleans, and similar workshops have been held in New York, Bridgeport, St. Louis, Tampa Bay, and Los Angeles. The goal of this effort is to improve the region’s approach to water management through learning about the Dutch perspective on “living with water.”

This five-day workshop will focus on the Tidewater Drive district area in Norfolk, including St. Paul's Quadrant, Harbor Park, South of Brambleton and Chesterfield Heights. And, on the Peninsula, the Newmarket Creek watershed that runs from the Back River in Hampton across the Peninsula through Newport News to the James River.

Following the kick-off, teams of Dutch, national and local Hampton Roads experts (engineers, hydrologists, landscape architects, planners, urban designers) will meet Saturday, Sunday and Monday in design sessions that combine Dutch approaches to integrated water management, acquired over centuries of living with water, with American expertise to address water problems in U.S. cities. Workshop participants will look for ways to:

• Reduce the impacts of both catastrophic and recurrent flooding
• Take advantage of riverfronts, shorelines and stream alignments to improve water quality, reduce flooding and improve ecosystems
• Naturalize engineered storm water systems
• Revitalize and redevelop urban waterfronts and nearby communities
• Re-establish links between natural systems and neighborhoods via parks and other amenities
• Stimulate redevelopment, tax base and economic opportunities
• Supplement, where possible, hardscape with permeable surfaces
• Mitigate impacts of future sea level rise and increased storm surge
• Explore how existing sand nourishment, dune protection, and shoreline improvements can contribute to beachfront communities

Dutch Dialogues is sponsored by: The Royal Netherlands Embassy, the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, the cities of Norfolk and Hampton, McNeilan & Associates, Waggonner & Ball Architects, and the Slover Library Foundation.