Living with Water: How the Netherlands Prevents Flood Disasters

In his PrepTalk, Jan Peelen tells the story of the Netherland’s historic battle with flooding and shares how the Dutch are learning to live with water. Peelen explains that understanding how a community uses and views water in everyday life is a useful framework for creating risk mitigation programs.

Jan Peelen is the representative of the Dutch Ministry for Infrastructure and Water Management at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. In this role, he advises U.S. entities on the topics of resilience, urban planning, and infrastructure and coordinates all water-related efforts of the Dutch diplomatic network in the U.S.