On 4 November, Partners for Water convened Bangladeshi and Dutch partners in The Hague with two clear purposes: Identify opportunities and challenges for PPP in the water sector and make asset management the everyday operating system for water infrastructure in Bangladesh. The day was opened by Neeltje Kielen, Delegated Representative for Water in Bangladesh (Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands/RVO), and coordinated on the Dutch side by Michiel Slotema, Bangladesh Programme Advisor at Partners for Water (RVO). It moved from a morning of PPP scene-setting, pitches and a frank fishbowl discussion on early-stage risks to an early-afternoon milestone: a Strategic Partnership Arrangement (SPA) on Asset Management between Bangladesh’s Ministry of Water Resources (MoWR), the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).

Asset management as an operating system: Bangladesh and the Netherlands set the rules of the game.

Why this matters now

Bangladesh, until now a low-income country, will reach middle-income status in 2026. On current trajectories, it is expected to be the world’s 20th-largest economy by 2038 – a transition that raises the bar for infrastructure performance and financing. However, Bangladesh faces fiscal constraints, making it difficult to fund necessary infrastructure projects solely through public budgets. PPPs enable the leveraging of private capital to build critical infrastructure without immediately adding to the country’s debt burden. At the same time, this densely populated delta country is juggling climate extremes, upstream river dynamics, and fast urban and economic change. Too often, water assets fall into a build–neglect–rebuild (BNR) loop. Breaking it takes clear decision rules, reliable Operations and Maintenance (O&M) funding, data that drive choices, and governance that links national strategy to field results.

The day at a glance

• Morning – Opening & Embassy framing. Welcome by Neeltje Kielen. The embassy keynote highlights the urgency to take action and the potential opportunities.
• Late morning – PPP pitches + fishbowl. Three targeted pitches followed by a candid discussion on first-mile finance and risk.
• Lunch – Networking break.
• Early afternoon – Milestone. Signing of the SPA MoU to institutionalise asset management (MoWR–BWDB–RVO).
• Mid-afternoon – Scan & roadmap. Maturity assessment and plan for practical change within BWDB.
• Late afternoon – Incentives, governance, and the Official Development Assistance horizon. System fixes, inclusion, and how to sustain progress beyond concessional aid.

“We want partnerships and investment”

Fahim Faisal highlighted how PPP opportunities in wastewater, solid waste and sludge-to-value can advance only when early-stage risks are shared, data and feasibility are realistic, and Dutch and Bangladeshi partners jointly build pipelines rather than one-off projects. This was followed by Hasan Abdullah Towhid, Counsellor and Head of Chancery, Embassy of Bangladesh in The Hague, who highlighted both the urgency to take action and the potential opportunities. He underlined climate exposure and paired it with a practical request: technology transfer, knowledge-sharing, and investment via PPPs rather than traditional aid:

“We don’t want more aid… we want technology transfer, knowledge sharing, best practices and investment in terms of profit and public-private partnership.”

With a young workforce and strong engineering talent, his message was simple: the window for value-creating partnerships is now!

Three pitches: practical PPP pathways

Three short pitches highlighted PPP opportunities.

Royal HaskoningDHV – lessons from engagement in PPP and long-term presence in Bangladesh. The team explored how to turn the question of ‘what next’ after treatment into creating value by reusing effluent and sludge with real off-takers. Project Manager Sheila Carvalho explained: “Our project focuses on two components: the feasibility of wastewater post-treatment for Chattogram, and viable reuse of effluent and sludge.”

SNV – PPP in Cumilla and work on small PPPs. SNV standardises bite-size, multi-year PPP contracts (often around 10-year lease/management models) with Integrated Municipal Information System (IMIS)-backed tracking so capacity comes first, scale second. Ismène Stalpers, Country Director Bangladesh explained: “We realised very quickly we needed to start at the ground level.”

SweepSmart – PPP in waste and drainage management. SweepSmart pairs drainage upgrades with mixed-waste processing to recover materials and generate Refuse-Derived Fuel revenues. Founder Niels van den Hoek: “Financial viability is concern number one, two and three.”

Fishbowl: the “first-mile” financing gap

The fishbowl discussion soon narrowed to the same hard edge: early-stage risk.

Don Offermans, an independent advisor who has watched plenty of deals wobble, put it bluntly: “You can take four steps successfully and fail on the fifth – and lose all your money.” Léon Weisscher from Invest International drew the line where their capital really starts to move: “Pre-feasibility is often too early for us. We typically fund full feasibility when there’s a clear line of sight to implementation… Development accelerators and export solutions can help, as long as there’s Dutch content.”

Developers can’t build up their Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) capacity for just one small project as they need portfolios, not one-off jobs. How can they work around this? By teaming up across Europe, for example via a Dutch-Danish consortia to satisfy content rules, while plugging capability gaps, and stacking revenue levers where possible: carbon credits on one side, municipal co-finance on the other.

By the end, there was a simple, unanimous core message: spread the first-mile risk between public and private, build pipelines instead of projects, and weave in local finance from day one.

The big moment: a milestone MoU

After lunch, it was time for the day’s milestone: the signing of a new Strategic Partnership Arrangement (SPA) on Asset Management between the Ministry of Water Resources, the Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB), and the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO). The SPA MoU structures cooperation at three levels: implementation (participatory in-polder water management), institution (BWDB’s shift from reactive O&M to proactive asset management), and policy (alignment with the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100, including steps toward more predictable O&M financing).

Joining from Dhaka, Dr Robin Biswas (BWDB) signed online while Michiel Slotema (RVO/Partners for Water) signed in the conference room. Dr Biswas, an experienced river management specialist and long-time advocate of participatory water governance, called it “a very good moment,” signalling a move “from a reactive to a proactive approach.” He also stated the constraint plainly: “This year, the O&M budget requirement was 130 billion Taka (€915M), but the allocation was only 10 billion Taka (€70M). He explained that most of that is spent on emergency works.” On the cultural hurdle, he added: “It’s the tragedy of the commons – everyone benefits from water, but no one takes responsibility for operation and maintenance.”

The SPA MoU also matters beyond the signatures: it codifies roles, decision rules and funding pathways so that asset management becomes business as usual rather than an add-on – linking day-to-day maintenance, data and budgets to the outcomes the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 demands.

From scan to roadmap: what needs to change within BWDB

Asset management specialist Dr Hala Alhamed presented a structured maturity self-assessment (adapted from the International Infrastructure Management Manual and tailored to BWDB). Ten fields – from strategy and service levels to data, finance, risk and governance – were rated and distilled into various initiatives.

This is what the self-assessment revealed:

• Decisions are not tied to outcomes; priorities change.
• Budgeting is centralised and lacking evidence; it slows routine O&M.
• The organisation is engineering-strong but weak in finance, data, and process capabilities.
• Data exists but it isn’t embedded in approvals, procurement and planning.
• The problem can’t be solved by raising user fees. First, get the management and data right; then talk about fees.

What the roadmap proposes:

• Create an outcome-based decision framework linking O&M/capex to clear criteria.
• Embed asset management in workflows; clarify HQ-district roles; cut approval lag.
• Treat the AM plan as a project; evolve to a single “source of truth” for assets/data.
• Put together a multidisciplinary core team (engineers + finance + analytics + process).
• Start where ownership exists, learn fast, then scale.

Incentives make the system move; governance keeps it honest

Rubaiyath Sarwar (Innovation Consulting) mapped demand, supply, support services and rules (formal and informal) around embankments, gates, dredging, monitoring and maintenance. Two points stood out: money shapes behaviour, and longevity must be rewarded.

On governance and inclusion, Pim de Beer (IOB) reflected on Dutch policy evaluations: upfront system analysis is often missing; designs follow policy templates more than system needs; the sustainability of results is rarely monitored post-project.

Hero Heering (MetaMeta) argued for water management “for a purpose”: pair infrastructure with agricultural value so that users have a reason to maintain it. Set up decentralized emergency O&M funds with clear triggers to stop small issues becoming failures while central budgets move.

Melvin van der Veen (Both ENDS) put power back in the picture: “This is about governance: who is involved in decision-making?” He cited Tidal River Management (TRM) with UTTARAN and the Center for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS), where communities and local government co-designed a basin plan which engineers modelled and iterated – along with compensation for landless people during TRM cycles.

These were the connecting themes throughout discussions:

• Make inter-agency collaboration (BWDB, Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and others, routine.
• Work at hydrological scales where possible.
• Honour O&M agreements so that community routines are matched by timely government action on larger works.

Five concrete next moves

1. Use the decision framework in the next budget cycle; publish criteria tied to outcomes and document trade-offs for Planning and Finance.
2. Pilot two emergency O&M facilities in selected polders with clear triggers, caps and reporting.
3. Mandate a core asset team (engineers + finance + data + process) to simplify, standardise and drive adoption.
4. Wire one data tool into one approval (e.g., procurement must reference the asset register) and retire parallel spreadsheets.
5. Prototype a longevity incentive: recognize teams and projects that extend asset life beyond design.

These moves are small on their own but together they can change daily decisions.

Looking past Official Development Assistance (ODA)

As Bangladesh advances toward middle-income status, concessional aid will taper. Safeguards proposed by participants: a light-touch TA tail so institutions keep learning after projects close; bridging mechanisms (revolving or outcome-based where appropriate) that carry O&M improvements beyond project timelines; training at scale (e.g. with World Water Academy) to professionalise asset management across agencies; and system monitoring that outlives programmes (fault response times, maintenance cycles, service levels – not just project KPIs).

What Partners for Water can uniquely add

Four roles crystallised:

• Convene (ministries, BWDB, local government, civil society, financiers, Dutch and EU expertise).
• Sequence (scan → roadmap → pilots → scale) to fit institutions.
• Codify what works (model MoUs, WMO agreements, decision framework, simple templates.
• Connect Dutch and EU capability with Bangladeshi ownership so portfolios rather than pilots emerge.

Closing note

The SPA MoU gave the afternoon its milestone. The scan, roadmap, as well as the finance and governance debates gave it direction. In Dr Robin’s words, be “proactive.” In Rubaiyath Sarwar’s, “reward infrastructure that lasts.” Put together, they create a practical recipe to make the build–neglect–rebuild cycle the exception, not the norm, one budget cycle and one maintenance round at a time.

Audience questions and attendees’ ‘homework’ tips and ideas for the moderators kept the debate going through the well-catered end-of-day reception.

Read more about initiatives to break the BNR cycle in Bangladesh here.

From 2 to 4 July, water professionals from around the world gathered at the Knowledge and Capacity Symposium at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education to address how the water sector can advance knowledge and capacity development to address international water challenges. Over three days, speakers, including Partners for Water representatives, challenged traditional approaches, arguing that real change requires a renewed focus on power distribution, trust and local needs.

Capacity and knowledge development for young people was at the heart of the symposium, as well as a widespread recognition that the next generation of water professionals will play a vital role in shaping a sustainable water future. Yet while members of this new generation are often called on to take responsibility, they are not always equipped with the resources or influence needed to match that responsibility.

Addressing water challenges: the question of empowerment

Several speakers asked whether young professionals are truly being given space to lead within the water sector. For instance, Igbal Ali, a young professional from Sudan and project management assistant at IHE shared how she was invited to take part in high-level talks, but without substantial support:

“I was placed in a high-level setting where social science was dismissed, and everything had to follow an engineering lens. It set me up to step back, not because I lacked motivation, but because I lacked support. It made me ask: are we confusing inclusion with empowerment? When we bring young people into the room, are we giving them a voice, or just a seat?

“Are we confusing inclusion with empowerment?”

Others echoed this concern, noting that empowerment requires more than presence; it needs trust, support and a shift in how decisions are made. Botagoz Sharipova, a PhD candidate at IHE from Kazakhstan, explained: “Many older experts say there is a new generation who will solve tomorrow’s environmental problems. That’s a good thing, and a natural development. However, I’d like to advocate for not only redistributing responsibilities but also resources, powers, and everything else.”

Redefining the ‘new generation’

This raised a deeper question that echoed throughout the symposium: who exactly is this ‘new generation’ that is being called upon to lead change? Dr Hajar Choukrani, researcher at the Institut agronomique et vétérinaire Hassan II in Morocco explained: “The new generation is not about age. You can be young and still maintain hierarchies and inequalities – or be older and actively break them. It’s not about saying a lot or publishing a lot – it’s about daring to challenge dominant narratives.”

Former Dutch Water Envoy Henk Ovink amplified this by arguing that change is not about age but about courage: “True change means challenging the institutions that are still led by people like me: white, male, close to sixty. And that’s hard, because it means giving up power. But change isn’t only about age. It’s about the capacity to face an uncertain future, and to draw hope and courage from partnerships that do the same. Every day, we need to find allies – across generations, across backgrounds – who are willing to question the way things are. Even when it feels vulnerable. Because keeping that courage alive is the only way forward.”

Local expertise and contextual understanding

Throughout the symposium, the conversation moved to local capacity, especially in places where external actors often dominate. Several participants shared frustrations about how local expertise is too often overlooked or undervalued.

Sharipova shared: “I’ve seen many international donors arrive with good intentions, but little understanding of our context in Kazakhstan. They read a report about our problems and assume they know what we need. They bring polished tools and models, and suddenly you start to feel like your own systems aren’t good enough. That’s not real empowerment. It creates dependency, not capacity.”

Partners for Water: learning from long-term challenges

Partners for Water’s programme coordinator, Liliane Geerling, also shed light on a topic that often goes under the radar: the Build-Neglect-Rebuild (BNR) cycle. Through a fishbowl discussion, she highlighted how BNR still receives too little attention within the water sector.

The BNR cycle refers to a recurring issue in infrastructure: systems are built, but without long-term budgets or maintenance plans, they gradually fall into disrepair, only to be rebuilt again. It’s a costly waste of time, money and trust. Partners for Water research shows that breaking this cycle requires structural change in how we plan, fund and manage water projects. We should transition to programmes instead of projects.

“BNR is an important issue, but it hasn’t been talked about much, not even here,” Geerling said. “We need to speak more openly about our failures and mistakes if we want real progress. Young professionals aren’t always connected to these long-term patterns. That’s why intergenerational exchange and sharing our failures is so crucial.”

Four questions for reflection

The message throughout the symposium was consistent: if we want lasting change – whether through youth leadership or local ownership – we need to bring our failures to light, go beyond talk and provide time, funding and space to act.
Rather than an agenda full of action points, the symposium closed with four reflection questions meant to spark a change in direction:

• What characterises the new generation in your efforts?
• How are your capacity efforts challenging power dynamics?
• When do your capacity efforts actually translate into empowerment?
• How can co-creation lead to meaningful, long-term change?

Moving forward

The symposium didn’t offer easy answers, but it did create the space to ask difficult questions, and to have honest conversations about the topics that are often overlooked or uncomfortable. Participants concluded that we should all take these questions forward into our own work and partnerships. The next step is not only to keep the conversation going, but to translate it into action on the ground.

Want to take the next step? Join Partners for Water at Stockholm World Water Week, where we’ll continue exploring BNR challenges and the value of sharing failures in dedicated workshops with water professionals worldwide.

Partners for Water will share its knowledge and experiences in sustainable water management at the 7th International Symposium on Knowledge and Capacity for the Water Sector, taking place from 2 to 4 July 2025 at IHE Delft Institute for Water Education. Our team will contribute to two key sessions, focusing on breaking the build–neglect–repair (BNR) cycle and implementing landscape-based solutions for long-term water security. 

The water sector is undergoing rapid and complex changes, driven by climate change, digitalisation, and socio-political dynamics. Addressing these developments requires interdisciplinary collaboration, innovative thinking, and new skillsets. Strengthening the capacities of current and future professionals is essential in order to ensure sustainable and resilient water systems worldwide.

The symposium explores how such changes influence the way we build and share knowledge, and how knowledge and capacity strengthening efforts can be better aligned with these emerging developments. It brings together an international community of practitioners, researchers and policymakers to foster collaboration and exchange. Core themes include identifying knowledge gaps, analysing capacity development trends, exploring sustainable water solutions, and shaping a forward-looking agenda for the sector.

Partners for Water’s Programme Coordinator, Liliane Geerling, will moderate Session 1, together with Ilyas Masih, Associate Professor of Water Resources Planning at IHE: ‘Assessing and bridging the knowledge and capacity gap’, held on 2 July. In addition to this session, Partners for Water will present two thematic contributions that reflect our integrated approach to sustainable watermanagement, namely a session on breaking the BNR cycle and adopting landscape-based solutions.

Breaking the build-neglect-repair cycle

The persistent BNR cycle affects water security globally. This cycle emerges when water infrastructure such as embankments, drainage canals, sluice gates, or water treatment facilities are developed without sustainable asset management in place. Ensuring long-term operation and maintenance requires not only adequate budgets, but also strong organisational capacity.

Root causes of the BNR cycle include gaps in institutional capacity, lack of clear procedures, insufficient technical expertise, inadequate tools, poor urban planning, and unaligned community behaviour. During this session, we will highlight practical strategies and encourage participants to discuss how to break the cycle effectively.

Landscape-based solutions for water security

Integrating Indigenous and local knowledge into landscape-based conservation strategies offers a powerful opportunity to reshape water governance. This session highlights how Indigenous-led approaches can inform water and land management policies. Traditional knowledge – refined over generations – can be combined with modern practices to develop solutions that are both culturally meaningful and ecologically sound, particularly at river basin scale. Participants of this session will gain insights into aligning landscape-based solutions with long-term water security goals and be encouraged to explore inclusive, place-based governance strategies.

Stockholm World Water Week 2025

These themes also serve as preparation for Partners for Water’s upcoming workshops during Stockholm World Water Week (SWWW), where they will be explored in greater depth with international water professionals.

Symposium details

The 7th International Symposium on Knowledge and Capacity for the Water Sector takes place from 2–4 July 2025 at IHE Delft, in a hybrid format allowing both in-person and online participation. Together with an international community of practitioners, academics and policymakers, we’ll explore how changes in the water sector impact knowledge and capacity strengthening and reconsider capacity strengthening approaches.

Bangladesh’s coastal polders were built to prevent flooding and saltwater intrusion, but poor governance, weak maintenance, and disjointed coordination have led to waterlogging, erosion, and reduced agricultural productivity. This cycle of inadequate upkeep and recurring failures forces costly reinvestment, perpetuating the Build-Neglect-Rebuild (BNR) pattern.

The Polders of the Future – Sustainable In-Polder Water Management and Resilient Livelihoods in Polder 31 project is an inception phase designed to lay the groundwork for long-term improvements in water management and climate resilience. It builds on findings from the BNR Root Cause Analysis Report and aims to develop a scalable, coordinated approach for better water governance in Bangladesh’s coastal polders.

This six-month inception phase (January – June 2025) is supported through a €300,000 subsidy under the Partners for Water Bangladesh Delta programme. The key outcome of this phase is to secure financing and partnerships for the longer term, full-scale implementation of solutions.

Laying the foundation for sustainable water management

The inception phase will focus on:

• Defining a functional institutional model: Designing an institutional model for in-polder water management, which is locally-led, and at the same time, well-connected with implementing agencies like BWDB.
• Developing a pilot implementation plan: Designing targeted interventions for improved in-polder water management, drainage and salinity control.
• Identifying financing pathways: Engaging relevant stakeholders to secure additional funding for full-scale implementation and long-term sustainability.
• Fostering co-learning and advocacy: Establishing a knowledge-sharing platform to support policy reform and drive systemic change in polder water governance.
• Engaging local actors for long-term maintenance: Ensuring that those who will ultimately be responsible for managing and maintaining water infrastructure are part of the co-creation process.
• Devising an effective and functional coordination mechanism: Establishing a coordination mechanism between different departments like BWDB, DAE, DoF, etc.; and between other institutions like Local Government Institutions (LGIs) and Water Management Organisations (WMOs) to ensure effective coordination.

Who is involved?

This project is funded under the Partners for Water programme and implemented by:

• Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) (Lead Applicant)
• Institute Water Management (IWM) – Technical expert in water resources modelling and management
• Uttaran – NGO with a strong track record in community-driven water management and rural development
  Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) – Providing advisory support and linking the project to broader polder rehabilitation efforts
• Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB)

The Road Ahead: Scaling beyond the inception phase

The Polder 31 initiative is not a standalone project, but the first step of a broader effort to transform water governance in Bangladesh’s coastal polders. A critical goal of this inception phase is to secure additional financing and partnerships for full-scale implementation. This will involve collaboration with government agencies, development partners and the private sector to establish a sustainable, scalable model for integrated water management and resilient livelihoods.

By addressing the root causes of the BNR cycle, this initiative directly supports the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 and national climate adaptation strategies, ensuring that coastal water infrastructure is managed proactively rather than reactively.

Partners for Water recently sat down with Fauzy Nasruddin, the Secretary at the Water Resources Agency of East Java Province (Indonesia) and spoke about the collaboration with the Netherlands on managing the floods in the Welang river basin in East Java.

Fauzy Nasruddin has significant expertise and experience in water management, and visited Delft in September to accompany his staff members on a short course at the Institute for Water Education (IHE) which also allowed him to join his wife’s graduation. Just like him, she studied at the Institute for Water Education (IHE).

Long-standing collaboration

For the last decades, Fauzy Nasruddin has been deeply involved in collaborative water management projects, including those funded by Partners for Water, predominantly addressing issues like flooding, drought, and water pollution in East Java. The challenges of having too much, too little, or too polluted water should eventually be replaced by the 3 Rs of sustainable water management: Recharge, Retention, and Reuse.

The partnership with the Dutch government formally began in 2020, but its roots date back to 2015. That year, the former Dutch minister Stef Blok came to East Java to visit the grave of his grandfather, an engineer who built a dam in the region during the colonial period. This dam still functions today, symbolizing the historical connection and shared expertise between the two countries.

Early dialogue and exploration

In 2018, a delegation from East Java, including Fauzy Nasruddin himself, visited the Netherlands. They travelled to Zeeland and were invited to the University of Applied Sciences to explore potential areas of collaboration and discuss cases of mutual interest, including flood and water quality issues in East Java. In 2020, the collaboration was strengthened during a royal visit to Indonesia.

The Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management visited Surabaya, where Nasruddin’s office is located. She decided that the Welang River could be a pilot project for further cooperation in water management. The river basin is experiencing great problems with flooding and has been the subject of various water management and flood control projects, including collaborative efforts between Indonesia and the Netherlands.

The Welang river’s challenges

The Welang River floods between eight and ten times a year during the rainy season, which lasts from December to March. These floods have significant impacts on local communities, especially the poorer populations who are more vulnerable to natural disasters. While past infrastructure projects, such as building levees and reinforcing riverbanks with stones and concrete (grey infrastructure), have been undertaken, these solutions proved temporary. The floods returned, indicating a need for more sustainable and integrated approaches.

A new approach: the Welang River Master Plan

As part of the collaboration with the Netherlands, a Master Plan for the Welang River has been developed, followed by several pilot projects that focus on integrated and participatory water management, design and implementation. The goal is to manage floods by slowing down and absorbing water in the watershed rather than simply diverting it as quickly as possible. In upstream areas, solutions that use local materials and labour are being found, so they are not only cost-effective but also sustainable and scalable, as local communities can maintain and replicate them, Nasruddin says.

“Early results indicate that these methods are effective at a pilot scale, but scaling them up across more locations, midstream and downstream, is still work in progress,” he adds. The collaboration in Welang is a showcase of integrated planning and implementation, involving a diverse set of local stakeholders. In the midstream and downstream locations, the collaboration is taking a participatory design approach to jointly identify and agree upon interventions that improve water management in critical flooding areas.

A concrete example of such a pilot project is the construction of simple water barriers in the upstream part of the Welang River. These structures, made of bamboo, wood, and local stones, retain water and reduce sedimentation. While some early attempts were unsuccessful – some bamboo structures collapsed during heavy floods – the project has provided valuable insights. It underscores the importance of designing structures that are strong enough to withstand extreme weather conditions while fitting the local context and capabilities.

Challenges

One of the biggest challenges Nasruddin mentions is the complexity of the administrative and political landscape in Indonesia. Political changes can lead to shifts in priorities and budgets, hindering the continuity of long-term projects. He compares this to the situation in the Netherlands, where a Delta Act and a fixed Delta Budget ensure consistent funding and planning, regardless of political changes. He sees the lack of a similar legal framework in Indonesia as an obstacle to sustainable water management initiatives.

Another issue is the involvement of multiple stakeholders with different interests. In the upstream area of the Welang River, for example, forestry agencies, water companies, environmental organizations, and local communities are all active. Each of these parties has its own priorities, making it difficult to arrive at a joint action plan. Nasruddin stresses the importance of stakeholder engagement and co-creation, where all involved parties are included in the process from the start. This not only promotes collaboration but also ensures that solutions better fit the needs and context of the local community.

The economic aspects are also a challenge. Investments in water infrastructure, especially in flood control and upstream conservation, are often seen as less profitable compared to projects like toll roads or commercial developments. This makes it harder to secure funding for crucial water management projects that may not provide immediate financial returns but are essential for the sustainability and safety of communities.

Personal motivation

Nasruddin’s personal motivation stems from his passion for water management and the realization that well-managed water can improve lives and make communities more resilient. He sees water as a common good that, when effectively managed, can have tremendous positive effects on society. His experience in the Netherlands has broadened his perspective, particularly in understanding the importance of process management and stakeholder involvement alongside technical solutions

Future hopes

In the future, he hopes that Indonesia can develop a legal framework similar to the Dutch Delta Act, enabling long-term and stable investments in water management. However, he acknowledges that this is a complex process, given the political dynamics and the diverse interests of stakeholders. Nonetheless, he remains committed to improvement and innovation in water management, with the ultimate goal of improving the quality of life for the people of East Java and making the region more resilient to the challenges of climate change and population growth.​

On 10 July 2024, we organised a deep dive meeting in The Hague focused on issues concerning the Build Neglect Rebuild (BNR) cycle and its impact on water infrastructure sustainability. The event brought together 30 diverse participants from government institutions, academia, private stakeholders, financiers, and NGOs. Key activities during the meeting included:

Three experiences shared by representatives of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), highlighting the importance of long-term thinking, local engagement, and adaptive approaches in water infrastructure projects.

A “fishbowl” discussion to explore root causes of the BNR cycle, featuring insights from Maarten Gischler (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) and Mathijs van Ledden (the World Bank).

The meeting concluded with a call for continued advocacy for international collaboration in the water sector, in light of potential budget cuts in the Netherlands.

Want to know everything that was discussed? Please read the full report.