After visiting the Delta Works yesterday, our group took a tour of the Watersnoodmuseum, a museum dedicated to the victims of the flood and recognizing what survivors faced during this harrowing experience. While here, we not only read accounts from survivors and about those who passed but heard them firsthand through our guide who survived the 1953 flood when she was only 6. I found that one of the most fascinating parts of the recovery effort from the flood was the help other nations gave to the Netherlands while they were still struggling in recovery from the second world war. An example of this comes from Norway.

The Norwegians built many housing kits and prefabricated homes for victims of the floods who no longer had any form of shelter. These homes were transported to the flood regions and put together as a temporary form of housing. However, many of these homes still last to this day and are a symbol of not only the good relations between Holland and Norway but also of the strength of survivors as the homes are still structurally sound. Large elements of the Norwegian building style like gabled roofs can be seen throughout the Netherlands to this day. In fact, after further research, Norwegian influence and relations makes up all of Holland as they were responsible for the timber used for building cities and covering the swampland. Even today, Norway and the Netherlands share close relations and similar ideas on reliance around green energy and sustainable building practices.

Prior to our trip to the Watersnoodmuseum, we took a tour around Rotterdam to see what sustainable building practices are being used and how it differs in terms of modernity from Amsterdam. While Amsterdam is comprised of buildings still standing from the 17th century, Rotterdam is made up of almost completely new buildings from the 1950s and on due to the heavy destruction inflicted by bombings during the second world war. While walking around the city, I noticed a large amount of different rain water collection systems. The entire city is modeled around its typical weather patterns and working with them to meet the needs of residents. During dry periods, the collected rain water is used for watering plants and keeping city parks green while the rainy season is used to collect water alone. This meets the eleventh sustainable development goal of the UN as Rotterdam ensures they will be protected from flooding with their rain water collection systems while also confirming they will have water when they need it to protect against droughts.