During a three day workshop in New York City (NYC), Dutch experts in the fields of water management, waterfront development and port (re)development) will interact with their NYC counterparts to tackle waterfront development issues in New York and the Netherlands. The focal point of the exchange will be the “South West Brooklyn case”. South West Brooklyn and Rotterdam have much in common: both are former port areas that are (being) transformed into attractive and sustainable areas for working and living. Rotterdam will use its experience with transforming the city harbor (Stadshavens) as best practice for transforming the Brooklyn waterfront. 

For more information, please contact Femke Smeets at f.smeets@nwp.nl

Background: During this time of urgent global economic and environmental challenges, a central question facing many port cities is how to combine economic development with environmental sustainability – a question with many facets from modernization of industry and innovations in international shipping to reconfiguration of transportation systems and mitigation of climate change. In response to this need, the City of Rotterdam, Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, and Dutch Government have jointly agreed to structure a cross-Atlantic cooperation to exchange waterfront expertise.

The Exchange will take place in both New York and Rotterdam starting with a 3,5-day professional workshop in New York (April 2010) followed by a 2,5-day visit by policy-makers to the Netherlands (June 2010). Pre-exchange meetings and briefings will precede the Exchange. The goal of the NY Workshop is to apply international best practices to SW Brooklyn’s waterfront and help generate support for long-range decisions about its key challenges, which include economic development, environmental sustainability, transportation, infrastructure, waterfront uses, and climate change. The goal of the Rotterdam Workshop is to share expertise about effective public policies, such as those at Stadshavens, instrumental in implementing innovative solutions in both cities.