Leeuwarden is drawing up area-specific climate adaptation implementation agenda

How has the implementation agenda been developed?

In 2018, the municipality of Leeuwarden launched the Volhoudbaar [Maintainable] programme. This outlines how it intends to create a circular economy and a climate-neutral and climate-proof city. Furthermore, it has mapped out how vulnerable Leeuwarden is to the consequences of climate change. This has resulted in 28 area passports of all the neighbourhoods and centres in the municipality. Each area passport gives an accurate picture of the area’s vulnerabilities to the climate issues: heat, drought, and waterlogging. The municipality has used these area passports to draw up its implementation agenda.

How is Leeuwarden combating waterlogging, heat, and drought?

On the basis of the 28 area passports, Leeuwarden intends to achieve the following goals with respect to the climate issues:

• Water storage: Leeuwarden intends to collect water at locations prone to waterlogging. The goal is to be able to collect 65,000 m³ of rainwater. This will involve a surface area of 21 hectares, i.e., 1 per cent of the urban area in Leeuwarden;
• Heat stress: Leeuwarden intends to reduce summer temperatures by creating 10 per cent of shade at large, warm, paved surfaces. In addition, it intends to create shady islands at locations where large crowds tend to gather or that accommodate vulnerable people, such as sports clubs, schools, and health care institutions;
• Drought: the municipality intends to conduct additional research in 2021 to gain more insight into the impact of drought in urban areas. The results will be used to draw up a strategy to combat drought.

Leeuwarden: joining forces in the pursuit of climate adaptation

Climate adaptation requires concerted efforts. For that reason, the municipality has joined forces with residents, businesses, and partners to climate-proof the city. It is showing the importance of climate adaptation and providing residents with tips on how to green their gardens. Residents and other parties are also invited to submit ideas of their own. Furthermore, Leeuwarden intends to conduct a pilot study involving a “living street”, an idea originating from the Belgian city of Ghent. A “living street” enables residents to weigh in on the design of their street.

Leeuwarden wants to capitalise on linkage opportunities

Wherever possible, Leeuwarden wants to address the range of climate adaptation taskings in an integrated manner. To this end, within the Volhoudbaar programme, it attempts to combine taskings and capitalise on linkage opportunities. For example, climate-adaptive sewer work can be combined with the creation of climate-neutral district heating systems. And wherever possible, plans to green and climate-proof public space are combined with work that had already been scheduled, such as major repairs.

Leeuwarden sets new requirements for public space

The municipality has added climate-adaptive requirements to the Public Space Quality Manual. For example, from now on, any new public space will be planned in a climate-adaptive manner. This measure will initially impact new housing developments: the requirements stipulate, for example, that the vicinity of new housing developments must be able to collect a 60-millimetre downpour.

What are the plans for 2021 up to 2025?

Between now and 2025, the municipality will be tackling waterlogging at several locations. For example, it will be greening four locations in the city centre, which will also feature roads capable of water storage. Together with Oldenije primary school, near St. Antonystraat street, the authorities are water-proofing a schoolyard. At Hemrik, Zwette, and Stiens industrial estates, several parties have joined forces to green the area and boost biodiversity. Furthermore, the municipality intends to take climate adaptation measures in the areas around the new Cambuur football stadium and on the former football fields.

What are the plans for 2026 up to 2030?

In the period 2026 to 2030, the municipality will be tackling 29 waterlogging bottlenecks and 27 heat stress bottlenecks. The Rengerspark and Bilgaard neighbourhoods are particularly prone to waterlogging. Furthermore, efforts to water-proof schoolyards and health care institutions will continue. What measures the municipality will be taking to combat drought will depend on the outcomes of the research conducted in the previous period. However, the municipality has already set aside a sum of 1 million euros for such measures.

What are the plans for 2031 up to 2035?

The final plans of the implementation agenda pertain to 28 waterlogging bottlenecks and 20 heat stress bottlenecks. Many of these plans have not yet been finalised, because the municipality will be addressing the taskings in an integrated manner. One of the issues that the municipality is expecting to tackle in this period is the waterlogging in Harlingerstraatweg road. With respect to drought, the same principle applies as in the period before: research must show what measures are needed, and a sum of 1 million euros has been set aside.

What are the estimated costs of climate adaptation in Leeuwarden?

Considering the many uncertainties, it is important for the current plans to leave open options for future adjustment. For that reason, the municipality is evaluating the plans every five years, in order to be able to accommodate changes. Currently, Leeuwarden has mapped out a total of 131 bottlenecks in the fields of waterlogging and heat. The municipality intends to tackle these bottlenecks in the next fifteen years. The total costs involved are estimated at between 18.2 and 37.8 million euros. Linking more measures may reduce the costs. However, in some cases, this will involve postponing work and adapting schedules, which may result in a prolonged risk of damage. In such cases, it is up to the municipality of Leeuwarden to determine the best course of action.

Lessons to be learned

The formulation of this implementation agenda has generated the following lessons to be learned:

• As the city continues to develop, stress tests require a great deal of knowledge and a proper analysis of the environment. Stress tests do not reveal every bottleneck, such as ditches or loading docks. Furthermore, the latest version of the Netherlands Current Elevation Data map is outdated. As a result, the municipality is still encountering inaccuracies in stress tests.
• The municipality has set down the timeframes for tackling bottlenecks based on interviews with stakeholders or by factoring in the severity of the issues involved. It would be good to set up more comprehensive meetings with stakeholders.
• It is important for a municipality to collaborate with residents and entrepreneurs, who own a large proportion of the surface area.
• Involving residents in climate adaptation takes time. Using good images is important in this respect, in order to really open their eyes to the importance of climate adaptation.

Contact person

Diderick Niehof
Diderick.niehof@leeuwarden.nl