Exposure in the media
The video images below give an impression of OSP’s international activities for the Dutch government since 2015.
US senators on mission to the Netherlands
A group of 26 people from the U.S. of which 19 state legislators from 10 different states visited the Netherlands this June. Their goals were to learn how the Dutch are living with water and to exchange experiences with each other.
Topics during this visit were governance of water management, innovation, urban resilience, room for the river, coastal protection and nature based solutions.
CSG South and American Flood Coalition: “It was a privilege to be part of the organizing team”.
Port of Rotterdam
American Embassy
City Hall Rotterdam
Maeslantkering
Katwijk
Kinderdijk
Flood Proof Holland
Vice Ministers Infrastructure & Water Management visit US
The themes of resilience and infrastructure go hand in hand in the U.S. That is one of the takeaways of the visit by Vice Ministers Jaap Slootmaker and Kees van der Burg of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.
They visited Washington DC, Annapolis, Delaware and New York where they met different organizations from federal to state to local government and they have gained a lot of inspiration during different field visits.
Within this visit Saskia Pardaans was responsible for the program of Vice Minister Slootmaker.
Resiliency study tour Annapolis
A delegation of 14 representatives from Annapolis, Arundel County and the state of Maryland visited the Netherlands for a week-long program to learn more about mobility and resiliency.
The program was initiated by Saskia Pardaans and Lilian van Ek of the Dutch Embassy and jointly developed and implemented by the Netherlands Water Partnership and the Dutch Cycling Embassy.
The combination of active mobility and resiliency was applied for the first time during the study tour and was experienced as very positive by all parties.
Meeting on climate adaptation at US Conference of Mayors
On the initiative of Saskia Pardaans, a reception was organized at the residence in Washington DC for American mayors around the theme of climate adaptation. The reception was organized in cooperation with the Mississippi River Cities and Towns Initiative, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, the Climate Mayors and the C40 Cities.
The event was extraordinarily successful, due to the large turnout and leading speakers including Senator Amy Klobuchar and Senior Advisor White House John Podesta.
Thanks to the success of this event, it has been decided to make this event an annual tradition with climate adaptation as the permanent theme.
US senators learn about water in Valkenburg
August 2023, Members of Congress from Florida, New York and North Carolina visited Valkenburg, among others, to learn from the Dutch approach to high water. Mayor Daan Prevoo gave the American delegation a tour of the streets that were flooded four days ago. From the Dutch embassy in Washington DC, Saskia Pardaans was partly responsible for the visit of the delegation of American congress members to the Netherlands. The report was made by the Limburg channel L1mburg.
New York Water Week
From March 18-24, 2023, the New York Water Week took place alongside UN Water Conference, the first of its kind since 1977. New York Water Week offered entrepreneurs, NGOs, knowledge institutions, city representatives and youth the opportunity to share knowledge and solutions to share.
During the NYWW, Saskia Pardaans was responsible for the High Level Water Innovation and Business event and two field visits. The field visits were organized in collaboration with the NY Department of Environmental Protection and the NY Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The video is a compilation of both field visits.
Netherlands Business Support Office, why Texas?
The video Why Texas was made to promote Texas in the Netherlands. Texas is not the first location that entrepreneurs think of when they want to move to America. The aim was on the one hand to remove the stereotypical image people have about Texas and on the other hand to draw attention to the opportunities for Dutch entrepreneurs. The idea and script were created by Saskia Pardaans. The video was made in collaboration with VideoEnvy.
5 questions
5 Questions is a podcast from the Dutch Embassy in Washington DC, where people from the diplomatic network in the United States are interviewed based on 5 questions.