Field Notes: Knauss in the Netherlands

In our latest installment of the Field Notes series, Lauren shares her travels Europe for the People and the Sea IV Conference in July...

This blog post has been coming for a long time, but I’ve finally processed all my thoughts, notes, and pictures from my travels to the Netherlands. I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to go because I saw lots of cool places and learned a lot! Here’s a peek into my ten days in Europe. :)

First, I took a train to Paris and stayed there for 2 days! My time in Paris is somewhat of a blur due to jet-lag and trying to see EVERYTHING in two days. I did lots of walking around the city and loved seeing the different neighborhoods on the Left Bank and the Right Bank of the Seine River.


This picture is of Ile de la Cite – a little island in the middle of the Seine where lots of people like to go and hang out. One thing I noticed about the Seine running through Paris is that the only boats on the river were tourist boats or personal boats – no commercial boats! Quite different in Amsterdam, where the rivers and canals are working waterways in their full capacity with cargo barges and huge commercial boats in addition to tourist boats. Anyways – like a tourist, most of my pictures from Paris are of the Eiffel Tower. I had a chance to see it during the day and at night!

Then, I went back to Amsterdam to experience all the canals and bicycles! You can get around Amsterdam on foot, by tram, by car, or by boat. But the most common mode of transportation is bicycle! Amsterdam’s population is just under 1 million, and 2/3 all have bicycles! I saw people biking with children behind them, biking while holding groceries in one hand, girls riding side-saddle over the back tire behind guys – I even saw a man biking while holding a large piece of art in one hand! Nobody wears helmets and nobody cares about running pedestrians over. Actually, I think the network of transportation is very efficient. The trams and the buses have lanes in the very center of the road. The lanes outside of that are for cars. The lanes outside of those are for bicycles! And they have their own stoplights, crosswalks, and parking garages.

I really enjoyed walking around and seeing all the different canals. Some of them were very wide while others were narrow. Every canal was full of boats tied up to the side. The architecture along the canals was fascinating as well – you can tell which parts of Amsterdam are newer or older based on the houses. I took over 1000 pictures while I was in Europe, so these are definitely just a small sample! 

The reason I went to Amsterdam was to attend the People and the Sea VI Conference. This conference happens every two years and is sponsored by the MARE Centre for Maritime Research, which is an interdisciplinary social science research institute. The theme of the 2011 conference was Bridging Science and Policy for Sustainable Coasts and Seas. Attendees came from all over the world to share experiences in fisheries management, regional ocean governance, marine spatial planning, coastal tourism, the science-policy interface, and much more. The conference had less than 300 attendees, so it was very intimate and allowed for great group discussion in the different sessions. It took place at the Universiteit van Amsterdam. In the second picture, my arms are fully extended over my head and the camera is aiming out of a high window. Amsterdam is already below sea level, but we were even futher below in the Business School building!

I learned a lot about the European Union (EU) and how it’s approaching marine spatial planning (MSP). A lot of the European member-states are already doing MSP, and the EU would like to form a larger framework based on what is already happening (i.e. planning for renewable energy initiatives). This was interesting to learn about considering that our process in the US is quite the opposite – we have a national executive order that aims to have regions and states design and implement MSPs.

I also learned about the European Commission and Regional Advisory Councils (RACs) and how those relate to the Common Fisheries Policy in the EU. The system of governance in Europe is confusing to an outsider (at least for me), but the conclusion from some relevant talks is that there needs to be a legal framework for stakeholder involvement when it comes to fisheries management. The RACs are meant to be a stakeholder forum between the EU and member-states and are supposed to give advice for fisheries policy, but stakeholders have been going to the European Commission saying they disagree with the RACs. Overall, there seems to be a lot of unrest between different groups of people, and a lot of talks at the conference suggested co-management and community involvement as a way to alleviate some of the issues.

In general, the conference was centered on a theme of interdisciplinary approaches and integrated management. For policy to succeed, people need a voice, so how do we include locals/stakeholders so their input is used? There is a need for more social science to know and understand community members. Sounds strangely familiar… it’s sort of comforting to know that science and policy in Europe faces the same challenges as science and policy in the US.

In addition to the conference, I went to a couple different places outside of Amsterdam to see some other areas. I went to Almere to see villages built on the reclaimed land in the middle of the Ij Bay. This area was built about 15 years ago, and it felt a little bit like “The Truman Show” walking around because all the streets and houses are very straight (i.e. too perfect)! And everything was very green and clean-looking. But right in the middle of the town of Almere is a giant shopping center. Stores, stores, and more stores! All built on a concrete area that slopes downhill towards a lake. I was surprised by how much impervious surface there was between the shopping center and the water – especially for a new development! I guess developers weren’t thinking about permeable materials 15 years ago.

Strangely enough, I recently heard on NPR that the Dutch would like to build a mountain in the Netherlands. People are annoyed that they have to go to other countries to go downhill skiing or mountain-biking. One man said “when we build a mountain, we can finally relax.” Apparently, there’s a quote out there: “God created the Earth, and the Dutch created the Netherlands.” It’s interesting how the Dutch approach nature. I wish I had gotten more chances to talk to actual Dutch folks who live there and ask their opinions, but it seems that the reigning thought is “this is nature (i.e. our land is sinking), and we can’t do anything to stop it from changing (i.e. can’t keep the water out), so we’ll just build bigger and better to control it (i.e. higher dykes, deeper canals, bigger dams)”. I definitely would like to go back to the Netherlands and do some more in-depth study of how the Dutch live with the water.

I also went to Zandvoordt Beach on the North Sea side of the Netherlands. It’s a typical beach resort type of town with condos and houses right next to the beach. Right behind the beach is a huge park of vegetated sand dunes. And anyone is allowed to walk on them! In the swales between the dunes, there are actually community gardens.

I visited Edam and Volendam, two villages to the northeast of Amsterdam. Edam is the only town where they still have a traditional, open-air cheese market every Wednesday (I was there on Saturday, so I didn’t get to see that!). But Edam was a cute little village with very nice houses and canals.

Volendam is a historic fishing village right on the Markermeer body of water. People have built houses right on the dykes in this village, and you can actually see some houses that have sunk below the level of the road on top of the dyke. You actually have to step down to get into the house!

The Netherlands was an awesome experience, and I would love to go back and explore more someday. Hopefully I will have that chance and will get so see some other cities like Delft, Utrecth, the Hague, and Rotterdam. I highly recommend a visit to the Netherlands, but be sure to explore areas outside of Amsterdam. There’s so much more to see!