BONSAI: protecting our coastline from climate change
The Northern European Interreg project BONSAI focuses on strengthening coastal zones, flood defenses, and estuaries. Seventeen partners from four countries are collaborating on solutions to better protect the coast against extreme weather conditions.
What is BONSAI?
BONSAI stands for Boosting flood resilience in estuarine systems anticipating shifting climate zones. It is an international project in which Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, and France are collaborating from January 1, 2025, to June 30, 2029. The aim is to ultimately apply the results and best practices in all four countries.
What is an estuary?
An estuary is a place where a river and the sea meet. The water from the river is fresh, and the water from the sea is salt. In an estuary, these two types of water mix.
Why is it important?
The project addresses the impact of climate change on tidal estuaries in Northwest Europe. Shifting climate zones and increasing flood risks require robust, sustainable solutions to maintain safety, biodiversity, and infrastructure. BONSAI helps to:
- to increase the climate resilience of coastal zones,
- better control flooding,
- and develop knowledge and tools for future water management.
Project objective
The project focuses on simulating climate scenarios and developing practical solutions around three central themes:
1. Short-term resilience
2. Long-term resilience
3. Disaster management
Why are we participating?
The Noorderzijlvest Water Authority manages nearly 70 kilometers of primary sea defenses along the Groningen coast. Our contribution to this Interreg project is in line with our vision on coastal defense. Innovations are urgently needed. We are particularly interested in natural solutions.
Long-term resilience: the Meegroeidijk
With the investment from the Interreg BONSAI project, we have started a pilot project on our primary sea defense at Westpolder. With this 'Meegroeidijk' (growing dike), we are responding to sea level rise without having to make major changes to the dike. Whereas dike reinforcement normally takes years, we are building the dike layer by layer from the top down. We are using silt from the port of Lauwersoog for this purpose. In doing so, we are also contributing to better water quality in the Wadden Sea. The net subsidy from Interreg NWE BONSAI amounts to €460,028.40.
EU subsidy
Four countries are participating in Bonsai: Belgium, Germany, France, and the Netherlands. The project will run until 2029. The total joint budget is €10,699,561.10, of which €6,419,736.62 comes from EU subsidies.
You can find more information about the Meegroeidijk on the project page.
Project partners
1. STOWA (lead partner) – Netherlands
2. University of Siegen – Germany
3. Catholic University of Leuven – Belgium
4. University of Lille – France
5. Rijkswaterstaat – Netherlands
6. Department of Mobility and Public Works – Belgium
7. HZ University of Applied Sciences – Netherlands
8. CEREMA – France
9. Ministry of Defense – Netherlands
10. De Vlaamse Waterweg nv – Belgium
11. Waterschap Noorderzijlvest – Netherlands
12.ISL Ingénierie – France
13. Hollands Noorderkwartier Water Authority – Netherlands
14. ESTP – Grande école d’ingénieurs de la Construction – France
15. Université Catholique de Louvain – Belgium
16. Institute for Nature and Forest Research – Belgium
17.Radboud University – Netherlands
