"The Netherlands is safe thanks to its network of dykes. Or is it?"

Our low-lying country is well protected against water. At least that is what we all like to think. In any case, this has always been the basis for government policy: citizens must be given maximum protection against the risk of flooding. But is this viewpoint actually tenable? How safe are we behind our dykes?

“There is no such thing as 100% safety,” says Bertien Broekhans, who works in the Policy research group. Together with Aad Correljé of the Economics of Infrastructure research group, he took part in the PrOmO project on perceptions and risk communication in dealing with flood risks. The project also involved researchers from the University of Twente, TNO and Deltares. Its results have just been published in the book Kijk op waterveiligheid (A perspective on water safety).

Read the complete article in the Quarterly VIII/2, June 2010