Wietse van de Lageweg is the new lecturer of the Building with Nature research group of HZ University of Applied Sciences. He is the successor of Joost Stronkhorst, who retired. With his researchers, he will be working in the coming years on innovative, natural solutions to keep the coast safe and prosperous. Van de Lageweg works within the research group on the Future Shores programme. This will officially start on 1 July. For this, he has a so-called L.INT appointment.
The Future Shores programme was prompted by the urgent sea level rise, which is leading to an increasing number of conflicts of interest in coastal areas. The programme should deliver a new strategy for flexible, climate-proof and cost-effective coastal management. Van de Lageweg focuses on the Southwest Delta, but the research also yields building blocks for innovative dike zone concepts in other (inter)national coastal regions.
Van de Lageweg wants to make a new strategy through an integrated approach to the coastal system, an innovative methodology based on historical data, predictive models and questionnaires for social appreciation. By learning in co-creation from pilots in the South-western Delta together with researchers, practical partners, citizens and students, the most sustainable solutions for climate-proof coasts can be designed.
The Future Shores programme is a so-called L.INT lectureship. L.INT is a subsidy scheme of Regieorgaan SIA and stands for lecturer positions at institutes. Lecturers are appointed for four years at both a university of applied sciences and an institute. In Van de Lageweg's case, these are the HZ and Rijkswaterstaat. Future Shores fulfils the desire of both HZ and RWS to further strengthen the human capital agenda in the training of new water professionals.
Until recently, Van de Lageweg worked as senior researcher and coordinator at Building with Nature of the HZ. He received his PhD from Utrecht University in 2013 on the morphodynamics of meandering rivers. Between that PhD and his appointment at the HZ, he worked in the United States, United Kingdom and Belgium, among other places.
