We left Dokkum having the sky crying insted of us this time. 

Planning to leave at 9, when the Altenabrug would open for the first time, we waited an extra half an hour hoping that the rain would calm down. Sadly we did not have any luck. 

Elena also woke up worried as she could not hear well from her right ear and so we started the second day of our trip with two weight, both mental and physical. 

The plan is to get to Harlingen as soon as possible considering the 6 hours and an half of navigation – still one less hour compared to yesterday – and to talk to local citizens on their perception of climate change and its impact on cultural heritage. The rain is so strong that it is almost painful when it hits your face as the wind gets quite strong too from time to time. With Elena being sick and relieving hard moments lived in the past, Gloria stays on the helm most of the time. 

on water and canals

Even if the rain is terribly annoying and soaked us despite many layers of technical cloathing, we are also quite relieved to be able to experience the “normal” Dutch climate. In fact, as of the month of August, the Netherlands has been declared to be in an official state of water shortage. Comuing from Lombardy, the Italian region of which Milan is capital and that hosts all major lakes – Como, Garda, Maggiore, and Iseo -, we are well familiar with water crisis. 

It may sound strange, but the nation of dikes, canals, rain, and reclaimed land is actually suffering from a lack of water. The effects of climate change are already being felt all over the world, including in the Netherlands, which is known for its abundant rainfall. A drought not only causes the amount of available fresh water to be lower than it should be, but it can also have an effect on the quality of the water that is used for drinking. Because there is less water flowing, there is a greater possibility that harmful bacteria will grow, which poses a threat to the quality of the water that is used for drinking. Another danger associated with drought is that salt water could begin to seep into the groundwater and the soil, which would present difficulties for agricultural practises in the Netherlands.

During times of crisis, new and often perplexing terms are coined, and it is not always easy to understand what they all signify. You have probably come across the phrase “drought phase 2” in recent times, and you are probably curious about what it means. To put it succinctly, it indicates that a crisis team has been assembled in order to deal with the situation. The group has been in charge of determining the destination of our extremely valuable fresh water. It has been four years since the last time that drought phase 2 was announced, so despite the fact that there is no need for panic, the situation should definitely be taken seriously.

consequences

Due to the lack of precipitation, dike walls have a greater risk of drying out and becoming unstable. Dikes are typically constructed out of peat. Specialized boats that pump water from the canals onto the embankments of smaller dikes made of peat and built primarily inland along canals and rivers are used to irrigate the embankments of these smaller dikes. Due to the fact that the country is expected to be plagued by droughts in 2018, 2019, and 2020, their use is becoming increasingly widespread. There has not been sufficient precipitation to adequately hydrate the levees and replenish the groundwater. It is against the law for farmers in the southern part of the Netherlands to use water from canals and rivers to irrigate their fields.

The Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management, Mark Harbers, has issued a plea to the general public “to give careful consideration to the question of whether they should wash their car or fill their inflatable swimming pool all the way up. The Netherlands is a country built on water, but water is also a precious resource in these parts.” According to what he had to say, “the water shortage is already having a negative effect on shipping and agriculture in particular”

The low water levels in the rivers and canals are making it difficult for barge traffic as well as the traffic of the smaller ferries. And we have been experiencing discomforts as well, even in these two short days of navigation. In fact the inland water infrastructre, part of the National Heritage of the Netherlands, works thanks to a very delicate balance between sea water, water coming from the dried lands, river water, and rain. When one of these key elements is missing the whole system is shaken and multiple actions of transferring water where needed are necessary. This causes sluisen (dams) to be operated more frequently making our trip longer as often they can be left open in water-balanced situations. Also the levels of the canals are sometimes unpredictable making the navigation more stressfull. 

Part of the cultural landscape of the Dutch countryside is the green layer of plants that grows on the surface of canals during the summer and that survives until the end of September normally. These plants thrives in warm still water, keep the temperature stable, and provide shade and shelter to local fauna. Because of the need to move water around and the lack of rain of this summer, we could not see these traditional green carpets on the canals and we fear for the already much anthropized ecosystem.

arriving in harlingen 

Elena’s hearing got progressively worse during our trip and passing spiked canals of the capital city of Fryslan, Leeuwarden, we decided she needed to go to the hospital as soon as we would get to our destination. Soaking wet we managed to get to the outskirts of Harlingen around 4pm and we starte     d manouvering to get in the first harbor before the dike as we planned since the morning. Being the sluis doors open, the tide was too strong for Tetide engine to safely enter the small gate of the first harbor. We then decided to cross the sluis with a very strong favorable tide that pushed us at the crazy speed of 11 knots between the two tight 10-meters cement walls leaving us excited and a bit shaking. After almost half an hour we managed to enter the Noorderhaven and we docked next to another sailboat. The nice Dutch owners, together with other German boat-neighbors, helped us get Elena to a doctor. He prescribed her cortisol and suggested her to get back to Italy as soon as possible to get urgent care. 

Elena rested and planned her trip home while Gloria started looking for another person to continue the trip with. Both tired, worried for one-another, and for their commitment to the trip, we went to sleep hoping for better winds tomorrow.

We untied Tetide from its berth. 

We cried a bit, we smiled a lot. 

The first bridge opened in front of the stern, the Reitdeip canal in front of us.

Groningen is behind already, and Dokkum very slowly approaching. 

In fact on Tetide sailboat, a C&C 34/36 from 1989, we have an average speed of 5 knots, 9,3 kilometres per hour. The right rate to take in all the Dutch landscape has to offer us. The first day was a good one. No rain, and little wind, which is always good when navigating a tight canal and you don’t want to get stuck on the muddy banks. 

It was also a good day for the most favourite hobby of sailors in Dutch canals: cow-watching. They are many, pacific, a bit annoyed by the sound of the low-consumption engine. They resort to looking at you with their lost gaze, and keep chewing their grass. In these moments you find yourself embarrassed by your own presence, willful to pet those big, calm eaters, and conscious of their terrible impact on the climate. Intrigued by our thoughts, we researched a bit of the facts while passing through the Lauwersmeer: the area where in ancient times, fresh and saltwater flowed into each other in the Lauwerszee. Fear of flooding led to the construction of a dam in 1969 when a beautiful new landscape arose on the former seabed, a real bird paradise and a National Park.

on cows

Flat, verdant fields dotted with horses, sheep, and the world-famous black-and-white cows would probably be what comes to mind when one imagines the countryside in the Netherlands. This is the image that most people have of the Netherlands. And there is some truth to each stereotype: there were an astounding 1.57 million cows in the Netherlands in 2021, which is almost one-tenth of the country’s human population. 

Despite the fact that agriculture is responsible for 16 per cent of the Netherlands’ total greenhouse gas emissions, the Netherlands are the second largest exporter of agricultural products in the world, behind only the United States. Methane is one of the most powerful greenhouse gases, and cows’ digestive systems are a major source of methane emissions. In the Netherlands, livestock farming is one of the primary contributors to the emission of greenhouse gases; as a result, climate change poses a threat to the low-lying fields in the country. In addition to this, livestock produces manure, which, when combined with urine, results in the release of ammonia, a compound containing nitrogen. An excessive amount of nitrogen can cause damage to sensitive natural habitats if it enters lakes and streams via farm runoff. For instance, it can encourage algae blooms, which can reduce the amount of oxygen present in surface waters.

The Netherlands has been dealing with what it refers to as a “nitrogen crisis” ever since the highest administrative court in the country found in 2019 that the Dutch government was in violation of EU law by not doing enough to reduce the amount of excess nitrogen that was present in sensitive natural areas. To reduce the amount of nitrogen oxides released into the atmosphere, the daytime speed limit on highways has been lowered to 100 kilometres per hour, gas-guzzling construction projects have been halted, and a new law requires that 50 per cent of protected natural areas have healthy nitrogen levels by the year 2030.

Now, civil servants working in the ministry of finance and agriculture have drafted proposals, one of which includes reducing the number of livestock by 30 per cent. This plan is one of the most radical of its kind in Europe. Farmers in the Netherlands are finding themselves cornered by the government, which is giving them the ultimatum that they must either make their farms more friendly to the environment or find new employment elsewhere. Some farmers could be forced to sell their emissions rights and possibly even their land to the state under two different scenarios that have been proposed.

adaptation

To be expected from the Dutch, who always manage to disrupt the established order of things. They had the ingenuity to construct a network of dikes and canals several hundred years ago so that they could live on land that would have otherwise been inundated by flood waters. This allowed them to continue to exist in the area. The Netherlands are also responsible for the conception of sustainable cell-cultured meat; the leading start-up company, Mosa Meat, has its headquarters in Maastricht, which is located a train ride’s distance southeast of Rotterdam. And now in the middle of Rotterdam’s Merwehaven port, where ships used to dock, there now stands a floating dairy farm: a three-story facility spanning 1,800 square metres, the farm has been open since May and is currently home to 35 cows as well as 4 calves that were recently born.

Food production that takes place closer to where consumers live and that is done in a “climate-adaptive way” is what the owners of this property hope to highlight with its unusual setting, which stands in stark contrast to the typical landscape of rolling green hills. These cows are a part of an experiment being conducted in the Netherlands to rethink the way in which cities are supplied with dairy products while simultaneously promoting a more sustainable food cycle. The cows are fed the grass that has been removed from nearby soccer fields, the potato peels that have been discarded by businesses that make french fries, and the leftover bran that has been removed from nearby windmills. Electric cars are used to collect these resources and transport them to The Floating Farm where they are used.

We are not sure this is a solution that will be able to solve the impact that livestock has on the Dutch climate and waterways, therefore threatening the cultural heritage that is always directly connected or touched by water, nor that it will allow the cultural landscape and traditional activity of raising cows. But it surely represents a laudable initiative of adaptation. 

fryslân

Continuing our navigation we left the province of Groningen and entered Fryslân – or Friesland, in Dutch-, the northwest province of the Netherlands that maintains a unique culture and pride. From their language, endangered but spoken and learned in school by many, to their versions of traditional food, and their immense sailing skills and history. The Wadden Sea, part of the World Heritage, can be found along its borders and completely encircling its barrier islands. In the summer, the province is known for its famous skûtsjes sailboats, which cruise along the province’s lakes and canals. In the winter, the province is known for its Frisian skaters, who take to the ice with their hands clasped behind their backs.

We finally got to the lovely city of Dokkum on the canals that maintain the star shape typical of the defence system of the 16th century and we docked right under the Zeldenrust, a smock mill. We enjoyed a walk in the beautifully preserved town centre and we celebrated our first reached goal with a cold beer immediately followed by some hot tea.

Hey there! We are Gloria and Elena, two young professionals in the field of cultural heritage about to start an awareness-raising action concerning climate change and its impact on cultural heritage in the Netherlands and Belgium!

We will have the privilege of travelling through the Netherlands and Belgium by sailing boat thanks to the Organisation of World Heritage Cities (OWHC) Young Travelling Scholarship 2022 between the 7th and the 27th of September. We are granted the opportunity of being welcomed in Beemster, Amsterdam, Bruges, and Bruxelles where we will be exploring the cultural heritage and the impact of climate change on it and on waterways.

Our project is called navigandum per hereditatem. We have chosen this Latin expression because of the double meaning per hereditatem has: it can signify “trough the heritage”, or “for heredity”. We believe it summarises well both the cultural heritage focus and the attention they will give to sustainability seen as the prerequisite to have future generations inherit intact cities from us. For us, the protection and enhancement of heritage is a personal priority, and we recognise the importance of communicating it with and to society. We believe that tomorrow’s World Heritage will increasingly value sites that foster positive relations between man and nature and will progressively include more intangible heritage, such as local culture and practices.

While we navigate the Dutch and Belgian canals by sailboat – Tetide from 1989 – we plan to work on three projects:

• We will post trip updates and daily activities and experiences on Instagram  (@navigatura, @glogloci, @elena_felice) and on this blog to become somewhat ambassadors of the cultural heritage sites we will visit.
• We will work on a creative project that will be presented at the Regensburg World Heritage Visitor Center and on the OWHC website. To produce this project, we will use watercolour and embroidery techniques and we will create a long strip representing the ongoing landscape we can see by boat and the cultural ties between sites.
• To increase the impact of their Travelling Scholarship, we have been receiving the support of the European Climate Pact and its Ambassadors with the aim of initiating dialogues revolving around the environmental and social sustainability of cities and heritage sites we will visit. We plan on meeting citizens involved in the safeguarding and enhancement of cultural heritage, other Ambassadors, local institutions, NGOs, and international stakeholders. The project aims at culminating with a report presented during the Dutch National Week of Climate in November 2022.

During our trip we will be staying in Dokkum, Harlingen, Volendam, Beemster, Amsterdam, Ijmuiden, Den Haag, Zeebrugge, Bruges, Bruxelles, Bruges, Veere, Willemstad, Rotterdam, Leiden, and Amsterdam, and visit many other cities in between. The itinerary, the schedule, and the boat log are public and keep being updated with meetings and activities. If you want to collaborate on our project you can in fact contact us via Instagram or leave a comment on our schedule!

We can’t wait to share more with you about what we will see, experience, and learn during the next three weeks!

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