Blue Deal - Flanders | Interlace Hub

@VMM (Agencia Flamenca de Medio Ambiente)

The Blue Deal is a voluntary action plan of the Flemish government in Belgium to combat water scarcity and drought. The main objective is to "make Flanders a sponge again and to use less water from sensitive water sources", given the challenges the region faces with water scarcity and drought. The plan covers the whole region of Flanders and includes many parties, actions, projects and investments to structurally address water scarcity and drought. The Blue Deal consists of more than 70 actions divided over 3 main themes: smart and sustainable water use, restoration of wetlands, and nature-based solutions. In general, the actions aim to (1) invest in sites for more green-blue infrastructure and water infiltration, (2) support investments made by (agricultural) companies, local authorities and (industry) associations, (3) improve legislation and its application and (4) support initiatives with respect to research, monitoring, communication and awareness raising. Among other actions, the Flemish government has set up different programmes to subsidize the desealing and greening of cities.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Legislative, regulatory and strategic instruments›Overarching/cross-sectoral strategy, plan, or law

Challenges addressed

Ecologic connectivity
Soil quality
Water management (e.g. reuse)
Watershed restoration/water quality
Drought and fire risk
Flood risk: pluvial and fluvial / soil permeability
Heat stress and heat island effect
Social equity

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

A main theme of the Blue Deal is the implementation of natural or nature-based solutions that combine green and blue elements. They contribute to the development of green-blue networks in the built environment and in open spaces, with ponds, buffer basins, bioswales, watercourses, banks, etc. as blue elements and hedges, trees, natural grasslands, parks, gardens, green roofs, green facades, etc. as green elements. The main solutions the Blue Deal aims to contribute to is increasing resilience of the water systems against climate change by increasing water availability and by accelerating the change to an efficient, sustainable and circular water usage. Some of the spatial solutions can be considered as nature-based solutions (e.g. desealing and greening), while others take a more engineered approach (e.g. industrial circular water use). In addition, the Blue Deal highlights that local (greening) measures against flooding and water scarcity are beneficial against the heat island effect and can contribute to climate adaptation and a circular local economy.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Parks and (semi)natural urban green areas

Allotments, community gardens or agricultural areas

Blue areas

Green areas for water management

External building greens

Urban green space connected to grey infrastructure

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Support multifunctional NBS

Sustainable in the long-term

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Innovative

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

Department of Environment, Flemish Government

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

The instrument was designed through (horizontal) collaboration with various departments of the Flemish Government, such as the Department of Environment, Department of Economy, Science and Innovation, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries and Department of Mobility and Public Works. Besides non-governmental actors (see below), local governments and governmental agencies were involved through expert task force consultations.

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private sector, corporate, business

Researchers, university

Type of actor involvement:

Expert task force consultation

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

A high level taskforce has been established, which is led by the Minister of Environment and consists of the ministers of the involved departments, governors, policy makers and scientists. They guard the implementation of the Blue Deal and meet regularly to evaluate the progress of the Deal and to identify additional proposals. The Coordination Committee on Integrated Water Policy (a governmental consultation platform) is responsible for the programme management. At the regional level, various administrations and organizations draw up the Blue Deal programmes and project calls and are responsible for the implementation of general Blue Deal actions. The Blue Deal is implemented by coalitions with different stakeholder constellations, depending on the programme or project call, and can include companies, associations, farmers, knowledge institutions, local authorities and citizens. Through the coalitions, stakeholders join forces to develop local solutions that help prevent water scarcity and droughts. Some of these project calls are open for municipalities and local actors to apply to as part of a coalition, to implement measures supporting the Blue Deal. Specifically, municipalities, which cover large areas of built surfaces, have an important role to play to remove paved surfaces and create a green-blue environment.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Co-design of NBS, implemented by government

Implementation of NBS (e.g. with government funds)

Consulting company for the development of an impact monitoring system

Targeted actors:

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Private: household, real estate developer, business , financial

Researchers, university

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Local governments, governmental agencies

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public regional budget

Budget:

Above 10 000 000€

Details about instrument financing:

€75 million was allocated for the first year of the Blue Deal. As part of the 'relance plan' (relanceplan 'Vlaamse Veerkracht') - to increase resilience in Flanders after the COVID19 crisis -, an additional budget of €343 million was allocated for the Blue Deal. About €100 million is allocated for investments in wet nature and €123 million is meant for green-blue infrastructure in open and built environments, of which €20 million is allocated to create more space for water and nature in the built-up areas of municipalities.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Yes

The Coordination Committee on Integrated Water Policy monitors the progress of the Blue Deal and the impact of the actions at project and regional level (the effects and contributions of the project on the water system). For the effects and contributions of the investment project on the water system, a Blue Deal impact monitoring is being developed at two levels. Impact monitoring at the level of individual field measures is planned in order to gain new knowledge on the effectiveness of these measures. At the level of Flanders, a system monitoring will be set up to create a reference framework for sustainable drought monitoring by detecting trends and changes in the integral water system based on the measurement networks in Flanders.

Did an evaluation take place?:

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

After one year, the following outcomes can be noted across the rural and urban areas of Flanders: works at 110 places to increase resilience of water systems to climate change that can absorb and retain more water; started development of more than 1,600 ha of wet nature; 100 interventions to realize a green-blue network from rural to urban areas.

Success factors and lessons learned:

There is a regional urgency to combat water scarcity and drought which is displayed through the high level task force of the Flemish ministers and the available budgets. The involvement of multiple policy domains, private and academic experts in the instrument's design enables the Blue deal to have a cross-sectoral focus at regional scale. The overarching plan presents multiple actions targeted at different types of stakeholders, while also offering programmes and project calls for various target groups to implement projects in rural and urban areas. Through various project programmes, stakeholders are encouraged to form coalitions and collaborate for joint action that cross administrative borders.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Blue Deal. (2022) Blue Deal (main web page). Available at https://www.bluedeal.vlaanderen (Accessed: 30-06-2022)

CIW. (2022) Blue Deal. Available at https://www.integraalwaterbeleid.be/nl/beleidsinstrumenten/blue-deal (Accessed: 30-06-2022)

Department of Environment. (2020) Integrale tekst Blue Deal. Available at: https://www.zuhaldemir.be/sites/parlement.n-va.be/files/generated/files/news-attachment/blue_deal_clean_0.pdf (Accessed: 30-06-2022)

VILT. (2021) Natte natuur krijgt helft van Blue Deal-investeringen. Available at: https://vilt.be/nl/nieuws/natte-natuur-krijgt-helft-van-blue-deal-investeringen (Accessed: 30-06-2022)

Interview(s):

Flemish Environment Agency

Further documents

Weblinks:

https://www.bluedeal.vlaanderen

Photos

@VMM (Agencia Flamenca de Medio Ambiente)