Initiating body:
Private sector, corporate, business
Details about how the instrument was designed:
Waternet, the water utility for Amsterdam and surrounding area, launched Rainproof on 1 January 2014 as a separate entity with the objective of creating a rainproof city by 2050. A variety of stakeholders is involved, but the two most important ones are the municipality of Amsterdam and Waternet. They make the decisions related to organising and rearranging public space, above and below ground. Rainproof has its office on the premises of Waternet. Some team members work part-time for Rainwater and part-time for either the municipality or Waternet, to closely liaise with those stakeholders.
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
Coalition
Details about the implementation:
The policy framework for implementing Rainproof is based on several documents adopted by the city council of Amsterdam, making it part of a broader strategy. Rainproof is thus a horizontal approach implemented in several policies, all aiming at making the city rainproof. Rainproof collaborates with the municipality, the Water Authority, businesses and residents, housing associations, insurers, research and educational institutions, and professionals. For instance, private property owners are encouraged to make their ground floors rainwater proof or to enhance the water uptake capabilities of their gardens. Another example includes the city administration who wants to build the city more rainproof according to the principle "one street at a time". In particular, rainproof measures are included into street design principles by including solutions and specific materials in manuals and policies. Thus, a variety of stakeholders implements a bundle of activities both with the financial support of the government and other funders.
How did the government support the instrument?:
The local government is an important backbone of the instrument. There are several mechanisms that support the instrument, e.g. plans and standards to be taken into account when developing areas. The beginning of Rainproof marked a stress test (a WOLK analysis was conducted), calculation basis was 100 mm an hour. Maps show how vulnerable the city is where bottlenecks for stormwater are and how urgent these bottlenecks need to be addressed. The results are analysed in several factsheets. These fact-
sheets chart the risk with respect to specific functions within the district, such as vital infrastructure, hospitals and police stations. These factsheets set the agenda and are used when the municipality makes district analyses of Amsterdam. Furthermore, Rainproof is developing 69 cloudburstplans and lists potential solutions and measures for professionals and residents on the Rainproof website. The measure also include tools that have to be implemented by the city, e.g. regarding street design like parking cars laterally instead of diagonally which leaves more space in the street to store rainwater.
Furthermore, the government supports with different funding programmes. For instance, the funding stems from sewage levies, as well as national, EU and international sources. An example is the EU LIFE Programme for the Environment and Climate Change 2014–2020.
