For more than half a year now, I am working as a trainee on the Nature Smart Cities program within the municipality of The Hague. I had never done anything with the theme of climate adaptation before, but after talking to Wiebke Klemm (project leader for The Hague) I was immediately enthusiastic.

It is very instructive to be involved in such an innovative and challenging project as the Urban Waterbuffer (UWB). I soon found out that there is a lot of work involved in European cooperation pro-grams. And the opportunity to exchange knowledge with others within Europe, is unique. After a month and a half I already joined Wiebke to the partner meeting in Lille. It was my first work trip and I was surprised at the warm welcome I received there. Obviously a lot had to be discussed, but there was also time to get to know each other. I learned a lot about the different projects, cities and people involved in this Interreg project.

After the partner meeting, I started organizing interviews for dr. Phil Back (Research Associate from Imperial College London). It was great to introduce him to The Hague and interesting to speak to him about his preliminary findings. Now that we are heading towards summer, I find it especially exciting to see the start of the construction. When it’s finished, the UWB will keep the park green and cool during hot days. Unfortunately, I will only participate in this beautiful project for a few more months. Luckily, I can still receive this newsletter, because I will of course continue to follow Nature Smart Cities!