Ecosystem Services
Generating services from nature for humans
Responsible Marine Solutions: Dredging for Sustainable Infrastructure
For people and planet
Building responsible marine solutions through sustainable dredging practices
More and more, the world needs responsible marine solutions through dredging to enable economic growth, societal improvement and environmental responsibility, be that for port development, coastal protection, land reclamation and more.
The international dredging industry plays a key role in providing these solutions, but to truly support sustainable development, those solutions need to be undertaken in the right way.
Cross-industry collaboration for sustainable roadmap
In 2018, technical experts in the fields of marine and inland water infrastructure gathered to develop a comprehensive roadmap on how to achieve sustainable development. The result was the landmark publication, Dredging for Sustainable Infrastructure (DFSI).
This website is designed to showcase the principles of the DFSI approach, advocate for its adoption worldwide and highlight how the international dredging industry supports global sustainable development.
Striking the balance
In the past, marine infrastructure projects were generally led by economic considerations; how can the project aims be realised in the most cost-effective way?
Now, it is clear that many other benefits can be derived from a dredging project. On the environmental side, nature-based solutions and low emissions working practices can lead to more environmentally friendly and resilient solutions. To maximise societal value, ecosystem services and early involvement of stakeholders can be incorporated.
It is a question of balance between all three pillars of sustainability: economic, social and environmental.
Sustainable dredging in action
Keep up to date with developments in the world of sustainable dredging
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Christening ceremony for Van Oord’s two new hybrid water injection dredgers and an unmanned survey vessel
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Using dredged sediment for coastal defence and habitat restoration
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Joint project development and stakeholder engagement at Costa da Caprica (Portugal)
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Three new Romanian coastal protection projects awarded to Van Oord
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Mangrove grows spectacularly fast on island built from scratch
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Multi-party design of a bird island in the River Seine
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Dutch Sand Engine