Hosted by Cerema the live RRR kick-off took place in Lille on 20 and 21 February 2024.
All full partners and some associate partners as well as the Interreg NWE secretariat attended the meeting. Warm opening speeches were presented by Stéphane Coudert, Cerema Directeur Nord-Picardie en Hauts-de-France and Ingeborg Absil, Rijkswaterstaat Director at the unit Water, Transport and Environment.
“In finding integral solutions for traffic, environmental problems, climate change and social issues European cooperation is necessary”, was their main message. "
In their view online meetings should be combined with live meetings.
“To be socially connected is a precondition for successful cooperation”.
Keeping that in mind, the RRR members made time to visit the historic centre of Lille and climbed the Bell Tower in between and after the workshops. And indeed worthwhile conversations took place during the walks.
We also visited one of the retention basins near Lille where roadwater is collected, cleaned and stored. Experiences like these are important puzzle pieces in developing the strategy for climate adaptive waterhubs, which is the ultimate RRR goal. Read more about the retention basins:
