Dutch water envoy to share resilience expertise with Tampa Bay community and elected officials

May 17, 2019
Contact: Jennifer Rennicks, SACE, 865-235-1448, [email protected]

St. Petersburg, Fla. – Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the Kingdom of the Netherlands, will bring his expertise on resilience to the Tampa Bay area Wednesday for a public presentation and discussion on the Netherlands and how the low-lying nation has learned to live with water, as well as the post-Hurricane Sandy redesign and rebuild process that changed how federal agencies consider funding, and other transformative design strategies.

Ovink is a leading expert in water, risks and cities and was a senior advisor to the U.S. government and the Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force. In 2018, he wrote Too Big: Rebuild by Design Transformative Response to Climate Change about the experiences, processes and lessons learned post-Hurricane Sandy. Ovink developed and led the Rebuild by Design (RBD) competition, which resulted in the development of seven innovative projects that attracted about $1 billion in federal investment.

Other speakers will include Pinellas County Commissioner and Tampa Bay Regional Resiliency Coalition Chair Janet Long, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy Florida Director Susan Glickman, and Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council Executive Director Sean Sullivan.

WHO:        Henk Ovink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs for the
Kingdom of the Netherlands. Ovink’s bio can be found here.

WHAT:    Resilience Meeting: Breakfast with Henk Ovink
The agenda can be found here.

WHEN:    Wednesday, May 22, 2019
8:30 a.m. – 10:30 a.m.

WHERE: Hilton Carillon Park Hotel, 950 Lake Carillon Drive, St. Petersburg,
FL 33716

RSVP:      https://tinyurl.com/tbrpchenkovink
Registration is free but required.

This presentation is a collaboration between the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council (TBRPC), the Tampa Bay Regional Resiliency Coalition, the Kingdom of the Netherlands Consulate General, and the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

 

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The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council is Citrus, Hernando, Hillsborough, Manatee, Pasco and Pinellas counties and the 21 different municipalities who regularly come together to discuss complex regional issues; develop strategic regional responses for resolving them; and build consensus for setting and accomplishing regional goals. The Council is made up of 27 elected officials who serve annual terms, 13 gubernatorial appointees who serve three-year terms, and 4 Ex-Officios (FDOT District 7, FDEP, SWFWMD and Enterprise Florida). For more information, visit www.tbrpc.org.

Southern Alliance for Clean Energy is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1985, that promotes responsible energy choices that work to address the impacts of global climate change and ensure clean, safe, and healthy communities throughout the Southeast. Learn more at www.cleanenergy.org.