Martijn van Staveren

Martijn is a PlanAdapt Fellow, based in Wageningen, Netherlands.

He has sectoral expertise in international water management and water governance from the perspective of a policy analyst, strategic advisor and knowledge facilitator.

In geographical terms, Martijn has an interest in working in deltas or riverine landscapes, which are prone to water-related risks such as floods and sea-level rise. Since 2007, he has been working with Dutch and internationally operating water sector organizations to understand and develop resilient measures that contribute to the sustainable development of deltas, coastal zones and rivers.

Since 2012, by means of a doctoral research project, he specialized in analyzing the potential and feasibility of nature-based solutions for flood risk reduction. Detailed case studies in the deltas of Bangladesh, Vietnam and the Netherlands were aimed to understand the pros and cons of controlled restored flooding as a way to simultaneously contribute to ecosystem restoration and improved water safety. He has been working in Mali on the topic as well, and currently collaborates with researchers in the USA to bring forward insights in controlled restored flooding in California. His dissertation focused on ‘Bringing in the floods : a comparative study on controlled flooding in the Dutch, Bangladesh and Vietnamese deltas‘.

His most recent multi-annual postdoctoral research project focused on stakeholder engagement and knowledge co-production in flood risk management. This has emphasized Martijn’s interest in the importance of engaging a broad stakeholder network in flood risk management, and the need to reflect on knowledge systems and knowledge co-production to develop resilient measures for sustainable development.

Currently, Martijn works on a part-time basis as a Knowledge Facilitator for the Urbanising Deltas of the World research programme. In this capacity, he develops knowledge products and supports knowledge sharing activities between projects, the UDW programme and the international delta community.

Martijn has an MSc degree (International Land and Water Management) and PhD (Environmental Policy) from Wageningen University in the Netherlands.

For more information see Martijn’s LinkedIn page.