The city of Charleston, alongside Historic Charleston Foundation and numerous community partners, have launched Dutch Dialogues Charleston, a collaborative effort involving national and international flooding experts, city officials, nonprofit partners and area residents to develop and design solutions for several major flooding challenges facing the city of Charleston.
The Dutch Dialogues Charleston team’s four project study areas include: Lockwood Corridor/Medical District, New Market & Vardell’s Creek Area, Johns Island, and Church Creek. Approaches and design-solutions for these areas will be replicated to address other areas of the city with similar typography and needs.
A series of public Dutch Dialogues Charleston events are planned for this month, during the team’s week-long design workshop, to provide community members and local stakeholders an opportunity to engage with the team and offer feedback on their progress.
The following public events are scheduled:
- Public Meeting with the Design Team: Monday, July 15, 6:30 to 8 p.m. at Crosstowne Church, 1941 Bees Ferry Road
- Hear a brief update from the Dutch Dialogues team, beginning at 6:30 p.m., followed by an opportunity to offer input on the project.
- Amsterdam Rainproof Presentation & Open House: Wednesday, July 17, 5:30 to 8 p.m. at the Clemson Design Center, 701 East Bay Street
- From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., Daniel Goedbloed, the city of Amsterdam's Rainproof Program Manager, will explain how the “Every Drop Counts” approach is engaging citizens and local businesses to make Amsterdam greener, more resilient and less flood-prone. He will share lessons learned and suggest how Charleston might develop its own version of Rainproof.
- Throughout the event, attendees are invited to engage with the Dutch Dialogues design team as they work and offer feedback on their progress in an open-house format.
The Dutch Dialogues Charleston team will return Thursday, September 26 to present their final report of design recommendations for workable, scalable and integrated flood mitigation solutions for each of the project study areas. The presentation will be open to the public and take place from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Gaillard Center, located 2 George Street.
For more information on the project, and to offer feedback online, visit www.dutchdialoguescharleston.org.