Technical Support Flood Risk Management Slovenia

Context: 
In August 2023, Slovenia experienced heavy flooding which led to enormous damage of infrastructure,  erosion of the river banks, and numerous landslides. Approximately 12,000 buildings were flooded, 5000 landslides were recorded and 5 water supply systems were heavily affected and 60 bridges were destroyed.

As a response, the ‘Post Flood and Landslide Reconstruction’ office has been established within the Slovenian government. The office is responsible for the response and reconstruction after the floods. Hence, they submitted a DRRS request asking advice on mitigation measures to (1) prevent future floodings from occurring, (2) limit the damage of future floodings, and to (3) improve communication between all stakeholders involved.

Accordingly, two digital expert meetings have been organized by DRRS where Dutch experts (RWS and others) were linked to the Slovenian counterpart. The purpose of these meetings was to get a clearer idea about the occurrence and management of the floods, and how the water experts could contribute to potential solutions. In the second meeting, “Dutch” concepts of Room for the River and more practical ‘no regret measures’ related to floods and crisis management were presented. Moreover, striking similarities between the floods that occurred in Limburg in 2021 and the floods in Slovenia were discussed. Hence, we believe the exchange of both the technical and the operational experience in flood management could be of great value to the Slovenian authorities.

Based upon the consultations in late October and November, the Post Flood and Landslide Reconstruction office shared a thorough proposal with DRRS where they outline three steps to continue the collaboration.

Goal of the support:
The proposed DRRS Team will act as technical sparring partners for the Post Flood and Landslide Reconstruction Office in technical (online) expert meetings. The Slovenian counterpart is in the lead to determine the topic and the timeline for the collaboration.

The proposed activities are divided in four phases:

• Phase 1 – Information Sharing (January - February 2024) 
• Phase 2 – Organizing digital expert meetings per topic (February/ March 2024)
• Phase 3 – study visit to the Netherlands (TBC) (March/April 2024. 
• Phase 4 – evaluating the collaboration (April 2024)

We are looking for the following experts:

Room for the River expert (OPEN) (max 7 workdays)

• Able to rapidly assess situations and data and provide conceptual and practical solutions
• Extensive experience with Room for the River and institutional frameworks. 
• Ability to be a relevant sparring partner for the local officials and to provide feedback on the existing plans and ideas, as well as provide input for suitable alternatives;
• Excellent presentation and reporting skills in English;
   

Dutch waterboard expert (OPEN) (max 7 workdays)

• Able to rapidly assess situations and data and provide conceptual and practical solutions;
• Practical experience with local water management and governance in an area with smaller rivers where the water level can raise quickly
• Experience in response to flooding and collaboration with emergency services
• Ability to be a relevant sparring partner for the local officials and to provide feedback on the existing plans and ideas, as well as provide input for suitable alternatives; 
• Excellent presentation and reporting skills in English;
   

Team leader (TL) (preferred candidate identified)

• Senior expert in water related issues with knowledge of the regional context
• Long term experience as a project/team-leader
• Experience in flood response and collaboration with emergency services
• Ability to act as a focal point for the DRRS coordination team;
• Ability to lead the team, coordinate with the Embassy, facilitate group discussions, present overall conclusions and recommendations, coordinate reporting & responsible for a high quality advice;
   

Interested?
If you are interested in playing a role in this assignment please do not hesitate to reach out to lisa.wijkel@rvo.nl or drrs@rvo.nl.