Day 4 (March 31) - A Culture of Learning 

When people started designing the infrastructure in Orestad, a greenfield development on the southern edge of Copenhagen, they knew they wanted to create a neighborhood with stormwater as its backbone. Climate change was gaining acceptance, but no one knew exactly what to expect and when to expect it. There was no data to inform decisions about how to design a neighborhood with a stormwater system that could adapt to a changing climate, but they suspected that the future would bring more frequent, and more intense rain. 

They decided to embrace the uncertainty. They picked a number - 25% increase in intensity - as an informed guess and as a preliminary design standard. And, they committed to try it out and change it as they learned. They designed the first phase of the project using this standard and have adjusted it through each subsequent phase, learning and adapting as they go.

Our Orestad tour guide, Thomas, said that learning and adapting is deeply engrained in Danish culture. He went on to say that Danish people are naturally distrustful of authority and this means that they are always looking for a new way to do something - a way that is different from what they were told to do. 

We are in a time of rapid growth and learning as we move from a static to a dynamic understanding of the future. In the face of climate change, we all need to nurture a culture of learning. Trying out new approaches and learning from them is better than doing nothing. It can be healthy to question authority. 

 King Christian X

 

King Christian X was a bad ass. During Nazi occupation he refused to flee his country and showed solidarity by riding out into the streets of Copenhagen most days and fending off the Nazi’s anti-Jewish legislation.  He was exercising that Question Authority culture.

To honor this tradition, calls us to look critically at Danish water management approaches (no matter how wonderfully human scaled and future focused they are) and think about Seattle’s context. Obligingly, here are a two modifications worthy of consideration:

Hard Edges - Functionally designed to direct flows, protect property and satisfy the clean linearity of SCAN design aesthetic, the hard edges of green infrastructure in the Oestrud and Kokkedal projects leave little room for natural habitat.  Human scale is primary with beckoning places to sit and observe.  Neighbors complained about the edges and the poor ducks...the baby ducks couldn't climb out. It's certain the Danes could engineer some brilliant plank rightly spaced for duck feet and nesting. Hygge design ingenuity truly permeates here.

But, when we asked about riparian edge and habitat we were less than satisfied (and frankly so were our hosts) with the response. For now, it’s an optional layer in program costs. It only enters the equation when it’s politically “hot” and hotness cycles every 4, 8, 12 years. The projects we saw are green and they are sustainable but there is room for fuller interweaving of ecosystem services functions.

Maintenance, Maintenance, Maintenance - Apparently, the Danes haven’t solved for this either and it’s a problem. We heard a lot about what the City or Utility was supposed to be doing now that things had been built...replacing filters, cleaning forebays....but, had that happened? This question seemed to be followed by pause, hopefulness, nervous laughter and a sprinkle of doubt.

The projects we saw were new. So, it's fair to ask, how will they stand the test of time? In Kokkedal’s low income public housing neighborhood that wasn’t clear. Maintenance appeared to be waning, and no, they hadn’t quite worked through how they might employee local residents in that work.  They had thought about it though.  Sound familiar.

The Danes are strong practictioners and international exporters of “cloudburst climate adaptation”, “blue-green infrastructure”, and “living with water” approaches.   It’s a pioneering, sustainability business model that is working well for them and will work well for all of us on the planet.  Together, those in shared practice need to keep pushing each other to come “fuller circle” by including habitat and the development of local maintenance economy in our approaches. 

 

 

 

Day 3 (March 30) - Elegance is Knowing When To Stop.

 

Here is another story from St. Annie's Plads. This street was selected for a climate resilience project because when Copenhagen had a 1000+ year storm (a 'cloudburst'), it flooded really, really badly. This area of Copenhagen is home to both many basements and many art galleries. After the cloudburst, there were insurance claims for over $1 billion USD. 

The project was designed to keep the more frequent storms safely below the surface in the combined system, but in the event a 100 year storm, surface flooding would be concentrated in the middle of St. Annie's Plads, and only be up to 10cm deep (~4 inches) at the building facades. In other words, now that the project is complete, they expect that next time it rains really, really hard, water should flow down the middle of the plaza like a slow river with shallow water on the sides where it is still safe to walk or drive.

As with all projects, there is a low point. In St. Annie's Plads, the low point is at a corner in front of a building. On that corner, there is an entrance to a restaurant that is located in the basement of the building. The designers worked hard to develop a design that would protect the building on this corner to the same level as the rest of the project area. When the cost estimates came in, the added infrastructure needed to solve for the low point was $1 million additional USD. The team decided the most elegant thing to do was save the money for the project as a whole and create a site specific solution for the low point. They warped the paving up around the entrance to the restaurant, creating a berm that will keep flood waters out up to the 100 year storm (see picture). 

Sometimes providing the same level of service doesn't look the same for every customer. Sometimes elegance is knowing when to stop. 

 

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Child’s play - Alongside the utilitarian of pipes, ponds, pumps and protection at Tåsinge Plads and other water management projects around Copenhagen we can also find:

A teeter to totter...that also operates a water pump.

A hill to climb...that keeps excavations on site and infrastructure less visible.

An invitation to sunbath...that shares space with a hatch.

A hole to explore...that also conveys flows.

And a place to bounce...that could go...?

Impact doesn’t take much...just the ability to ask and see. That work takes intentionality and practice.

 
A grand gesture isn’t the only way to convey multiple benefit...small acts and simple details are enough. That work takes care and focus.

 

     Teeter to Totter      Hill to Climb

Invitation to Sunbathe    Hole to ExplorePlace to Bounce

 

 

 

 

Today we visited three sites in the greater Copenhagen area: Orestad, Kokkedal, and St. Annie’s Platz. Orestad is a multi-acre greenfield development in Copenhagen, built from the start with stormwater management in mind. Kokkedal is a suburb of Copenhagen that received a stormwater retrofit to improve flooding conditions. St. Annie’s Platz is a truly urban retrofit designed to safely convey large storm events. The three sites presented us with three different case studies in urban water management. Below is a story about one of these places. These sites are all in the Case studies that Dani sent yesterday. The day was rich, so we may write more about these sites in future blog posts.

 

Day 2 - (March 29)  Cross-contamination

We spent our time at each of the sites we visited today with the designer. Each designer shared stories about how they had started their careers as specialists - civil engineers. Each described a process of growing tired of doing the same thing – building pipes, calculating, etc. Each of them was eventually ‘contaminated,’ (their word, not ours) either by working on interdisciplinary teams or through cross training in higher education. For all three, they described greater challenge and greater reward in integrated water planning and projects now that they had been contaminated by other disciplines.

On our tour of St. Annie’s Platz, the designer Michael told us about a 150-year old brick sewer that was uncovered during construction. He described this sewer as the most beautiful sewer that he had ever seen – he even showed us pictures. It was 150 years old but in excellent condition with a cunette for the everyday wastewater flows and a large arch of bricks above creating the space needed to carry combined flows. During construction, they took pains to carefully work around this relic of the past and not disturb it so that the sewer could keep moving sewage and stormwater through Copenhagen for another 150 years into the future. When they were finished constructing the project, the brick sewer was covered again, and I guarantee that it has sewage in it right now.

 

While Michael clearly loved this brick sewer, he actually loved his project more. This is because prior to this project, he had never been able to bring his children to one of his projects and show them what he had done. At St. Annie’s Platz, his children can see what he built and how it works, because it is up on the surface for everyone to experience. He can also show them that not only did the project prevent flooding, but it also made the street a nicer place to be. In fact, he told us that he often brings his kids with him when he is asked to give a tour of the project. When they come, he simply lets them loose on the playground while he walks people like me and Dani through the story of the site.

 

This isn’t just about taking pride in one’s work. I am sure that the designer of the brick sewer was proud of that design, and he or she probably deserved to be, based on Michael’s description. This is about taking pride in the benefits that your work provides for the community. Being contaminated through work on an integrated project team gave Michael the opportunity to make his city a better place to be.



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Smørrebrød, the Danish open face sandwich, is a standard bearer of Danish design principles. Whether happy accident or just the Danish way, this essential form mirrors key elements of Danish urban water design principles. Here’s what seems key in both art forms:

Functionality - It’s a sandwich. It’s a roof drain. The bread may be hand baked and the roof drain fitted with an elegant spout but essential performance is made simply and clearly.

Reveal - No need to cover what’s inside with an extra slice of bread, instead bring the inner workings (fresh mozzarella or water) to the surface so people can observe what’s going on.

Elegance - Since things are out in the open it’s important to put the best foot forward with a garnish of delicate micro greens or the creation of an urban gathering place.

Go Lean - No need to spend the extra on bread calories or pipe expense. A well thought out business case modifies what’s consumed to deliver maximum value at least cost.

Experiment - Stay curious. Try a variety of types and engineering approaches and then look for ways to improve and adapt the next time. It’s a flexible medium you can always try something new.

 

 

Day 1 (March 27/28) - Our Journey

 

Burning a hole in the air - 601 mph at 34,000 feet. Carbon burn.

 

Even astronauts were surprised by how thin our protective layer of atmosphere was when viewed from space. This perspective was vastly different from the insulated veil experienced on the ground.

 

Perspective is powerful.

Perspective is our WHY for this trip to the Netherlands and Copenhagen to study water management practices, for this peer exchange with our bioregional sister city Vancouver BC, for this journey, for the right now, and for the why not?!

Our journey together didn’t start in the crisp, 1/3 moon, 5 am darkness of today nor will it end in 10 days when we burn our way back to our home on this planet. As colleagues we are on this journey together.

Our journey together isn’t limited to two SPU visitors with learnings burrowing tight in some cranial crevice lost to you. Our work on this journey is to float all of us, center on our community’s water needs, build our shared networks, and let our learning unwind outwards for you, piquing and inspiring your curiosity, your boldness and your resolve. Our success together depends upon the hard work and talents that all of us bring to bear.

Travel is a dialogue between movement and stillness. A rocking back and forth between an active interchange with other ideas, ways and perspectives and a silent reflectiveness and reformulation and changing of perspective from within.

Perspective is most powerful when shared.

We invite you to share in the journey as we travel and after as we share, learn from each other and move forward to manage our community’s water resources together.

We hope to post daily. We have master classes, case studies, cameras and your list of initial questions to guide our inquiry. And, if you want to know something more as we go, please email and we will try to respond at whatever WiFi point we can.

We are grateful to the Green Infrastructure Exchange, Vancouver BC, colleagues and managers for making this opportunity possible for all of us in Seattle.

 Join us as we immerse. We hope to make it worth your while.

 

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The Journey - From water’s perspective

I was here as life emerged. Every molecule then numbers the same now but I am changed and changing. I’ve quenched the thirsts of Obama and Chief Seattle, supported redwood giants and resident orcas. I’ve followed the flow and moved in cycle but my landscape and pattern is changed and changing. Our fates are intertwined. Remember, we are precious. Even when we are too much.

 

                     Thanks to Holly for safe journey wishes and to Eli and Cleo for the travel lovies.