Mathieu, one of our participants, spoke for young people throughout the plenary session. Topics ran from the 2040 vision for the basin to cross-border flooding and sponge landscapes. We have been observers since 2012. In Tournai we did not just listen: we spoke.
At the end of the Ghent exchange, participants wrote a joint letter to the policymakers of the Scheldt. It asks: is the city we are building like a meandering river, or like a river trapped between canal walls? Three groups added recommendations on flood defences, climate-resilient public space and cross-border water management.
Fourteen participants met in Ghent for the group's last exchange, on flooding, climate adaptation and citizen participation. Filip Watteeuw, deputy mayor of Ghent, talked about the human side of redesigning a city. Max Verdonck of De Vlaamse Waterweg explained the flood defences. On Saturday the group cycled out to see them.
Thirteen young people spent three days at the Kanoa outdoor centre in Wolphaartsdijk, hosted by HZ University of Applied Sciences. They played the Scheldt game, discussed legal rights for the river and kayaked on the Veerse Meer. Keynote speaker Ad Faasse: "We must give young people a stage in such a way that it inspires others to do similar things."
Our second walk followed the Maarkebeek and the Zwalm, through the old town of Oudenaarde and Ename. The group met a citizens' group, local guides and the secretary general of the International Scheldt Commission. The mayor and deputy mayors of Kruisem, which includes Zingem, gave them a warm welcome.
We spent two days walking the French Scheldt, past locks and river restoration sites, with ecologists and engineers. The walk was part of the Drinkable Scheldt initiative: could you drink from this river? In the evening, a group that had mostly met online became a group in real life.
Forty participants aged 16 to 26, of nine nationalities, started the project online. Each shared one insight about water from their own field. Together they explored river-basin management, citizen science and climate change. Next stop: the first walks in France and Belgium.
GoodPlanet Belgium and HZ University of Applied Sciences opened recruitment through schools, universities and youth organisations in the three countries. Young people could sign up until March 2025. There was no fee, and for every weekend away the group's travel, beds and meals were arranged.
