Roots, career and social life of Cees van de Guchte

Abstract

Cees grew up in a small town in the southwest of the Netherlands. This part of the country is characterised by estuaries, as well as the dominant presence of dikes. They are the silent witnesses of centuries of securing land from floods and represent a culture of fearing, conquering, and embracing the sea. ‘Sealand’ is a world-famous delta region where rivers and sea meet in an eternal alternation of tides, leaving traces in the landscape. This environment, ‘Zeeland’ in Dutch, may well have predestined Cees for his professional career in water management, as well as in the symbiosis between people and wetlands.The great flood of 1953 in Zeeland happened a few years before Cees was born. Dikes broke and much of the land was inundated, resulting in many casualties. Cees’ parents told him how people, including family, had to climb into boats from the upper floors of their homes to save their lives and how his grandfather's cows were brought to safety on the nearby dike. Such stories made a big impression on him. During his youth, the so-called Delta Works were planned and executed, an ambitious national program to prevent such a flood from happening again. In the planning phase, there was a lively nationwide discussion on how to protect the land against the sea on one hand, while preserving the rich ecosystem above and below the waterline on the other. The result was the Eastern Scheldt Storm Surge Barrier that can be closed when needed. Today, the Delta Works annually attract thousands of tourists and professionals, and Dutch experts are called upon worldwide to assist in innovative flood protection.Against this background, Cees began his university study in biology in 1974. He started in ecology, went on with a specialisation in water quality, and then gradually progressed into water management, climate adaptation and risk management. In doing so, his focus gradually shifted from protection against water to improving water quality, then to the necessity of access to clean water for all, and finally to sustainable development of delta areas around the globe.In short, Cees’ focus was always on water. He was a true workaholic who carried out his work with relentless curiosity, enthusiasm and commitment.Cees started in 1986 at RIZA, the freshwater-related research institute of the executive agency of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management (Rijkswaterstaat). First as ‘project leader of water quality’, and later as ‘team leader of ecotoxicology’, with a focus on assessment methods for water and sediment quality using water fleas and mosquito larvae. He also concentrated on the development of environmental quality objectives and risk and environmental impact assessments. Cees wanted to write a thesis based on his research data and publications. However, at that time he also became internationally active in river committees (Rhine and Meuse) and the UN-ECE, so this plan was never realized. Instead, this period of his career marked the beginning of a large international network.In 2001 Cees started working as a senior programme officer at UNEP-GPA (Global Programme of Action for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based activities). The focus was on water and sanitation, tackling the pollution from ‘Source to Sea’, and on access to clean water for all. He was responsible for providing the GPA's contributions to the Regional Seas Programme, including mainstreaming developed global guidelines for wastewater management into national action programmes—an endeavor for which he flew around the world. Cees also served as UNEP representative at the World Water Fora, Global Ocean Fora and World Water Weeks.In 2007, Cees returned to Rijkswaterstaat for a short time before moving in 2008 to the newly established independent research institute Deltares, as head of the Climate Adaptation and Risk Management department. Deltares is the most important supplier of scientific advice to the Dutch government in the field of water-related policy development and day-to-day water management. Cees was responsible for the overall strategic development and management of this Climate Adaptation and Risk Management department. He combined his leadership role with international initiatives. For example, he played a role in the Delta Alliance International, was an advisor to HELP (High Level Expert and Leaders Panel on Water & Disasters), was a regular guest and co-organiser at the annual World Water Week in Stockholm, and participated in many more international networks.In 2015, Cees became ‘Director of global agendas and international organisations’, which challenged him with the broad responsibility for connecting the world of Deltares with other global agendas (e.g., Sendai [UN-Disaster Risk Reduction], Paris [Climate Change], New York [SDGs], and Quito [New Urban Agenda]) and providing knowledge-based input for the international positioning of the Dutch government in these global contexts. Cees was also one of the founders of the World Water Atlas.In his youth, Cees loved sea fishing and playing korfball. He was curious and wanted to explore the world. With his group of friends, as a young adult, Cees was the man of ideas, plans and often invited friends to various social activities like playing games, going to plays, making wine together, and mountain hiking. Then they had interesting discussions about politics, emancipation, environment, world peace, etc. What was always striking was his open-ended questions, free of prior judgement, and his genuine interest in how others viewed things.In 1993, Cees’ life changed drastically as we decided to start to live together. From being single with plenty of time for work, friends and hobbies, Cees instantly, became a (step) father of three children, aged 2–7. A year later, our son was born, making Cees a father of four. Cees proved to be a pillar of support and the silent engine of the family. He took the children out into nature and gave them as much space as possible. Cees was a born adventurer and he loved to share his adventures, exploring unbeaten paths together with his friends and family. He was always busy, if not with work, then doing chores, skating, cycling, fishing, making applesauce or limoncello, or practising any other hobby out of the blue. Tirelessly. This ‘can do’ mentality often resulted in ‘pop up’ activities that the kids enjoyed immensely, particularly when they got older.Cees’ attitude regarding physical activities inspired the children and his open-mindedness literally initiated new worlds for them. He could bring up topics that had never scratched the surface of their consciousnesses before. This led to many interesting conversations and broadened their world views. The most memorable aspect of Cees’ beautiful mind is perhaps the endless source of optimism that existed within him. He always thought in terms of challenges and solutions, not of problems.He liked all kinds of sports, most of all cycling. He cycled thousands of kilometres and climbed many mountains in groups or alone. Those arrangements with friends did not always work out well. At one point his friends were on the top of the Sierra Nevada in Spain, while Cees was in South Africa, because, as a friend said: “Cees’ great talent to arrange something at short notice was diametrically opposed to his quality to (not) keep up with his long-term agenda.” Cees’ last climb was in 2019, up the Teide (2356m) on Tenerife. In a heartfelt speech afterwards, he said how pleased he was to have reached the top with this group. No competition, just achieving something together.Cees was not only highly appreciated as a father, husband and friend, but also as a colleague. Driven by making the world a better place, he and his colleagues deliberated for hours on end about water management, biodiversity and the Sustainable Development Goals. We greatly treasured the countless expressions of sympathy from his colleagues in the Netherlands and from abroad during his illness and after his passing away. In these expressions, there was remarkable appreciation for the support and listening ear he gave to young colleagues, appreciation for his efforts to involve minorities, appreciation for his efforts to transfer scientific knowledge effectively to policy, appreciation for his ability to bring different perspectives together, and so on.On Friday, March 13, 2020, Cees’ activities ended abruptly as a result of a brain tumour, from which he died on September 30, 2021. We all miss him terribly.It is an honour that a special issue of AEHMS has been dedicated to our beloved Cees. I was asked to contribute to the ‘anecdotal’ part, focussing on his roots, career and social life. To gather input I asked his brother, friends and children to share memories. My thanks go out to Maarten van de Guchte, René Boone, Annet Hoek, Klaas Groen, Merlijn, Sjors and Vincent de Graaf and Lennart van de Guchte. I hope that the above brief account provides a picture of Cees and of the inspiration he was for many.