Recap Keynote Eva IJzermans

No future without leadership: who leads the water transition?

The keynote by water strategist Eva IJzermans marked a powerful start to Get Unlocked | The Water Edition. Through her story on water stewardship, she set the tone for an afternoon filled with collaboration and action.

Eva guided the audience through the complexity of the water system — where periods of drought and excess alternate, water quality is under pressure, and leadership is often fragmented. Her message: break through the impasse — not by centralizing control, but by enabling collective leadership.

A powerful moment in her talk came when Eva invited representatives from industry, agriculture, recreation, and nature to the stage. Their task: to physically divide the available water into glass vases. This exercise instantly revealed the tensions, trade-offs, and scarcity involved — sparking valuable discussion and reflection in the room.

With her energy, sharp insights, and clear examples, Eva moved the audience — and set them in motion.

EVA Keynote

Recap of the Experiences

During the Experiences, participants actively collaborated on solutions to urgent water challenges. They worked on practical approaches to scaling up pilot projects, explored smart ways to reuse effluent, discussed behavioral change in urban environments, and brainstormed self-sufficient water use in the recreation sector. Each session sparked concrete follow-up actions that we can start implementing today.

We’ll soon share the first insights, actions, and plans.

Want to stay updated on our work around water? Sign up for the newsletter.

EVA Keynote (1)

Event Partners

Impuls Zeeland logo
Rabobank logo
UCR logo
AddVision logo
Ecommit CO2-offset logo logo
In Vlissingen logo
Campus Zeeland logo
Innovatiepunt KAAP logo