Resilience in practice – a transformative approach? A conversation with Henk Ovink, first Dutch Special Envoy for International Water Affairs

This chapter presents a conversation with Henk Ovink, first Dutch special envoy for international water affairs. Ovink works with governments, knowledge institutions, organizations such as the World Bank and the UN, the global business community as well as the civil society representatives. 'Building' resilience in vulnerable places in relation to water-related hazards are key aspects of his daily work. In addition to the idea of sabbatical detour, Ovink drew out three main lessons based on his experiences with water governance processes in New York, Bangladesh, India, South Africa and the Netherlands. The three lessons are according to Ovink essential for stimulating change and thereby making vulnerable places more resilient. Melanie Bakema and Britta Restemeyer talked to Ovink about his understanding of resilience, his vision on how to 'build' resilience in vulnerable places – something that Ovink terms 'the transformative approach' – and the lessons to learn from Ovink's experiences in the Netherlands as well as his projects around the world.