The aim of the Building with Nature (BwN) design philosophy is to improve on a traditional approach for infrastructural projects by utilising natural processes to create benefits for society and nature. In a fast-changing world where climate action is becoming increasingly important, there is need for an innovative approach in large infrastructural projects where nature is not considered as an obstacle, but stimulated and used in a sustainable way. The BwN design philosophy offers the opportunity to realize this improvement. This research first aimed to create an evaluation framework of (international) standards and goals to identify opportunities for improvement of a port masterplan and to get a better understanding of the need for sustainable port development. Included in this evaluation framework are, amongst others, the Port Vision2030, the Corporate Social Responsibility statement and the international strategy of the Port of Rotterdam (PoR). On the basis of these visions and standards, the corporate governance of the PoR was tested by conducting an informal opinion poll amongst twenty colleagues at the PoR (International, Environmental Management and Port Development). A practical example of a traditional port development project that can be improved by applying BwN is the Kuala Tanjung (KT) Port-Industrial complex at Sumatra, in Indonesia. This port development project is still in its initiation phase where a first master plan is proposed. Since the goal of the Indonesian government is to build a world-class port, international and sustainable standards apply. This project was used as a case to identify opportunities to improve a traditional master plan by applying a BwN approach. The evaluation framework was applied to the current master plan of KT to check whether this project meets the requirements for international port development, in particular from a nature/social point of view. It is concluded that the current design mainly focuses on the functional requirements of the port, proposing mitigation and compensation measures against the negative social and environmental impact of the port development. The BwN philosophy, on the other hand, prescribes a thorough understanding of the natural system emphasizing on the positive effects of the project for stakeholders and nature, to create a win-win solution. After applying the general evaluation framework, it became clear what aspects in the current master plan should be improved. A literature study of applied BwN solutions resulted in an onshore and offshore alternative for the port development including several BwN solutions. Together with experts involved in the KT project, it is concluded that the onshore alternative is more realistic (from a functional point of view), while still offering opportunities for applying the BwN philosophy. In the current natural system of KT the mangroves offer various important ecosystem services. In addition, it is concluded that the breakwaters proposed by the current master plan form a large part of the CAPEX. Consequently, a solution is proposed where mangroves are integrated in the design to attenuate waves and enhance nature at the same time. To test whether this BwN solution is realistic, a preliminary feasibility study has been executed. The results of a mangrove coastal protection program at Demak (Java, Indonesia) and various scientific articles (Ecoshape BwN Guidelines, 2018) about rehabilitation programs for mangroves have been used to set up a general checklist with habitat requirements for mangroves. These requirements were compared with the local conditions at KT and recommendations for creating these conditions at the breakwater location were given. According to the checklist, the site at KT appeared to be suitable for mangrove establishment. This resulted in preliminary mangrove breakwater designs for various depths. In addition, the effect of the BwN solution on the phasing of the adapted master plan was determined, rough cost estimates were made and the implementation risks were identified. According to these conditions, the mangrove-based breakwater appeared to be technically feasible for the first 2000 m of the shallow part of the south-eastern breakwater at KT. Finally, the evaluation framework was applied again to check if the current master plan of KT has been improved (read: less dilemmas occurring from deviating standards in Indonesia) and a general advice is given on the applicability of the selected BwN solution to other ports in Indonesia and (sub)tropical zones of the Asia Pacific region.

Design of a port in Morocco, as part of the design workshop 2017 in Caen, France.
This report includes a design from the new Nador West Med Port near Nador, Morocco. Given requirements are an entrance to the northeast and minimal dredging works to be conducted. A layout of the harbour is made for wave directions during storm from the northeast and northwest. A maximum downtime of the harbour of less than 1% of the year is allowed. The harbour will accommodate smaller vessels, such as ro-ro, general cargo, and container feeders up to larger vessels for bulk transport, crude oil and product tankers, and container mother ships. Structural designs are made for two cross-sections of breakwaters, a rubble mound and a vertical caisson, a mooring structure for tankers with mooring and breasting dolphins, and a typical cross-section of a quay wall.

Jakarta is heavily subjected to land subsidence. Due to this subsidence, the city is sinking further to under sea level. This has influence on the flood safety, both from an extreme sea event as an extreme rainfall event. The major cause of the subsidence is assumed to be the groundwater extraction, which takes place due to a lack of piped water. To reduce subsidence, the groundwater extraction must stop. It is concluded that this would not be feasible in the short term and scenarios are made on how subsidence will continue in the next years.

To ensure flood safety, measurements have to be taken. Research has already been carried out for West Jakarta, but this report focuses on solutions for East Jakarta. Four different solutions are developed to ensure flood safety. The first is to heighten the coastal dike and the flood defences along the river with the same level as the relative subsidence. To accomplish this, high flood defences should be constructed in the densely populated areas along the rivers. A spatial analysis is performed to come to a cost estimation model for the necessary land acquisition for three types of flood defences. These designs are combined to come to a cost efficient design. Another way to ensure flood safety is to close off the rivers and to pump the water into sea. In this case heightening of the flood defences along the rivers is not necessary. To reduce the peak discharges and thus the needed pumping capacity, a retention lake should be built. This can be done inland, but it is concluded that this will not be a cost efficient solution. A more cost efficient solution is to construct an offshore retention lake. This can be done by building an outer sea dike. In this case, the rivers will flow into the retention lake, which is maintained at a given water level. The pumping capacity needed to ensure flood safety depends on the size of the lake. An optimum has to be found to come to the most cost efficient design. In this study it was concluded that the most cost efficient solution is to not make a retention lake at all, but install pumps with sufficient capacity instead to handle the peak discharge. To reduce the pumping capacity, tidal gates can be constructed at the river mouths. A great advantage of this solution is that an amount of pumps can be constructed to deal with mild subsidence rates and more pumps can be built when concluded that subsidence rates turn out to be larger. In this way an adaptive solution is created.