Progress report for
Xploration Coastline Curacao
Achievement at a glance
The Xploration Coastline Concept is holistic water-solution. Respecting the complexity of the water problem and slashing (national and organisational) bounderies of inclusivity, open innovation, innovative financing and continuous improvement. The concept is an opportunity to provide water as a common to the people with the right mindset at the right time with the right technology. The concept has developed itself as an island overarching mission driven whole-of-society approach. At this moment commitment has been achieved from Saba, Sint Eustatius, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Antigua & Barbuda, Sint Maarten aan Curacao. This commitment underlines their intent and willingness to participate in a scoping assessment of the potential impact of the concept for their Island. The assessment will work out scenario's how the 1000m3 of usable water per day (as a common - meaning @zero production costs!!) could support their local sustainable and resilient ambitions. The assessment is financially supported by the Ministry of Interior Affairs and de Ministry of Economic Development and Climate of the Netherlands. The assessment is conducte by partners from various knowlegde institutions and NGO's (VU Amsterdam, UvA, UNICEF-NL, UNFAO)Goal of the assessment is to de-risk the establishment of a regional WaSH-crisis-fund enabling the 24/7/365 availability of a network of Xploration Coastline Assets. This network will provide less independent, efficient and sustainable crisis relief operations a a significant lower cost. Meanwhile creating island bound (economic) value & impact outside times 'defined as crisis'. A win-win-win.
Keeping up with the technology development in the maritime power-2-water chain a open innovation lab has been initiated in June '23. A prototype of an asset is available in Rotterdam producing useable water from Maas water at the Rotterdam Droogdok Maatschappij in collaboration with knowledge institutes and private sector. The main focus of the living lab at present is predictive maintenance and autonomous operations.
Just engagement of intrinsically motivated individuals is crucial for this holistic concept to flourisch. Therefore sharing the storyline of the inclusive, open and holistic conept is essential. The Xploration Coastline team has been travelling to the various Islands multiple times and have attended the Caribbean Week of Agriculture on the inviation of UNFAO in the Bahamas. Also the SIDS4 conference has been attended.
Challenges faced in implementation
The challenges is communicating the fundamentals of the concept. These fundamentals shift the paradigm of present day complex problem solving. Organizing the trust that business opportunities will follow if we get the fundamentals right remains a challenge. Small short term success makes shortcuts desirable and demands independant mission oversight and control. Collaborating towards long term ambitions with (uncertain) outcomes demands inspirational social engagement and relationship building. XplorIT - OceansX sees itself as mission responsible for this facilitive tasking. Making sure everyone understands the relevance of such an enabling party but remaing humble to facilitate the collective (island-)bound human potential is a constant reflective challenge.Next Steps
Legal/notarial structure investigation towards WaSH fund and ‘preferred suppliership’ (Q2 2024)Apply for 500K philantropic funding (Q4 2024)
Scoping assessment (risk reduction) (Q2 & Q3 2024)
Guarantee pillar organizations WaSH fund (end of 2024)
Build (Q1-Q3 2025)
First of Class operational (Q1 2026)
Mission Oriented Xploration (onwards)
Beneficiaries
Communities and Governments of Saba, Sint Eustatius, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Antigua & Barbuda, Sint Maarten, Curacao and Bonaire Dutch Ministeries of Economic Affairs & Climate, Infrastructure, Armed Forces, Interior Affairs International community entities UNICEF, CDEMA, OECS, CARICOM, PAHO, UNDP, UNFAO, SOUTHCOM, CAWASA, CWWA Private companies AQUALECTRA, STUCO, Neptune Marine Knowledge institutions DELTARES, TNO, VU, UoC Corporate Social Responsible Funders MAERSK, IKEA