In the Netherlands, a paving stone removal competition to green cities

The 36-year-old Dutchwoman is taking part in a national competition which aims to green cities by removing the slabs and paving stones that cover the floors.

“It’s better for everything: it’s cooler, the sound of the city doesn’t bounce off the tiles” and the earth absorbs rainwater, notes this 36-year-old professor who preferred not to give her name. family. Her very “concrete” neighborhood is a real “heat island,” she says.

At the edge of his garden, now dotted with flowers, aromatic plants and shrubs, three immense gray paving stones weighing 25 kilos each are the only vestiges of what this exterior was like three months ago.

The “NK Tegelwippen” competition (national slab removal championship, in French) was created during the Covid crisis and has been held every year since March to October.

Renske thus added 300 tiles on behalf of the municipality of The Hague, which is competing in the large cities category. The small and medium-sized towns that clash also have their division. The winners are rewarded with the Pelle d’Or or the Pavé d’or.

“Together we are making the Netherlands a little greener,” says Eva Braaksma of the Frank Lee agency, creator of the competition.

“In the sun, the paving stones retain heat and the tiles do not absorb rainwater. Replacing them with plants refreshes the garden and, moreover, greenery makes you much happier,” explains Ms. Braaksma.

“It really helps to fight against the warming of cities,” she told AFP during a day of action organized with the Amsterdam town hall.

In around ten gardens, volunteers come to the aid of people in need and remove paving stones from the gardens.

A densely populated country with part of its territory located below sea level, the Netherlands is particularly vulnerable to climate change.

Ten million paving stones

“The idea for the competition came about because we noticed that many gardens were tiled in Dutch cities. We thought a competition would be a fun way to encourage people to remove tiles and paving stones,” explains Ms Braaksma .

“Participants indicate on our website how many paving stones they have removed and post a photo to prove it,” she says. These pavers are then recycled.

Nearly two million paving stones were removed from gardens this year, according to the competition counter, which shows a total of more than ten million since its creation.

The competition has already been exported to Belgium and the organizers note that it is also generating interest in Germany, Austria and France.

Soil drying

In Amsterdam, Maida Paesch, a 68-year-old retiree, monitors the work from her doorstep. For 15 years that she has lived in this house, rainwater has stagnated in a corner of the garden, which is entirely tiled.

“I hope that from now on this water will be absorbed by the earth,” says this grandmother who already imagines her grandchildren playing in the garden and watering the plants, while a volunteer plants a lavender plant.

This neighborhood is particularly exposed to this problem, explains Daniel Goedbloed, employed by Amsterdam City Hall to adapt the city to climate change.

“When it rains very hard, the streets and gardens are flooded and the tiles prevent water from penetrating the floors, which has the effect of drying them out, even in periods of rain,” explains Mr. Goedbloed, while removing a paved with a shovel, boots in the earth.