ABSTRACT
The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Environment faces a huge challenge. Due to large investments in infrastructure on water management, navigation and flood protection from 1920’s to 1960’s, the Ministry has to replace much of its infrastructure in the coming decades, due to ageing of the infrastructure. This operation not only asks for large investments, but has to take network-coherence, long-term uncertainties, unpredictable politicians and stakeholders into account. Without dealing with these challenges the replacement of infrastructure will be not more than a modern upgrade of an existing system, dealing with the demands of a past society, instead of an evolving system anticipating on developments and a new future. This article presents a framework for such a strategic replacement of infrastructure. The framework can deal with network-coherence, long-term uncertainties and unpredictable politicians and stakeholders. It will show underlying principles which make it apt to do so. These principles are based on interaction between network-coherence and objects, an adaptive approach – which anticipates on uncertainties – and an invitational way of stakeholders management. The framework is not based on a sequential, rational, working-path, but uses a diffuse, interactive and learning way of working, following organisational, technical and political triggers.
