Representatives of the Caribbean public entities of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba, and the five Wadden Islands of Texel, Vlieland, Terschelling, Ameland and Schiermonnikoog came together on Texel on October 1 and 2 for a two-day working programme.
These eight islands are united in the so-called E8 partnership. E8 has been successful in making the collective voice of Dutch island communities heard by the government and politics. E8 also meets regularly to share knowledge and work on common issues.
The Two-Day Working Programme
The programme began with the arrival of officials at the TESO ferry terminal in Den Helder, where they were welcomed by the King's Commissioner of Noord-Holland, Arthur van Dijk, before traveling to Texel. Upon arrival, the delegation was welcomed by Mayor of Texel Mark Pol.
The first day included a presentation and visit to De Zoete Toekomst, an innovative approach to freshwater storage for agriculture on Texel. The attendees learned about the challenges and opportunities associated with sustainable freshwater management for islands.
The programme continued with a thematic session on integrity and good island governance, led by King's Commissioner Arthur van Dijk. Representatives from the Wadden and Caribbean islands exchanged experiences on administrative resilience, undermining, transparent and trustworthy electoral processes, and the governance of foundations and semi-public organizations.
The session also included a presentation by Island Governor of Saba Jocelyn Levenston on the upcoming 2027 elections and the use of proxy voting, followed by an exchange of experiences and perspectives among participants.
Island Governor of Bonaire John Soliano gave a presentation on good governance of government-owned and semi-public organizations. He discussed the complex environment in which they operate, the role of government as a shareholder, and the different roles and responsibilities within these organizations. The presentation highlighted how good governance can support organizations in achieving their goals.
Day 2
On October 2, the programme continued with an excursion to De Slufter, organized in cooperation with the Vogelinformatiecentrum Texel and Staatsbosbeheer. The excursion highlighted Texel's approach to nature management and the protection of vulnerable coastal environments.
This was followed by an E8 working session, introduced by Mayor of Vlieland and E8 chairman Michiel Schrier. Representatives of the three Caribbean public entities and five Wadden Islands reflected on the partnership and discussed the substantive topics on which E8 will collaborate on the coming year.
The E8 then welcomed members of the Dutch Parliament, including members of the standing committees for Infrastructure and Water Management and Kingdom Relations.
In her address, Governor Alida Francis outlined three key priorities emerging from the E8 islands’ discussions: equal investment, stronger local implementation capacity and greater climate action. She emphasised that equal treatment should not mean applying mainland policies uniformly to the islands, but rather achieving equitable outcomes that recognise their unique scale, logistical realities and cost structures. Governor Francis also highlighted the challenges small island administrations face, including limited human resources and access to specialised expertise, and stressed the need to strengthen their capacity to implement policies effectively. On climate resilience, she called for a greater focus on implementation, underscoring the need to move beyond strategies and “turn paper into practice.”
To reinforce these shared priorities, Mayor Mark Pol of Texel and Governor Francis presented Member of the Second Chamber Heera Dijk with a board outlining the E8’s three core messages. Dijk received the joint message on behalf of the parliamentary delegation, which also included Second Chamber Members Marieke Vellinga-Beemsterboer, Luciënne Boelsma-Hoekstra and Björn Schutz. The presentation underscored the E8 islands’ united call for their shared priorities to be recognised and carried forward at the national level.
The Mayor of Schiermonnikoog Henri Meendering then addressed the topic of water safety, including the role of natural systems such as salt marshes in coastal protection. The discussions also considered the relationship between the functions of coral reefs in the Caribbean and coastal protection measures in the Wadden Islands. The two-day programme concluded with a visit to De Schorren, under the guidance of Natuurmonumenten, before participants departed Texel for Den Helder.
