During Dredging Days 2024, members of Young CEDA found time to sit with CEDA Industry News to discuss their routes into dredging, early career experiences and aspirations for the future of the industry.
Article by Paul Levey, Intent Communications, supplied to SWZ|Maritime by CEDA, ceda@dredging.org
As a demonstration of how important the new generations of workers are, Young CEDA members featured prominently during CEDA’s biennial conference in May 2024, including hosting an innovative plenary session on “The Future of AI in Dredging” and delivering a series of Pitch Talks. During the conference, CEDA Industry News (CIN) sat down with six members of the Young CEDA Commission (YCC) to get their take on what appeals about the industry and their hopes for its future trajectory.
Some people may consider dredging to be a niche career choice. However, during the conversation, the Young CEDA members gave compelling reasons about what attracted them, including the diversity of work, technological advancements, travel opportunities, and a focus on sustainability. They also provided a glimpse into the diverse pathways open to those considering a career in the industry.
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The allure of dredging
Rick Bekkers, a design and proposal engineer at Damen Shipyards, explained that his first internship was with Damen Dredging. Here, he encountered dredgers for the first time and ‘really liked the mechanics behind it and also the fluid dynamics which were involved.’ Bekkers also appreciated the international focus, saying, ‘you are making, let’s say, an impact on the world and that’s something I really like about the industry.’
Impact also appealed to Ruben Geldhof, an environmental engineer in Jan De Nul’s Marine Environmental Department. ‘For me, I came into contact with the dredging industry via an environmentally related Masters. I discovered nature-based solutions that dredging companies are implementing and wrote my thesis on one of those topics,’ he tells CIN. Echoing Bekkers, he adds: ‘The international aspect of the industry is also something I really found fascinating.’
Kirsten Orsel, who works in the Training Department at Royal IHC came to dredging via a more circuitous route. ‘I come from a hotel management background and then worked on cruise ships until Covid-19.’ Having awoken an interest in the maritime industry, Orsel came ashore and worked for a small marine company before moving to IHC. Summing up her passion for the industry, she says: ‘It attracts me that people are very enthusiastic. They’re very direct. They’re very passionate about what they do and that gives me energy.’
The most concise reason was offered by Hilmer Kodde, of Van Oord dredging and marine contractors who says his motivation was: ‘Big vessels, a lot of dirt and playing with sand.’ His sentiment, reminiscent of childhood fun, resonated with everyone in the room.
Regardless of their routes into dredging and their job functions, what shone through was a collective passion for the industry, a shared desire to help it become more sustainable and a determination to change how it is perceived by the general public.
Attracting young talent
Established in 2008, the YCC advises the CEDA Board and other commissions on initiatives to support young industry professionals and students and to strengthen engagement with the younger generation. Influencing the decisions of the latter two demographics, in particular, is vital in an increasingly competitive job market where employers are vying to attract and retain talent.
CEDA members are keen to attract talented individuals to dredging and associated industries, but there are always opportunities to improve the status quo. Leon Hendriksen, sales manager at Stema Survey Services, believes more can be done to attract non-graduates to the sector.
After finishing school at 17, Hendriksen began a career in civil engineering and through that, moved into dredging. However, he feels that the industry is missing out on talented individuals due to its preoccupation with recruiting graduates. ‘The first question I always get when in conversation with people is where did you go to university? But in our company of 28 people I’m the only one that didn’t go to university,’ he explains. ‘This is a direct contrast to civil engineering and I believe there are a lot of other people we could attract to the dredging sector if we did not focus purely on graduates,’ Hendriksen continues.
His peers expressed similar views and while certain disciplines undoubtedly require advanced education, broadening the recruitment net would open up new employee resources. In-house training and vocational education can provide the necessary specialist knowledge and such thinking aligns with societal trends towards improving vocational training and expanding apprenticeship schemes.
Also read: Joint lecture KNVTS/CEDA: Working together towards climate-neutral dredging
Spreading the word
Conscious of mainstream media’s portrayal of dredging, despite the growth of nature-based solutions, YCC advocates greater transparency to engage the public and showcase efforts to achieve more sustainable outcomes.
Positive storylines about what dredging is doing to minimise or reverse damage to ecosystems could be placed to reach a wider audience, the YCC members suggest. They also note the value of creating video diaries documenting “a day in the life of ….”, which could be shot and uploaded to TikTok, YouTube and other outlets to increase awareness of the industry and the career opportunities it offers.
However, the YCC recognises that the industry needs to connect with people in novel ways to educate and enthuse people not already interested in, or associated with it. As Orsel says: ‘We need to reach younger people before they choose their studies. I think this would help a lot to recruit more people into the sector. We need to let them know that dredging is fun.’
Of course, she and others acknowledge that the challenge will be to find ways to reach those not already following dredging-related feeds. Kodder notes: ‘It needs to go viral, we need something outside of our industry so we can get others interested in it.’ Not only would such an approach help to alter public perceptions of dredging, but it will also help attract more young people to it.
YCC members are tech-savvy, but also appreciate the importance of meeting and greeting school children. However, they believe such activities can be dovetailed with social media to solidify the relationship. As Bekkers says, companies could use school visits ‘to involve students during an early phase of their studies, so that they recognise the company and follow them. This way they would see video campaigns showing the cool side of the industry.’
Altering perceptions
There is still room to improve communication and transparency between different dredging stakeholders too. As Svend Eresmann of Hamburg Port Authority’s Department of Waterside Infrastructure notes: ‘For me, a key challenge is sharing experience and expertise between dredging companies and clients more effectively. While communication is much better than it used to be, there is still significant room to improve it further.’
This echoed a recurring theme of Dredging Days 2024; sustainability – in all its manifestations – and collaboration are the keys to the future and stand to make the industry greater than the sum of its parts.
Also read: SWZ|Maritime’s March 2024 issue: Ports, dredging, and strategy
Solidifying Young CEDA’s foundations
YCC enjoys a close working relationship with CEDA, and meets regularly with Mieke van Loenen, CEDA’s general manager, to share information. Parent companies of YCC members also support initiatives that foster closer relationships within the sector.
As Geldhof puts it: ‘Young CEDA provides a great platform to talk and to meet people in the industry,’ which helps broaden understanding and contextualise each stakeholder’s role in a complex system. Such opportunities are bearing fruit as the enthusiasm, sense of camaraderie and mutual respect were palpable during the interview.
Yet, like any organisation, it must continue to evolve and steps have already been taken to enhance its resilience. For example, the YCC has instigated a revolving chair for its monthly meetings, to minimise the impact of inevitable overseas deployments.
Members are also looking to raise the profile of Young CEDA and to arrange more events, at both national and international levels and to increase its social media presence, for example, on LinkedIn. Greater outreach to school and university students is also on the agenda.
Young CEDA continues to offer members networking opportunities and the chance to influence others, for example through sessions at Dredging Days. But perhaps most importantly of all, members develop a broader understanding of the dredging industry and have fun while doing so.
To find out more about Young CEDA visit: Young CEDA.
Picture (top): Young CEDA delivered a series of engaging Pitch Talks at Dredging Days 2024 (photo by RoyBorghoutsFotografie).
