A day with… Jasmin Schous
At Rijkswaterstaat, more than 10.000 colleagues work to ensure that the Netherlands is safe, liveable and accessible. But who are these colleagues and what exactly do they do?
In this article, we introduce Jasmin Schous (34 years old). She is a senior international advisor on water and climate adaptation. She is also the initiator and leader of the Women’s Network for Water, Traffic, and the Living Environment (WVL) within Rijkswaterstaat, which is committed to creating an inclusive working environment.
Human rights and environmental law
Jasmin has been working at Rijkswaterstaat since 2022. Prior to this, she worked for 3 years at the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, where she focused on sustainable mobility. “I completed a master’s degree in law with a focus on human rights and environmental law. My manager once exclaimed with some surprise: ‘You’re a lawyer and yet so nice?’. But my background actually helps me in my work. It enables me to translate complex legal texts and policy documents into the practical reality we work with at Rijkswaterstaat.” She works primarily on bilateral and European cooperation with China in the field of water management and climate adaptation. She is also involved in a European project that helps cities and river areas to better cope with extreme weather.
Bilateral cooperation with China
The Netherlands has been exchanging knowledge about water management and climate adaptation with China for more than 30 years. Ultimately, we all want to keep our feet dry, so it’s good to learn from each other when it comes to things like building dykes and maintaining rivers. ‘I coordinate and monitor the overview of our collaboration. Every 2 years, we organise a Joint Steering Committee with experts from China and the Netherlands. The most recent edition, in April 2025, discussed topics such as dyke safety, low and high water forecasts, and resilient cities and river areas.’
Extreme weather
The RESUREXION project is enabling us to develop a strategy to make river and urban areas resilient to extreme weather conditions. As project manager, Jasmin is leading this Interreg Europe project. The consortium consists of 8 partners from the Netherlands, Finland, Denmark, Moldova, Austria, Portugal, Spain, and Belgium. These partners are working together to improve policy and share knowledge and experiences. The main objective is to improve policy instruments. ‘One example of this is that we want to look at how we can improve the feasibility of climate adaptation policy, such as the Delta Programme for Spatial Adaptation in our case. How do we ensure that the focus points identified in the mandatory stress tests, which show how regions can respond to floods or extreme drought, are actually followed up?’
Valuable work
What makes her work valuable is its contribution to something fundamental: Keeping the Netherlands dry and safe. ‘That’s why I do it. Everyone agrees that sharing knowledge with international partners and continuing to innovate are essential to achieving this. Climate change is on the horizon. We must be ready and continue to develop.’
Working together in the future
When she looks to the future, she sees how important it is to continue learning and collaborating with other countries. ‘The Netherlands is a land full of water. The knowledge we gather ensures that we are climate-proof during extreme weather conditions, such as cluster showers, sea level rise, or prolonged drought. We need to have a plan. We can’t do it alone.’
Interested in working on international projects at Rijkswaterstaat? Discover vacancies here.