I was on quest for a period of one week to the Arcadis Netherlands office in Arnhem. It was my first trip to Europe. While arriving, I was really fascinated by the natural environment, lots of greenery and low pollution. It was a peaceful surrounding in Arnhem. Overall, my Quest was an enriching and interesting experience. Thanks to Mr. Sanders H.J., Erik Koppen and the team of noise and air quality experts in the Netherlands. Read more below about my nice and memorable experience in The Netherlands.
Motivation & Quest Preparation
India has a diversity of natural resources including the wind and solar energy. Therefore, wind and solar projects are being implemented in India on a large scale. During my involvement in Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) projects of a wind power plant, I found out that despite of delivering clean energy, wind power plants have environmental and social impacts such as shadow flickering and mortality of birds. The Indian government, investors and developers are promoting renewable energy on a large scale. But the impact on the environment and people is not under control. Therefore, scientific studies and best practices adopted across the world can help our clients to get the best solution. During one of our ESIA project executions, I got the opportunity to interact with Mr. Erik Koppen in The Netherlands who helped us to complete a shadow flicker study for one of the wind power plants in India.
Wind power plants in India emerged just recently, since 4-5 years. That is why issues like bird and bat mortality and shadow flickering are new here. With the help of software and scientific knowledge we can help our clients in an effective way. We discussed this thought with Mr. Erik Koppen and I applied for a Quest after our conversation. After getting an approval for a Quest, I was very excited that I was going to learn new things. I made detailed notes according to the Quest subject and listed out my questions. I also made appointments with the experts available in the Dutch office.
Quest Learnings
During my Quest, I met a team of air and noise modeling, ecology and the ESIA department. I got the opportunity to get to know their views and experiences on wind power plants and other industrial projects. I also shared our strengths in terms of the type of projects and expertise available in India. I got the opportunity to attend a presentation of our CEO Neil McArthur and learn about his view on using our global strength through global collaboration and programs like Quest and Super Quest. They provide platforms for global collaboration because they contribute to exchanging knowledge and experiences.
The experts available in The Netherlands were technically efficient and helpful in nature. I can describe my experience in one single term, a “Fruitful experience”. In addition to sharing technical knowledge, learning about the way of working and getting to know each other was also very interesting. I also found out that people in both offices are interested to work on international projects and resolve new challenges across the world. Arcadians appreciated the idea of sharing and exchanging knowledge and experiences.
Experience Sharing
After my Quest and coming back to my home country, I shared my experience and now we are working on opportunities and leads where knowledge and experience of both the countries can be utilized. With the help of global collaboration, we Arcadians can provide the best solutions to our clients. That is our unique strength.
Girish Shukla, Arcadis Asia
