But it raises challenging questions for policy makers: how to increase the awareness of the risks, to influence decisions of property owners, businesses and municipalities about exposure and vulnerability to risk, and thereby reduce the expected cost of damages in a flood event? How to make the public more aware of what is needed to keep the country dry and habitable, and to secure willingness to pay for flood safety? Key enabling elements of a society resilient to future shocks include the density of social interconnections between authorities, social players and the population in general, confidence, trust and a sense of community, and technical capabilities and political vision and leadership. This means independent oversight for performance and compliance (which does not necessarily have to be carried out at national level), as well as balanced and action-oriented stakeholder engagement that does not override the interests of the “unheard voices”.