The Netherlands faces a growing challenge: the escalation of nitrogen pollution, closely tied to the expansive dairy and animal husbandry industry in the country. As a predominantly dairy-based culture, the dairy industry plays a significant role in the economy, contributing to an 8% trade surplus. Dairy farms occupy 30% of the Dutch land surface, producing 14 billion kilograms of milk per year, resulting in a highly efficient industry. However, at the expense of a degraded landscape and the escalating nitrogen crisis.

This project aims to explore the future of the dairy industry by creating a shift from the current monoculture and centralized dairy chain to a more local and self-restoring model. Recognizing the polder as a crucial spatial element of grasslands in the Netherlands, we view it as a fundamental unit for enhancing dairy industrial efficiency.

Our goal is to instill stewardship of the exhausted landscape, transforming polder typologies into regenerative ecosystems. Our focus is on the regions of SW Friesland, where the concentration of cows and nitrogen issues intersects with Natura-2000 areas. Our methodology aligns with the Netherlands’ aspirations to foster a more biodiverse and multifunctional landscape by proposing a strategic plan for implementation of a green network and polyculture polders keeping in mind the social as well as physical transformations of the landscape. Cooperative systems organized around polder typologies serve as a framework for comprehending new social and economic configurations. A larger organizational structure in which polders co-operate is implemented to redistribute trade and production.

Ultimately, our project aims to establish a new localized, decentral dairy system alongside a toolbox of multifunctional polder-cooperation mosaics. These steps are designed to reduce nitrogen emission and loss, contributing to the overall sustainability and resilience of the dairy industry in the Netherlands.