The design assignment aims to enhance Naxos Island’s existing wetland ecosystem while addressing the threats of uncontrolled tourism and fostering a profound connection between individuals and the landscape. The goal is to establish a network connecting the island’s wetlands, offering visitors a novel way to engage with Naxos’s natural beauty and cultural tapestry. Beginning with Aliki as a prototype, strategies for wetland conservation and sustainable tourism development will be developed and refined, with a focus on integration into the surrounding environment and showcasing wetlands as green corridors that enhance biodiversity and provide recreational opportunities. This approach extends to integrating wetlands into broader ecological and cultural networks to create immersive experiences highlighting Naxos’s unique natural and cultural heritage. Ultimately, the assignment promotes a sustainable tourism model that spreads tourist activity throughout the year, prioritizes conservation and community engagement, and ensures Naxos remains a vibrant and resilient destination for generations to come.

This thesis explores the post-extraction potentials of Arctic infrastructural landscapes, focusing on Kiruna and the Norrbotten Technological Megasystem, to propose a transformation towards a post-capital landscape of co-existence. It interrogates the historically mono-functional, sacrificial, and determinate nature of these landscapes, emphasising the need to rethink extraction practices and their socio-ecological impacts. Combining design theory, political ecology, and economic geography this study articulates transformation strategies that couples sacrificial and repair processes, decentralises control to empower local and indigenous communities, and introduces indeterminacy to accommodate ecological and social uncertainties.
The research posits that by reconfiguring the spatial logic of extraction infrastructures through their post extraction transformation potential (post-project), it is possible to devolve power, regenerate nature-cultures, and most importantly foster interdependencies and ecodependencies which can guide and regulate anticipated extraction (anti-project). The thesis presents a meta-project that scales these principles to the broader Norrbotten region, advocating for a devolution of control that encompasses economic, ecological, and social dimensions and use spatial production and accumulations as a guide to the territorial transformation.
Ultimately, the thesis contributes to the discourse on post-capital futures, offering insights into the role of design in mediating between extraction practices and the material manifestations within affected landscapes. It calls for an epistemic shift towards viewing human and nature as dialectic, advocating for a co-produced future that respects both ecological integrity and cultural heritage in making the landscape of co-existence.

Within my graduation project I am investigating the drivers of change which have resulted in Urbanisation of the Himalayas. Seasonal activities such as pilgrimage, tourism, militarisation and hydropower production have rapidly altered the Himalayan Ecology as well as the socio-cultural landscape and its regional economies. To support these activities, large scale Critical Processes such as Infrastructural Development and Resource Extraction have been operationalised amidst the vulnerable Himalayan Geography has resulted in a state of Accumulation, . The existing model of urbanisation and anthropogenic appropriation of the Himalayas is transforming the region into a Global Hinterland and it will only amplify the degree of risk as well as the frequency of disasters in the region. This calls for a pedagogical shift in the model of urbanisation and the spatial logic of developing and maintaining infrastructures within the vulnerable Himalayan Landscape.Thus, this project hypothesises an alternative approach of Spatio-Temporal Synchronicity which synergises the various ephemeralities within the critical processes in the region, through the agency of Spatial Design. A series of strategic operations are undertaken to synchronise the ephemeral processes within the material geographies of their context by adding, repurposing or removing infrastructures to serve a certain program during a certain time period which are further recycled and displaced to a new site to cater to a new process/program. Thus, the existing practice of accumulating infrastructures is acted upon by a set of Reductive operations which follow a Spatio-temporal program.The region encompassing Alaknanda and Niti Valleys and the subsiding town of Joshimath, situated on their intersection, is chosen as a paradigmatic area to investigate and test this hypothesis through the research by design approach. Methods such as literature review, critical cartographies, field visit, interviews are employed to analyse the context which is followed by an adaptive cross-scalar strategic framework. It proposes a set of spatio-temporal operations that are manifested in the form of design experiments which try to spatialise and project development along the lines of Spatio-Temporal Synchronicity.

The increasing demand for critical raw materials like lithium, essential for clean energy technologies, presents both opportunities and challenges. Portugal, with Europe’s largest lithium reserves, faces resistance to establishing lithium mines in the Norte region due to insufficient citizen support and concerns about socio-environmental impacts. This thesis addresses the need for a comprehensive spatial strategy that guides the region’s transition from an extractivist lithium economy to a circular post-extractivist mode, while considering socio-environmental vulnerabilities and broader economic impacts.
The research involved developing a spatial strategy that integrates facilities for lithium extraction, processing, battery production, and recycling. Incorporating insights from analyzing the region’s conditions, the metabolic and spatial footprint of each facility in the supply chain, and proposing strategic locations for the facilities and their supporting and infrastructural systems. The strategy is designed to support both the extractivist and post-extractivist states, ensuring sustainable long-term development.
The key findings demonstrate that the proposed strategy effectively minimizes the nuisances of the extractive operations while supporting conditions for a circular post-extractivist state. In the extractivist state, facilities are efficiently located for lithium extraction, processing, and exportation. In the post-extractivist state are infrastructures repurposed for bio-based economies and lithium recycling, while promoting circularity and reducing reliance on new raw material extraction. The strategy enhances Europe’s independence in lithium supply, strengthens Portugal’s role in achieving green transition goals, fosters long-term circular development in the Norte region, and supports conditions in the Alto Tamega subregion for a circular bio-based economy that helps remediate the mining landscape, while connecting to the local economy and cultural identity, as well as creating additional income for these rural areas.
The findings show the set of key interventions – including urban development for (temporary) worker accommodations, infrastructural reinforcement and development, change in cultivation patterns, water and energy infrastructure development, and industrial development – that are necessary to shape the conditions that support both states. These set of interventions could inspire other European countries to establish the necessary extractivist landscapes progressively, ensuring circular long-term development. However, the thesis recommends, that future elaboration is necessary on engaging with local communities and refining the strategy through participatory methods to ensure successful implementation.

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.

In an era marked by pressing environmental concerns and the urgent need for sustainable solutions, our project embarked on a transformative journey, envisioning a future where nature-based strategies not only combat climate change but also foster economic prosperity and social justice.

With CO2 emissions reaching alarming levels and posing grave threats to the environment, human health, and global stability, conventional approaches to combat climate change often fall short in addressing the intricate interplay between social, economic, and environmental factors. Our research sought to tackle this challenge towards a just transition to a low-carbon economy: “How can we design a circular economy of carbon storage focussing on nature-based solutions?"

Grounded in the principles of sustainability and equity, our approach initially focused on proposing nature-based solutions to reduce CO2 levels. However, recognizing the need for a holistic transformation, our methodology evolved to integrate bio-based economy concepts and community-centric design principles. This involved a rigorous examination of existing policies, spatial analyses, and stakeholder engagement to develop a comprehensive strategy.
The overarching goal was to present a visionary blueprint for transforming land use, emphasizing nature-based solutions as central to carbon mitigation efforts while fostering economic development and social resilience. This entailed the creation of green corridors, the establishment of productive communities, and the promotion of collaboration within the bio-based economy.

Through our research, we identified forests and wetlands as beneficial nature-based storage methods for the Netherlands, with significant potential to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy. Despite spatial conflicts and implementation challenges, investing in the bio-based economy, particularly in construction using bio-based materials, emerged as a promising avenue for economic growth. Our phased approach to implementation outlined pathways for achieving equitable CO2 reduction while maximizing environmental and social benefits.

Our work extends far beyond environmental conservation. By presenting a transformative vision that integrates nature-based solutions with socio-economic considerations, we offer a roadmap for policymakers, businesses, and communities to navigate the complexities of climate change mitigation. This matters because it signals a paradigm shift towards sustainable development, where the preservation of nature goes hand in hand with economic prosperity and social equity, ensuring a resilient and thriving future for generations to come.

The EU Green Deal aims to ensure a socially just energy transition, but the shift towards renewable energies often replicates the centralized, top-down approach of traditional fossil fuel systems, negatively impacting rural areas. This report reimagines this paradigm by advocating for decentralized energy communities, particularly in regions experiencing the neglect often seen in ‘shadow agglomerations.’ It argues for a shift where decentralized energy production empowers both cities and rural areas, enabling them to attain energy self-sufficiency and ownership. The research uses a multicriteria analysis to explore the Eurodelta and Zeeland regions, forming a vision that supports the strategic development of energy communities in Zeeland and Rotterdam. This approach aims to facilitate a more spatially equitable and just energy transition, enabling regions overshadowed by major urban centers to become essential in achieving sustainable energy production, thereby reshaping the energy landscape towards a more distributed and participatory model.

The thesis starts with the launch of two national projects in the source of yellow river, which is on top of Tibet Plateau, the most fragile and delicate ecosystem on the earth, is endangering the region. The sky river project, an external imposition that aims to turn the region into a huge landscape machine and the Nation Park plan, an internal separation that denials the indigenous relationship with their land.

My project serves as the negotiation process that gradually brings the land back to its people, respecting their traditional knowledge and engaging local cultures towards a autonomous national reserve of their own through the building of a resilient ecosystem, dynamically maintaining of its unity and actively sustaining its vibrancy that can deal with the future hydrological cycle in multi-scale.

It weaves a tale of an ambitious national environmental initiative in a century where the clarion call for sustainability rings louder than ever. It explores the intimate entanglements of indigenous communities with their ancestral lands, and grapples with the question of how they can harmoniously align with the nation’s aspirations. This narrative unfolds against the backdrop of a world in dire need of sustainable practices, as it bears witness to the profound bonds that tie indigenous peoples to their territories and deliberates on the means to synchronize these ties with the pulsating rhythm of the nation’s dreams.

Wildfires are widely viewed as key evolving inputs of Mediterranean ecosystem. But anthropogenic climate changes and other socioecological recessions have transformed normal wildfire into megafire, especially under the intensifying challenges posed by agricultural abandonment and the rapid growth of tourism. So that the paradigm shift is needed since the suppression capacity has been increasingly overcome from the fire department. This research is aiming to integrate diverse landscape dynamics and fire regimes, to interpret the interactions between them and identify a series of heterogeneous fire typologies in the Mediterranean region (EU part) in order to support the application of landscape-based approaches. By classifying the land system dynamics into meteorologic, physiographic, biological and anthropogenic indicators (in relation with wildfire ignition and propagation), geographic information system based approaches and statistic analysis are applied to create diagnostic mappings.

The output of this analysis reveals several fire-landscape typologies and their spatial distribution in the Mediterranean, which improves the understanding of land system with natural crisis and is a basis for assessment of future changes under the regional climate, land use and land cover change and changes in management intensity. It also provides a evaluation and decision support tool in some specific locations for fire management, biodiversity protection and conservation of landscape values.

Thus, the downscale works of analysis are still needed for bridging the disconnection between the gap between Mediterranean research and landscape design practice. The prospective use cases must additionally account for the geopolitical and socio-cultural context of the region in question, as a means of establishing an integrated framework for fire management.

To advance the design perspective for mitigating the risks posed by wildfires, several key steps must be taken. Firstly, a toolkit must be developed based on defined fire-landscape typologies. These typologies represent landscape-based approaches that are tailored to the unique characteristics of each type of landscape. The toolkit will provide a range of strategies and design solutions for mitigating the risks of wildfires across different landscapes.

To apply these strategies in real-world scenarios, two key locations have been selected in the Iberian peninsula, namely northern Coimbra District (Portugal) and Marina Alta (a coastal comarca of the autonomous community of Valencia, Spain). These locations are identified as an interface with agricultural abandonment, and a dense littoralised tourism place, respectively, and are all typical fire-prone areas. By integrating the local context of each location with the selected approaches from the toolkit, resilient and adaptive scenarios for wildfire risk can be created. The design actions taken in these representative areas can subsequently be expanded and reproduced across a broad Mediterranean region. This approach allows for a comprehensive and effective mitigation of wildfire risks across a large geographic area while considering the unique characteristics and challenges of each landscape. The combination of landscape-based approaches with cultural and political context facilitates the development and implementation of effective strategies to mitigate the risks of wildfires and protect communities and ecosystems.

The urgent need to decarbonize the energy sector marks the beginning of a post-fossil fuel era, leading among others to a significant decrease in coal production and a corresponding shift towards energy from renewables. This transition will bring changes spatially but also socio-economically and will affect primarily coal mining communities as their primary economic driver gradually declines. This thesis sets out to investigate the coal phase-out as happening in Germany, the Czech Republic, and Poland - Europe’s ‘coal heartland’. It focuses on the spatial aspect of it, a twofold challenge, that stems from the two contradictory conditions: the abundance of vacant land (land supply) that results from the coal phase-out and depopulating-shrinking trends in these coal regions and the spatial pressure (land demand) that the emerging deployment of renewables triggers in combination with possible unregulated land takeovers. The thesis conceives the coal regions as a systemic zone and proposes a shift to another form of the carbon economy, one based on forestry. It builds upon a timeline of actions starting from the phase-out of coal and shapes a narrative for a transition to a more sustainable and lower-carbon-intensive economy in the affected areas. The project approach this with a multiscalar perspective, zooming gradually to Lusatia, a historic region marked by many years of intensive lignite mining, an area in which four lignite extraction sites are still operating, and proposes a systemic approach to how another form of use in this cluster of mines could affect the ongoing depopulation in the area and care for the damaged and exhausted environment by fostering economic growth through sustainable timber harvesting and the creation of valuable ecosystem services that will trigger biodiversity growth. Last it looks at the area around Cottbus, where a former mine, and a currently active one, Jänschwalde mine, have shaped a unique landscape, surrounded by the characteristic pine forests of the region, and small scattered settlements. Spatial elements and their synergies are unraveled that facilitate sustainable wood production, the energy transition, and the care of natural ecosystems. The project works with a timeline spanning from 2025 until 2090, during which the area transforms as forests take over and grow while at the same time, several settlements and infrastructures decommission, depopulate, shrink and retreat. The final outcome inspires an alternative understanding of the coal regions, one described by a ‘spatial growth-retreat dynamic’ that builds upon the shrinking built environment and expresses itself with constant fluxes of carbon storage and carbon releases.

For the last decades, technologies, new agricultural trade policies, environmental restrictions, high pressure through economic competition in combination with a sharp competition of land lead to the development of intensive farming. As a result, patchy landscapes have been replaced by monofunctional, homogeneous agricultural landscapes that fragment natural landscapes and take away natural and cultural diversity. The consequences of the processes of fragmentation and homogenization are both socio-economic and landscape-ecological and cause biodiversity loss and social injustice among farmers.
Through changing existing paradigms about nature conservation, this project suggests an alternative approach for understanding possible interrelations between nature and agricultural practices. By reintroducing concepts about commons, a synergy can be found that compliments natural connectivity and agricultural landscapes through the establishment of a regenerative agro-ecological network that connects biotopes in a multi-functional way using current agricultural parcels and natural zones. This newly introduced Common Ground network produces a new farming method in which agricultural practice has a temporal character and is a continuous modifiable process. In this way, the vision makes use of the dual crisis as a solution rather than seeing it as the source of the problems.
The Commons also resemble a new way of practising agriculture, in which land, knowledge, resources and financial risks are shared among farmers in a socially just way. In addition, these shared landscapes reflect on the social context in which farmers are considered as environmental stewards who share some of the responsibility for an ecologically balanced system.

The Earth is experiencing an increase in global surface temperature due to a significant amount of greenhouse gas emissions, mainly caused by the production of fossil-fuel-based energy using non-renewable resources. The heavy industries, predominantly comprising refineries, are the primary contributors to these emissions. As the primary source of energy for these industries is also fossil-fuel-based, the European Green Deal emphasizes the need for an energy transition. However, renewable energy production requires a large area, and the current energy grids are overloaded due to the lack of energy storage possibilities. A potential solution to the storage issue could be the implementation of green hydrogen. As refineries are expected to be decommissioned soon, hydrogen plants could be established in their locations, repurposing the existing infrastructure of pipelines and storage facilities. These plants would enable circular energy systems, converting hydrogen to energy using the green hydrogen production method of electrolysis, and vice versa, using fuel cells. Moreover, these redevelopments could be implemented on a larger scale, resulting in the creation of a hydrogen backbone in the Eurodelta, connecting the industrial clusters within this area and making the energy system more resilient. For the execution of a hydrogen energy system in the Netherlands, a strategy has been proposed that involves a centralized main hydrogen production and storage zone in the Port of Rotterdam, including new industries with hydrogen input and future high energy-consuming industries. Renewable energy production would be installed using offshore vertical-axis wind turbines and onshore horizontal-axis wind turbines, photovoltaic panels, and biomass. This approach would also allow for the introduction of additional green areas, improving working conditions and air quality for the re-educated industrial workforce. In addition, a second strategy involves the implementation of a decentralized energy system in an agricultural landscape in the Municipality of Zutphen. These exemplary areas can be used as models to implement this idea in similar regions across Northwest Europe. Future research could focus on technological innovations, economic feasibility, and additional limitations of the introduction of hydrogen energy systems, ensuring the return of industries as new green hubs.

Plastic is one of the most visibly polluting elements in our environment. From big plastic accumulation zones at sea to microplastic entering our everyday drinking water, plastic is becoming a more evident pollutant every day, which is damaging ecosystems, marine life and human health.
This paper will envision a possible solution for plastic pollution in North West Europe, through the retrieval and recycling of plastic, and by proposing an alternative for plastics in the current textile industry; algae. The strategy of this project aims to create a more circular and local economy by envisioning how substituting bio-plastics in a specific industry can be a solution towards minimising overall plastic pollution.
Drawing on climate change as an environmental impactor; algae bloom, which is seen as a negative climate change product, will in this project become a catalyst for a change within the textile industry by making bioplastics.
Through introducing a new perspective on how the relationship between consumer hubs and production hubs could be adjusted to become more sustainable, this project aims to showcase a solution that could be implemented in other areas with plastic pollution, by taking North-West Europe as a test case. Simultaneously, the project aims to pinpoint how crisis can become an opportunity in times like these.

Murcia, one of Spain’s autonomous communities, is located in south-eastern Spain. The region is a gigantic irrigation machine operated by farmers, cooperatives, and increasingly foreign-owned multinationals or large supermarkets that either cultivate their own land or lease from smaller plot owners. It comprises a sector that has managed to make south Spain the “orchard of Europe” with a profit margin of more than 900 million euros in the Segura river basin and over 100,000 direct jobs associated. The industry is dependent on the immense engineering works of the Tajo-Segura transfer, a major infrastructure that transports water from the North to the South.

Water is considered the most valuable resource in the region. There is a tremendous system of exploitation underneath the ground, formed by wells, pipes, and desalination plants, many of which are neither authorized nor monitored. This setting is damaging the Mar Menor lagoon, the largest hypersaline lagoon in Europe, and its natural ecosystems; groundwater is overexploited and polluted with nitrates, despite the fact that European regulations mandate its protection.

This intensive system of production is also dependent on an increasing migrant workforce that seeks a better level of liveability in the European context. The distribution of immigrants in the territory is unequal and is conditioned by the structure of the labor market and the primary sources of demand for immigrant labor. The poor conditions of habitability, overcrowding, and lack of privacy have obvious negative repercussions for immigrant communities. Tensions in daily neighborhood relationships inevitably arise.

The project Agroecologies for the Stateless is focused on the interrelation between intensive agro-industry systems and the exploitation of a flexible migrant workforce, located in a river basin environment. The thesis attempts to put a value on nature, reconsidering agricultural cultivations and the mechanisms that support it, and in parallel, seeking a new material basis for the coexistence of local communities, in search of a viable alternative for the restoration of the territory’s imbalance.

The relation to energy is what carries humanity through every new spatial possibility. The context of the European Green Deal that triggers decarbonisation of many industries and faster energy transition to the latest technologies of renewable energy production is only one among many past and future transitions. All in all, it brings different conditions of possibility to think of energy as a spatio-temporal project. The relevance of space is brought forward when the scaling-up is also a spreading around, highlighting the potential not only in the agglomeration zones but mainly in its interdependence with operational landscapes. These areas must be invested with a renewed understanding of the distribution of renewable energy technologies in landscapes, realising its potential for socio-ecological connectivity and becoming a new backbone of urbanisation that can mediate alternatives for the state of climatic instability. In this direction, the Rhine basin is the location to investigate the relation of energy landscapes in the fossil-fuel age, anticipate the potentials and limitations of the ‘energy transition’ and speculate on the current and future energy modes. The project draws from territorial analyses, energy policy and technical documents and ecological perspectives to build a conceptual tool, introducing transitional landscapes that surpass current dichotomies between the urban and rural, conservation and industry, nature and economy and society. It develops a platform for common grounds where energy landscapes become temporal and spatial “stepping-stones” towards connecting and restoring landscapes towards just coexistence between natural processes, habitats for humans and fauna & flora amongst current and future modes of energy production. Eventually, it could serve as a background for developing policy instruments for rethinking European integration and networks beyond the typical infrastructures in Europe, becoming an alternative way of understanding territorial and regional integration.

The province of South Holland is a region in the Netherlands that can be characterized by its flourishing economy. The place where the vein of the river Maas stretches out over land and the Port of Rotterdam has settled in as a strategic trade-point. Moreover, the abundant agricultural sector in Westland holds accountable for not only multiple glasshouses, but also many livestock farms in the province.
When it comes to social inclusion in this big trade-port frame, the disconnection between the workers of the port to the chain of trade they are involved in is clearly noticeable. At the same time, farmers have no relation to the port industries and chains of distribution and cooperation.
This said, the vision strives to transform the linear, incoherent and patchy economy into a bio-based economy, truly rooted on circular and cooperative hallmarks. Enclosed within is a strategy that embeds entirely the waste-chains that can be found in both the Port and the agricultural sector and have currently been underused.
The idea of generating bio-energy from processed waste flows from glasshouses and farmers ensures that the production runs on bio-based means. To completely close the cycle, the vision enhances the port provision of CO2 through pipelines underground to the glasshouses in the Westland, as it further supports cultivation of crops and helps to reduce unsustainable energy consumption.
New cycles based on waste, unveil new landscape demands in the Province of South Holland, in which waste streams can be treated, traded and re-used for new purposes. These are zones with high potential to become spots for the exchange of knowledge from both parties (Port and agricultural sector) on how to strive and cooperate in the transition towards a circular and cooperative economy, in the near future.

Food. It is grown, processed, distributed, sold, eaten and then oftentimes
carelessly discarded. In the European Union, 88 million tonnes
of food waste is produced each year, while the Netherlands stands
out as the EU’s largest producer. Food waste causes soil degradation,
emits significant amounts of greenhouse gasses and can contribute
to poorer respiratory health. Moreover, food waste is also representative
of our growing disconnect with natural systems and subsequent
unsustainable lifestyles. Yet, annually, more natural habitats are destroyed
to make way for agriculture and livestock, often in response to
providing for a growing population. However, there can be a reimagination
of a more circular bio-based economy and food supply chain
that lessens the pressure on the earth. The existing infrastructure
of the Port of Rotterdam and its surrounding areas provide a fertile
landscape in which this can take place. Additionally, while reducing
food waste, intensifying social segregation and inequality concerning
ethnicity, income and urban/non-urban divides in Zuid-Holland can be
addressed to ensure environmental, economical and social robustness
and longevity.

Solutions for problems relating to food waste, and social segregation
and inequality, have then been translated into a spatial vision and
strategy to realize a more circular and inclusive food supply chain in
Zuid-Holland by 2050. The vision and strategy are based on holistic
analyses of the spatial distribution and character of the current linear
food supply chain and demographic studies of the inhabitants of
Zuid-Holland. This is then supported by policies and strategic projects
that aim to use and build onto existing frameworks and spatial
conditions to achieve the overarching aims. Key drivers of the vision
and strategy include a transition of the port’s current fossil fuel economy
to a regional hub for organic fertilizer production to be exported
domestically as well as internationally. Additionally, a network of community
exchange centers and a matrix of interfaces together aim to
change the spatial and societal fabric of Zuid-Holland. To do this, they
provide space for members of the same and different communities to
share knowledge, experiences and tools, as well as re-establish connections
with the natural world.

The first decades of the 21st century are defined by an expected shortage of fossil resources and an emerging climate crisis which make the transition towards renewable energy resources not only inevitable but also urgent. In the process of this transition, the Port of Rotterdam, associated with the biggest fossil fuel industry landscape in Europe, is confronted with the danger of becoming a drosscape. As the Province of Zuid Holland attempts to deal with this challenge under the umbrella of circularity, new issues regarding environmental and social justice in the whole area arise and call for a coordinated planning effort towards a just transition. This effort begins by answering how can the province use the obsolete fossil fuel infrastructure to transform the port‘s material landscapes fostering spatial justice and balancing the problematic relationship between natural and man-made systems.

Consequently, the project decodes the layers of the material, social and environmental dimensions investigating the critical issues that associate with the port‘s distinctive territories. In parallel, it defines the main concepts that can instruct this just transition arising from the fenced urban and port districts towards the whole province and combining top-down with bottom-up planning processes. As the project evolves in time, starting at the most critical territories as nodal points and involving all the different actors, it takes the form of a central green-blue spine that meets Zuid-Holland‘s energy demands while embodying a redefined symbiosis between nature and human. The result defines a new paradigm for the energy transition and the remediation of fossil fuel drosscapes that incorporates material circularity, environmental and social justice under the concept of “Energy Habitat“.

The Netherlands has set the ambitious goal to have a fully circular economy by 2050. The Port of Rotterdam (PoR), the largest and busiest port in Europe, has strong potential to become a future circular hub. The PoR has been a major player in the seaport industry for centuries with, among others, a strong logistics sector and a robust shipbuilding industry. However, the Netherlands does not have a solid shipbreaking sector. During 2016 - 2020, an astounding 86% of the vessels that were serving Dutch beneficiaries were scrapped in the Global South. To achieve a circular maritime manufacturing sector in just under 30 years, collaboration between stakeholders is needed to realize innovative solutions. The research question is therefore how can cross-pollination between the shipbuilding industry, knowledge sector, and local makers lead to a circular ship manufacturing sector? A combination of literature review and research by design was applied to gain insight into the required changes in the material and waste flows, and the possible role of the Makers industry in realizing a Dutch circular maritime manufacturing sector. It is expected that the educational needs and skills required of the labor force will have to evolve to fit the circular economy, therefore, the requirements to ensure a just social transition were investigated. The results are a spatial vision for a circular maritime manufacturing sector anchored to the existing waterway networks of South Holland, and a road map to implement this vision. By 2050, South Holland is the leading creative maritime region, where stakeholders in the Randstad collaborate on innovative solutions based on a shared maritime identity, respect for nature, and accessible physical learning and working environments. With the projected sea level rise, achieving a circular ship manufacturing sector is poised to play a crucial role in realizing a resilient water-based future.

Human driven pollution is causing irreversible damage to the habitability of our planet. Due to these environmental concerns, it has become imperative to move away from petrochemical dependency as this industry contributes significant greenhouse gases causing air, soil and water pollution. About 85% of the petrochemical industry that travels through the port of Rotterdam goes towards fuels for mobility, this is a critical bottleneck that requires careful consideration. To ensure a sustainable province in terms of both a liveable province as well as economic prosperity policy is set up by means of communicative rationality between all actors (commercial stakeholders, residents, consumers, etc.). In 2060 all our vehicles will run on electricity from sustainable production sources, such as solar and wind. We will travel less and more efficiently in part by improving spatial proximity to (social) functions. To aid this mobility transition, biofuel potentials will be optimized to phase out the existing infrastructural dependencies by 2040. After which a complete build down from all polluting mobility fuels will be put into action. This phase allows different actors to cultivate and experiment with sustainable waste–to– value connections between stakeholders by optimizing biofuel potentials from regional waste. To make this transition succeed, the mobility and fuel transition is brought on through the three pillars: 1. sustainable connections, 2. waste to value and 3. consumer patterns. Allowing for an integrative transition in line with the global move towards a circular economy and a more healthy and liveable environment. As a result of this transition the petroleum–industry leaves waste spaces that require transformation. By creating a toolkit to assess different typological waste spaces, petrol stations, terminals and refineries will be transformed into residential, office, cultural, green and other functions after the soil is properly remediated.