This project delves into the increasingly prevalent phenomenon of liquid labour mobilities resulting from the ever-changing boundaries of the European Union, examining their often-overlooked spatial implications in the Netherlands. Focusing on the critical presence of Central and Eastern European labour migrants engaged in precarious seasonal or ‘flex’ work arrangements, the research investigates the intersection of global mobility circuits and the local demand for temporary labour within the Dutch production landscape, particularly in the agriculture, horticulture and trade logistics sectors. Through interviews, spatial analysis of ten sites and policy and literature reviews, this study examines how these mobilities are facilitated and managed, the often-exploitative role of temporary employment agencies and the impact of precarious housing and job insecurity on the lives of seasonal workers. By scrutinising these dynamics, the project proposes novel strategies for sustainable and democratic seasonal neighbourhoods that respond to the underexplored challenges of flex-work and seasonal migration. Drawing upon cross-geography urban theory, this research suggests innovative living and working strategies and principles that emphasise both, the societal and economic imperatives of ensuring just and equitable conditions for temporary labourers.

Over the past 100 years, caravan dwellers in the Netherlands have been a subject of discussion. In the past, laws have banned them from travelling, placed them in big camps, decentralised these camps and even tried to force them into sedentary life through an extinction policy. After a verdict by the European Court for Human Rights, a new policy framework was created for caravan dweller accommodation, redirecting responsibility to municipalities. However, the stigmatised, spatially and socially segregated group is still not seeing improvement in meeting their human rights. Due to a lack of input and output legitimacy fuelled by a complex history with many discriminatory practices, they are distrusting of the government. The government admits fault and a knowledge gap in expertise on caravan dwellers. However, the group that could aid in filling the knowledge gap and improving the input legitimacy is hesitant to cooperate due to mutual distrust.

This research attempts to explore the interconnectedness of the themes of people, policies, spatial principles and governance &participation to create a new approach to the caravan dweller politics and decision-making process in the spatial planning context, by focusing on input and output legitimacy. Through different analytical and fieldwork methods ranging from media analysis to interviews, an approach is created that will advise on the current framework recommendations, who should be involved in which manner and how the process should be approached. A more central role for the national government and a participation roadmap that, together with the framework recommendations, will give insight into which mechanisms and tools can increase input and output legitimacy will pave the way to rebuild the trust between the different stakeholders and create a just and sustainable future for the caravan dwellers in the Netherlands.

Migration within the European Union (EU) is becoming a complex phenomenon driven by various social, political, economic, and environmental causes. While migration is an ordinary event, vulnerable groups such as asylum seekers, refugees and irregular migrants often face significant hardships and risks throughout their journey. In recent years, the EU has grappled with unprecedented pressure of irregular migrants in its external borders, leading to strict border controls and externalisation of migration management with third-world countries. With this, there is severe stress in housing, healthcare, labour markets, and education in individual countries with the sudden increase in population with diverse cultural backgrounds. Discrimination, xenophobia, and political shifts towards far-right ideologies have also posed challenges to the humane treatment of these vulnerable groups. This raises questions about why the E.U. does not want to accept these communities despite its ageing and shrinking society.

This project explores the consequences of migration in the EU, with a particular focus on refugees and asylum seekers. Beginning with an analysis of EU migration policies and attitudes towards refugees, the project focuses on the Netherlands, examining its asylum-seeking process amidst political shifts. The research then aims to imagine the inclusion and integration of refugees living in isolated temporary asylum shelters in cities, using case studies and literature to identify spatial and non-spatial aspects crucial for fostering a sense of comfort and belonging in a new country. By proposing spatial strategies and policies to create opportunities for stronger socio-cultural connections in cities of the Netherlands, the project aims to facilitate stronger bonds between refugees and native citizens. Through a combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches, it seeks to reshape formal regulated interactions, fostering informal settings for everyday interactions. The project's outcomes are evaluated to assess its impact on forming a new inclusive society.

The Netherlands has the ambition to transition to a fully circular economy before 2050. Between this future and where we stand now, there is still a large gap. The Netherlands produces 60 million tonnes of waste per year. This fact contains two problems that this project aims to deal with: 1) the heigh of this number in the first place, and 2) that approximately 20% of the waste does not find its way back into the system. In 2020, 7.6 million tonnes of waste was incinerated and 32.7 million tonnes of waste was exported to non-EU countries, where waste often ends up in landfill or is send for incineration with adverse health effects.

This project takes the radical stance to stop incineration and export, which means the Netherlands must take responsibility for the waste it produces. For much of the waste that currently follows one of these trajectories, there are no adequate solutions for reuse or recycling. Hence, we designed a system of waste collection, sorting, and storage where materials can be stored in waste houses until they find their way back into the system (problem 1). The piling up of the waste will create awareness of the consequences of unresponsible consumption, affecting the behaviour of people through confrontation (problem 2).

The system we design aims to create a disruption of the existing linear system at different levels. The large-scale societal perception of production-consumption-waste generation will slowly change, while the waste houses will create a sense of urgency at the small scale. This will stimulate niche innovations to find innovative solutions to deal with waste that is stored. Our project is thus both an instigator of change and part of the change itself in the transition to the circular economy.

If the project is successful, the waste houses will gradually become obsolete as consumption and waste production go down. In the far future, the former waste houses can house different functions, or they can be demolished in a circular way, returning the materials into the resource loop.

The Netherlands has created a large nitrogen pollution problem in its soils, which is harming biodiversity. By intensifying and industrialized farming, by importing animal feed for dairy production and fertilizer for crop farming, too much nitrogen has accumulated in the soil. Consequently, ecological processes are disturbed due to eutrophication (over-feeding of nutrients), from which only a few species profit, causing other species to lose the competition and cease, with detrimental effects on reliant other species.
This project explores how this intensive/industrial farming can be substituted by more sustainable alternatives in which creating and maintaining biodiversity is key. An alternative system is proposed based on the spatial intergrading between cities and protected natural areas with typologies that focus on balancing food production and biodiversity creation. This alternative system is then detailed concerning the small-scale effects it has, the necessary process of policy creation and the necessary systemic changes as preconditions for a successful execution. The transformation design is developed along a framework of values which are reflecting on current best practices in the discipline of urbanism touching on issues of planetary boundaries, justice and transitional thinking.
Our key takeaways are to keep the city and adjacent areas productive, close to where consumption of goods is high but also where functions like education and food markets can be sensibly integrated. Further from the city and closer to already biodiverse and protected areas of the Nature Network Netherlands (NNN), the gradient leans more towards focussing on the creation of biodiversity. Humans and non-human species can find their thriving space on the gradient, food production is still an integral part as well. By creating a system in which farmers are working together, and are guided to create this balance on their farms and are paid for their efforts and the services they provide to society, they can be encouraged to change their farming practices for the better.

The Netherlands, renowned for its flat landscape and strategic location at the confluence of major rivers, combined with fertile soil and a mild climate, boasts optimal natural conditions for agricultural production. However, the success of the Dutch agricultural sector and its developments has significant implications for biodiversity, as excessive nitrogen levels contribute to a decline in plant and animal species, ultimately disrupting the ecosystem balance. Currently, functions are separated by human engineered boundaries with little to no interaction with each other. Agriculture is hyper focused on the productive part of the system, lacking equilibrium. Ideally, water, agriculture and soil live in perfect harmony and so envisioned for the year 2070 is a dynamic river landscape in the Dutch Delta region; a landscape where there is room for the water to flow as it pleases. In this vision, a river's natural flow is embraced; free flowing water with little constraints. Instead of seeing this freedom as a problem that must be controlled, this project values the river's morphological changes and water fluctuations through time. This vision and strategy not only makes room for the river, but creates a new dynamic system in which water, biodiversity and agriculture works together. Adjustments are mainly made to the land-uses to correspond to the shifts of the river, using several interventions. A green network of ‘in between’ wetlands is situated within the river basin. This network serves as vital ecosystems that enhance the resilience of the region. These green marshes overflow with biodiversity, serving as havens for formerly threatened animal and plant species alike to thrive and flourish. In this project, we apply strategic tools to three locations with different conditions, such as moderately wet, wet, and extremely wet, acting as pilots to be extended into more parts of the Dutch Delta region in the future. This forward-thinking approach not only ensures the sustainability of agriculture but also fosters a healthier, more diverse environment for generations to come.

The thesis aims to unveil and challenge institutionalized gender hierarchical relations between the military and women in conflict environments. It critically examines the military as an institution inherently intertwined with conflict in periods of war and during periods of conflict. The thesis argues that the military plays a significant role in shaping and maintaining gender power structures, through institutional perceptions and spatial practices. It explores the relationship between the military and women and how institutionalized gender perceptions contribute to the widening gap between them, using Cyprus as a case study. Through the use of visual ethnography as a primary methodology, the thesis seeks to shed light and challenge the oppressive prescript narratives and power dynamics imposed on women by the military.
Using Nicosia and Pyla as a case study, conflict environments where inhabitants have normalized the experiences of living with the constant presence of the military, the thesis spatializes its theoretical framework. It utilizes tools and insights gained from theoretical and artistic analyses, to make visible and challenge the gender institutional perceptions, fixed gender roles, and spatialities that feed gender hierarchical structures. The ultimate goal is to expose this issue in various existing and ongoing conflict environments.

In recent decades, the relevance of the railway as a more sustainable alternative for (inter)national commuting has increased significantly. Moreover, contemporary railway stations are becoming not only important mobility hubs where national and local transportation systems are interlinked but also new city centres offering a variety of functions and attractive places to live and work. However, there are still missing links in the European railway network. One of them, the connection between Poland to Finland through the Baltic states will be implemented by 2030. After completion, Kaunas, the second largest city in Lithuania, will become an important railway node. The thesis investigates how to exploit the potential of the Rail Baltica project and use it as a catalyst for the development of the city. To achieve this, personal experiential knowledge is combined with the data-driven approach to propose a visionary plan for Kaunas railway station and its surroundings that would accelerate the transition towards sustainable, safe and accessible mobility for all and would integrate the area into the existing urban fabric. The proposal suggests that large blocks, similar to Kaunas New Town, could ensure the continuity of the urban fabric, integrate existing heritage into the new structure and allow phasing. The densification framework defines the parameters of each block, aiming for a higher density towards the mobility hub. In addition, changes in street network and profiles are suggested to prioritise public transport and active modes of mobility. The key elements of the masterplan are detailed including the mobility hub where both railway and bus stations are combined and the hub is expanded towards the opposite side of the railway tracks. Moreover, standards for new blocks and streets are defined to ensure high-quality development which promotes high-density neighbourhoods while preserving local identity and heritage. Lastly, the regional impact study is used as an evaluation tool. It concludes that due to the limits of population growth in Lithuania, there is a need for collaboration between Rail Baltica cities to develop their railway station areas in a way that would complement each other rather than compete.

Due to the ongoing housing crisis in London, a significant number of low-income families at the risk of homelessness and displacement are currently placed in insufficient temporary accommodation while simultaneously autonomous developments like the ‘financialisation of housing’ and the ‘sharing economy’ result in an increasing number of vacancies. Thus, this graduation project aims to improve the availability and quality of temporary accommodation by developing an integrated housing system inspired by informal practices that utilises currently unavailable vacant buildings.
Therefore, different types of informal housing practices and their advantages and disadvantages were compared, and useful outcomes were transferred for the development of the integrated housing system. The system consists of a framework of policies and regulations which operate in different ways and on different levels. Additionally, the situation of low-income families being at the risk of homelessness and displacement was analysed with a mixed-method approach using both quantitative and qualitative data to gain an understanding of their needs and requirements regarding temporary housing solutions. Furthermore, an investigation based on literature as well as statistical and spatial data of vacancies, their indicators, and location in London, has revealed two main types. In order to determine the suitability of the different vacancy types a multi-scalar set of indicators was developed based on the three concepts of livability, meaning of home, and social safety. Based on the previous analysis a catalogue of spatial interventions that enhance the suitability according to the three concepts was created as a guide for both the public and private sector. Lastly, through an exemplary design in the case study area, the different spatial changes are visualised.
In summary this graduation project offers a combined solution for the presented problem by introducing the integrated housing system and providing a guide for related spatial changes.

Although the industrial release of pollutant substances into North West European river delta has been decreasing over the last decades, The Netherlands still has one of the worst water qualities in Europe. In this strategic regional design we aim to improve the quality, quantity and distribution of water through the concept of sustainable land use. Industrial waste, waste water and increasing demand for land are the main pressures on our river water system. Considering the future risk of flood and drought there is also a big insecurity about our water quantity. There will be a need for more space and fair use of our water system. The goal is to restore the water quality in the North West European river delta and secure a sufficient water quantity for future use, flood protection and a fair distribution of the water available. In this report research by design is used to develop a spatial vision and spatial strategy that will create spatial water justice and with that a healthy river landscape. There are three themes related to spatial water justice: water quantity, quality and distribution. To meet sufficient standards for these three themes there are three important concepts: a circular industrial water system, decontamination and room for the rivers. All of them deal with the broader concept of sustainable land use. Sustainable land use is the fair and balanced distribution of land and environmental resources. This report shows a regenerative decontamination design for the North West European river delta. It is the development of a catalog of interventions that can be used in the whole river basin. Many small changes make a big difference in an interconnected system like a river basin. Every small intervention that will help clean the water, adds to the whole system and changes the whole system into a healthy and just river landscape. Together with this catalog there is a manual where the interventions are connected to spatial qualities of a specific location. The catalog and manual have been implemented for the case of South - Holland / Rivierenland. This example shows how we assure a sufficient water quality, quantity and fair distribution of water in a long-term perspective in the North West European Delta region.

This project aims to address the challenges posed by the transition to renewable energy sources. This will cause an unstable and unreliable energy flow, which does not correspond with the current energy use patterns of society. Different elements of the current energy network are analysed. They have a big role in the transition towards a completely renewable energy system. The proposed solution involves the utilisation of hydrogen as a means to store and transport renewable energy. In order to achieve this, consumption and production patterns in North-western Europe are analysed in relation to existing energy infrastructure that is suitable for carrying hydrogen. With a combination of different data sources and a created algorithm a model is created that is able to generate clusters. These clusters resulted in a continental framework containing 3 typologies of energy landscapes. A centralized, decentralized and a resilient zone; inbetween. These landscapes are characterised by their population, proximity and current land use against societal challenges such as justice, resilience, polarisation, and reliability. Self-made algorithms are used to transcribe the landscapes into a collection of physical energy elements that will be needed in areas. These measurements are visualized to propose what the future “energyscapes” could look like. The project suggests implementations on different scales for the new paradigm in the energy transition where hydrogen contributes to a just and reliable energy system.

Nature is declining rapidly. Recent research connected the natural decline with the intensive and monocultural way of dairy agriculture that is happening in North-Western Europe. As a result farmers are forced to stop and are left without a vision for their future. A change in the practice of dairy farming is necessary to reach the goals of the European Green Deal, but the current regulations fail to arch the missing link for providing a just transition. This report aims to bridge this gap by providing bottom-up interventions and a clear top-down vision and answer the question: “How can the goals of the European Green Deal be achieved in a fair way to facilitate the transition towards sustainable dairy farming in the non-urban area in N-W Europe?”

The studies in this report discusses a multiscalar strategy that focuses on farmers cooperating, upscaling of regenerative farming practices, crop-livestock rotation and localizing waste and resource loops. This transformation of the farming practice is grounded by the government establishing policies and defining green corridors and natural structures that connect natura 2000 areas. This will set the ground for farmers to join the provided pattern game. In the strategy a pilot project, De Kooi, will be used to convince farmers the transition is beneficial.

Considering the profession's vast environmental, social, and economic impacts, a balance between preserving nature and progressive dairy farming techniques is established by providing farmers with a vision for their future while giving biodiversity space to thrive.

The Rhine River distributes water to more than 60 million residents, vital industries, and important agricultural sites across a total of eight countries. However, due to climate change, the availability of water resources has become increasingly dependent on seasonal supply and internal distribution (UNESCO, 2009). Moreover, extended periods of high river flow have the potential to pose threats to the urbanized regions along the Rhine (IKSR, 2011; Rottler et al., 2021; Stahl et al., 2022). In light of these developments, questions arise concerning the rights to use and manage the water. Simultaneously, water governance along the Rhine remains weak, with limited coordination between nation-states, sectors, and other relevant stakeholders, resulting in minimal influence at the local level (Rietveld et al., 2013; Akamami, 2016; Moodie, et al., 2022). Against this backdrop, this project focuses on the spatial element of the "dike" as a mechanism to control water flows and simultaneously restore the lost connection between local stakeholders and the Rhine.

The project, titled "Finding Common Water," employs the new governance principle of Active Subsidiarity to prioritize local and regional autonomy in water management and identify issues that can only be addressed at higher levels of governance. Its goal is to investigate the potential for delegating the decision-making process of dike management to local levels of society. By enabling self-organizing capacity at lower levels of government, independent stakeholder systems can be synchronized to support adaptive water governance and localized protection.

The methodology of the project comprises several components. It includes literature review studies to enhance understanding of changes in governmental schemes in the transition to adaptive water governance. Additionally, a socio-spatial analysis is conducted on the Rhine River to assess current conditions related to drought, water discharge trends, water usage, and water management. To assign water management to local levels of society, the areas surrounding the Rhine are viewed as hydro-social territories. These territories are based on the mutual relationship between "water" and social, political, economic, cultural, and biophysical systems at a particular scale.

Drawing from the Dutch water management, a roadmap is created, following the principles of Active Subsidiarity toward localized dike autonomy. This roadmap empowers local stakeholder groups to evaluate their capacity to self-organize their relationship with the river through the spatial element of the dike. An assessment of indicators is made to evaluate the potential for localized dike autonomy. This is divided into four main subcategories: The Authoritative Region, The Dike, The Suitability Conditions, and The River Dynamics. By creating a calculation formula for these four main subcategories, potential locations along the Rhine suitable for localized dike autonomy can be identified. Finally, a test case is utilized to demonstrate the potential spatial outcomes of local dike autonomy.. Finally, a testcase is used to show the possible spatial outcomes of local dike autonomy.

One of the main results of Cyprus’s contemporary conflict is the Cypriot refugee identity creation. The thesis focuses on the Cypriot refugee settlements created from 1976 to 1991, unraveling the formation of the Greek Cypriot refugee community through space. The thesis project questions how community-led spatial planning allows the Cypriot refugee settlements to be transformed into livable environments while preserving the memories of their initial inhabitants. Additionally, the project expands on how the planning process builds a community in a conflict environment and how the right to remembrance is spatialized conceptually while considering the spatial factors which influence the right to remembrance seen in theoretical notions.
Through the analysis of the spatial footprint of the Cypriot refugees, the refugee settlements, aspects of their liveability state, and remembrance of their past are depicted. The refugee community’s and refugee settlement’s current image are illustrated through quantitative and qualitative analysis. These areas’ social consistency, and spatial characteristics, are combined with the actors and stakeholders involved, contributing to constructing and reconstructing the refugee identity. These elements have been used to form the spatial patterns that describe urgencies and critical features of the refugee community building. Moreover, the degree of place attachment of the refugee settlement residents and the factors responsible for their decay and embody the potential to contribute to community building are identified and used for the pattern language.
The spatial patterns formed through the analysis of Nicosia refugee settlements and global reference patterns dedicated to community express the socio-spatial characteristics of the social group, the refugees, their living conditions, and how the life histories of the first generations have or can be imprinted through space. The patterns created represent starting points for synergies and cooperation among actors towards a socially conscious community’s future at the refugee settlements. Spatial patterns related to the remembrance of the refugee community, combined with liveability aspects, aim to summarize the key elements that enable a community-led strategy, resulting in the landscape memorialization of the refugee settlements.
The complexity of the Cypriot refugee case, primarily because of their internal displacement, the unclear future of the refugee properties, and the de facto division of the island since 1974, make the Cypriot refugees a unique, extremely complex, particularly interesting case.

After 2020, the vendor economy has become a hot topic in China. Based on the background of the Chinese government's intention to support the vendor economy, its importance is gradually being emphasized. As an essential component of the informal economy, the vendor economy enhances urban employment and helps the urban poor groups and is an important part of China's urban life and traditional culture. At the same time, it poses increasingly apparent conflicts and problems, such as space abuse and hygiene issues.
This project analyzes the advantages of the vendor economy and the deep reasons for conflict. It proposes a strategy that preserves the benefits and addresses the disadvantages of the vendor economy. The design provides a better business environment for the participants, improves the quality of urban public space, and increases urban vitality while helping low-income people in the city. The research methodology and strategy development process will also provide the basis and inspiration for developing a good vendor economy in Chinese cities.

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.

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“.

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 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.

This thesis addresses the prospected future of climate-induced displacement in the Netherlands; managed retreat as part of a new flood defense strategy for the coastal region.

Climate change, sea-level rise and flood threat are relevant subjects for the Netherlands. However, unlike most delta regions, displacement of parts of the population is not part of Dutch culture anymore. An extensive delta system protects even the lowest parts of the country. Displacement, in this case, is not a direct consequence of sea-level rise, but rather a consequence of how the Dutch government decides to deal with it. The delta strategy is currently in transition, meaning it is unclear what the outcome will be.
The Dutch Delta Programme deals with the uncertainty in sea-level rise predictions by laying out different conceptual scenarios, the most extreme being Move Along. Move Along suggests allowing the ocean to take back parts of the Netherlands. There are more explorative studies on the future of the Dutch coastline. However, none of them incorporate the human aspect in abandoning parts of the country; displacement of part of the population. As sea-level rise is slow-onset, there is time to plan ahead offering opportunity to deal with the displacement in a strategic way.

The project focusses on exploring the potential of combining a strategy for retreat with existing spatial planning goals as a means to deal with the uncertainty of sea-level rise. In addition, this combination creates a shared goal in order to preserve livelihood for the affected population.