Generation Regeneration: these students envisage the South Holland Delta in 2100
They visited four regenerative farmers, viewed the landscape through the eyes of a dragonfly and organised workshops with policymakers and experts. Fifteen final-year students envisaged a South Holland Delta that no longer places a burden on the soil, water or atmosphere.
In the LDE Thesis Lab Generation Regeneration, eight Master’s students from the universities of Leiden, Delft and Rotterdam and seven students from the Academy of Architecture spent six months exploring a sustainable future for the South Holland Delta. Their work was compiled in the white paper Generation Regeneration. The South Holland Delta: 15 ideas for 2100, presented on 2 July in Spijkenisse.
Choices with far-reaching implications
‘The South Holland Delta is a special area,’ writes Arne Weverling, a VVD member of the South Holland Provincial Executive, in the foreword. ‘It is a convergence point for major societal challenges that demand choices with far-reaching implications beyond tomorrow.’
A day’s work with four farmers
Thiska Blijker, who is studying Industrial Ecology in Delft and Leiden, planted potatoes and weeded at the farms of four farmers who already practise regenerative farming. Meanwhile, she spoke with them about their motivations and the challenges they face. ‘I saw that on one farm everything revolves around community and healthy food, whilst on another, financial survival is the main driving force. Or a deep sense of responsibility to pass on the land in a healthy state to future generations.’
Blijker concludes that these farmers are driven by a broad spectrum of values. ‘Sometimes those values clash. One farmer with a food forest put his financial security at risk in order to better care for nature.’ She advises policymakers to visit farmers as well. ‘Connect with the reality of the people for whom you are drafting policy.’
The soil as the winner
Who are the winners and losers in regenerative agriculture, Pien Boekholz wondered. She completed her Master’s degree in Governance of Sustainability in Leiden with a workshop for farmers, policymakers and experts. The big winner turned out to be the soil: ‘The participants saw healthy soil as the foundation for the benefits offered by regenerative agriculture, from better water quality to greater biodiversity.’ The farmer, who – just like the rest of us – depends on that soil, is therefore effectively a winner too. However, society still needs to ensure that this becomes a financial reality.
Businesses can distribute electricity smartly
Economic activity and broad prosperity were also discussed. Annemerel Klink, also a student of Industrial Ecology, investigated the distribution of electricity between businesses. ‘We shouldn’t wait for the grid to be expanded, but should manage the available electricity more intelligently. Just as businesses are already successfully exchanging raw materials and heat, they can do the same with electricity.’ Coordinating amongst themselves who uses a lot of electricity and when is technically feasible. ‘Cooperation and regulations are what make it complicated at the moment.’
Dragonfly depicts a water-purifying landscape
Within the theme of water, Mara Middelhuis invites the reader to see the world through the eyes of a dragonfly. It hatched in a landscape that no longer pollutes water, but purifies it. Middelhuis is a Master’s student in Landscape Architecture at the Academy of Architecture and has the little creature make its way through, amongst other things, a purification forest and filtering cattails, on the hunt for mosquitoes and gnats. ‘She is the ultimate proof that the landscape works.’
A positive outlook on the future
The academic coordinator of the Thesis Lab is Joran Lammers, a PhD candidate and lecturer at the Leiden Centre for Environmental Sciences. Last year, he led a similar student project on the “Green Heart”. ‘Scientific conclusions these days often paint a bleak picture. That is precisely why we try to encourage students to look to the future with a positive attitude. You can be realistic about the science that shows our current way of life is unsustainable in the long term, whilst at the same time seeking solutions with an optimistic outlook.’