A Floating Circular Future

Abstract

While attempting to find an answer to the question of how we could become sustainable and circular by 2050, we discovered that it was quite difficult to even imagine what South Holland, the Netherlands or the world, for that matter, would look like. The questions that arose quite quickly were, among others: how many people will live here then? How will we have dealt and continue to deal with the challenge of sustainability? How will the climate have changed? This resulted in the question that guided the rest of the research: will we still be able to live here? The process starts with the acknowledgment that climate change is a serious threat to us and the way we live. Then there is the realization that it does not make sense to imagine a future in which the economic structures have changed, but the landscape and the way we deal with this threat has not. From this, we continue to envision South Holland in 2100, to see what the landscape could look like and how the circular economy and its activities could exist within it. While drawing up this image, the answers to the questions of flood risk and circularity are not found separately, but sought in the creation of synergies between different sectors and layers. The idea is that the transforming landscape can be a generator of change within the agricultural sector and energy production as well. If the environment changes, the ways in which we use, inhabit or move through it will shift, too. The resulting strategy is about protecting what is crucial, using what is possible and letting go of what we can. This is all striven for in order to reach our goals of having South Holland protected from floods and sea level rise, a circular and sustainable agri-food sector, 100% clean and renewable energy and increased environmental health, all while taking into account the (societal) challenges of the century.