Life in the 21st century moves faster than ever, leading to a society that is increasingly unsustainable for both people and the planet. This thesis proposes a shift toward slowness in the Netherlands by encouraging everyday walking through better spatial planning and design. It explores how planning and design can support both behaviour change and broader social change—by starting with walking.
Using practice theory, walking-based research, and case studies in Heerde and Zwolle, the project rethinks walking in the Netherlands—not just as transport or leisure, but as something deeply personal and part of daily routines. This broader view challenges current strategies that rely mostly on infrastructure, individual nudges, or one-size-fits-all solutions.
The thesis introduces a new way of planning for walking, with clear aims, new methods, and practical tools. It focuses on three goals: 1) encourage walking, 2) sustain walking habits, and 3) create time and space for walking. Methods include walking-based research, using personas and daily routines in design, and imagining better future scenarios. A pattern language is developed, linking eye-level walking experiences and larger-scaled spatial, social and policy interventions.
The project proposes a phased strategy, explored in Heerde and Zwolle: starting with small changes encouraging rethinking daily spaces and habits, creating a foundation of localized, quality spaces and practices supporting walking, restricting fast practices, and finally supporting long-term walking practices, with flexibility, diverse experiences and ever evolving meanings of walking.
All in all, walking is shown to be more than just a slow experience, as promoting it reflects values of Slowness like quality and local connection. This prompts policy-makers, designers and citizens alike to reflect on the values shaping our everyday lives and spaces, recognising how small changes in day-to-day life, such as walking, can contribute to broader societal shifts. Walking thus emerges as a practice, method and a framework for envisioning desirable, sustainable futures rooted in wellbeing. ... Read more

The energy industry is responsible for almost 89% of GHG emissions (IEA, 2022), and projected CO2 emissions would exceed the 1.5°C goal (IPCC,2023). There is no question that we need to transition towards renewable energy sources, it has become an urgency and we need to transition now.

However, there are several challenges within this energy transition. Renewable energy sources require better spatial planning in terms of land-use. Its production and the stability of energy systems require reliable and resilient geopolitical relationships. It is also a challenge to ensure affordability and accessibility of renewable energy, as well as the acceptance of the transition towards renewables. We have to tackle all these challenges while involving nature as an actor.

We aim to achieve a just and resilient energy transition by 2050. This means creating secured geopolitical relationships, ensuring affordable, accessible and fair distributed energy and regenerating ecology in the process. These goals are divided into three main pillars: Geopolitics, Social aspects and Ecology. With circular economy as one of our theoretic frameworks combined with our pillars, we create a conceptual framework. In this report we made use of other theoretic frameworks like resilience, spatial and social justice, the pattern language and panarchy theory.

Spatial analysis and literature research have concluded in several strategies to ensure a just and resilient energy transition. We zoomed into the region of and between Rotterdam and Ruhr-area. On this scale we determined areas of specialised and generalised production; inter-connection of energy production landscape and expanded protected nature areas; mixed land-use of energy production, agriculture, the urban fabric and natural areas. On a local scale we explained two different systems of rural decentralised energy systems with a bottom-up approach.

The ‘Power of justice’ aims for a future that is resilient and just because of strong geopolitical relationships and an improved energy grid. We not only consider present life but also the future of human and non-human generations.
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