Walcheren, a reclaimed polder region in the southwest of the Netherlands, has long served as a site of both military defense and hydraulic engineering. Its landscape bears the imprint of centuries of human intervention, where inundation creek systems, fortification remains, and polder structures intersect. Particularly in the southern area around Fort Rammekens and De Nolle Bos, the remnants of wartime defenses coexist with coastal wetlands and modern urbanization. These overlapping layers make the region an exemplary case of a military palimpsest—a landscape where past narratives remain physically and spatially embedded in the terrain.

Today, Walcheren faces multi-layered challenges: increasing vulnerability to flooding and salinization, ecological degradation of sensitive wetlands, and conflicts between heritage preservation and spatial development. Tourism and infrastructure upgrades place further pressure on historically and ecologically valuable zones, risking the erosion of landscape identity. These tensions are especially evident where fortress remains are fragmented or obscured within urban and agricultural areas. In this context, the thesis poses the question: How can the historical layers of Walcheren’s military landscape be revealed through design to create a public space that preserves its historical significance and transforms into a socially vital and resilient landscape?

The research draws on theories of historical palimpsest, landscape biography, and memoryscape to guide the interpretation and transformation of the site. Methodologically, it employs palimpsest mapping, historical analysis, spatial reading of military remnants, and case studies of military landscape re-use.

These approaches inform a design framework that seeks not only to preserve layered heritage but also to spatially narrate it—allowing ecological recovery, public engagement, and resilient identity-building to emerge through landscape design.

An MDP project performed in the scope of the Delta Futures Lab in collaboration with the Dragon Institute. The report delves into the enviromental threats the Mekong Delta is facing and provides a design framework to deal with these problems. Furthermore, a case study is chosen to display how the framework can be adopted in a practical setting, envisioning what a future looks like where the Mekong Delta co-exists with water.