River basins are becoming increasingly vulnerable to climate change. The Maas (Meuse), a rain-fed river, depends on precipitation for its discharge. Changing rainfall patterns are expected to intensify floods due to wetter winters and summer storms, while also increasing water shortages in summer. Historically, the river naturally adapted to extreme changes in discharge, but the engineered, fixed-course river landscape has reduced its resilience and adaptability.

Renaturalisation of the river morphology could restore these natural processes. However, this requires a transformation of the surrounding ecological, agricultural, and urban landscape. Therefore, this thesis investigates how the cultivated landscape can be integrated into a more natural river system in the Noordelijke Maasvallei by 2100, under the most extreme dry and wet scenarios following a systemic design approach. A pattern language defines measures related to renaturalisation, ecology, agriculture, and urbanisation. The maximisation method then identifies the best spatial outcomes per theme as input for the integrated design.

The research led to an integrated design for the Noordelijke Maasvallei, where the Maas has space to flow and sedimentate naturally. This improves the water safety, water quality, and ecological resilience of the area towards 2100. The design applies measures from the pattern language across multiple scales, revealing different possibilities to enhance climate resilience for the river, ecological, agricultural, and urban landscapes. The systemic approach of this research allows for transferability to other contexts. Although this design prioritises renaturalisation and ecological resilience, the focus can be shifted by adjusting the inputs from the maximisation method. Furthermore, the pattern language provides a toolbox with measures that can be used separately and in different contexts. Overall, this thesis demonstrates the potential of restoring rivers to enhance climate resilience when the landscape adapts to the river, rather than forcing the river to fit human needs. ... Read more

The Nitrogen Crisis has become a focal point for the global community, with the related European policy stirring uncertainty in the agricultural sector. This political unrest has been clearly manifested in the Netherlands, while natural areas remain exposed to high emission levels. Society calls for systematic solutions to the nitrogen issue that conserve the existence of farmers, the preservation of nature and the national economy.

This report focuses on the agricultural sector, as it accounts for 52 per cent of emissions (RIVM, 2022). We investigate opportunities to mitigate NH4 and NO3 surplus in soil caused by current agricultural practices and we spatially explore a systemic approach to cut emissions caused by livestock farms and inefficient use of fertilizers within field crop farming in the Eurodelta region.

Through document review and archival research, followed by spatial analysis and mapping, we investigate what changes in agricultural practice can restore balance in the nitrogen cycle. A vision for the Netherlands’ primary agricultural production future is formulated. This vision focuses on sustainable land use, alongside nature protection, research development and community engagement. We elaborate on this through a spatial
strategy, which concentrates on five strategic projects used to assess the interventions on-site and demonstrate their potential to all stakeholders.

Our proposal involves the recognition of natural protection zones in areas where agriculture borders natural habitats. Actions and policies are suggested to facilitate land conversions and support the farmers in this transition. Furthermore, we propose a network of living labs and community centres aimed at applying sustainable farming methods and connecting the city and agriculture.

We conclude that to prevent harm to human health and the environment we need to explore ways to combine the farmers’ and the environment’s interests. The systemic approach requires equitable regulations governing permissible emissions for farmers throughout the Netherlands. However, it should allow farmers to autonomously shape emission reduction initiatives locally. ... Read more