Freshwater scarcity in the IJsselmeer Region is intensifying due to the dual pressures of climate change and socio-economic development. Rising temperatures, salinisation, and increased water demand have exposed the limitations of the current water system. This research addresses the urgent need for adaptive spatial planning by developing a Dynamic Spatial Adaptive Pathway (DSAP) methodology to expand freshwater buffer capacity through water circularity. The approach combines regional planning frameworks with design-based spatial strategies and consists of six steps, grouped under four phases: system framing, vision learning, decision supporting, and strategy implementing. The methodology is applied to the Northwest Overijssel region, a key transitional area facing both ecological sensitivity and human water demands. By integrating scenarios based on Delta planning and water policy, the study identifies spatial typologies and sectoral tipping points, enabling phased design
responses across different future trajectories. This adaptive approach bridges policy and design, allowing for the monitoring of system changes and timely responses through spatial interventions. The methodology not only responds to uncertainties in water supply but also enables co-benefits for ecological quality and long-term resilience. Through a combination
of scenario planning, stakeholder engagement, and adaptive design, this research offers a replicable planning framework for other regions within the Dutch Delta context and provides strategic insight for linking high-level water policy with grounded spatial implementation.

The Dutch greenhouse industry contributing 19% of the national carbon emissions, highlights its significant role in the ever-increasing environmental, social, and political challenges developing from climate change. Geopolitical tensions including the war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic, coupled with resource scarcity and a world population growth underscore the urgency of transitioning societal practices within the food-energy nexus. Existing policies such as the European Green Deal emphasize the need to transition toward renewable energy. Given the horticulture sector’s substantial spatial and global exportation footprint, there is potential to strategically utilize these spaces and economic flows. If successful, Dutch greenhouses can be the catalyst for a circular society model that emphasizes environmental regeneration, peri-urban community empowerment, and representative policy.

This report builds from theories including social justice, circular economy, glocalization, and regenerating peri-urban landscapes. By applying a circular society framework, which prioritizes sustainable consumption patterns, co-created policy, and spatial justice, this report develops a regional strategy for connecting and diversifying greenhouse sub-regions. The goals of this strategy include enhancing community engagement, ecological restoration, innovative knowledge-based production, and fully renewably sourced systems. An analysis through the lens of these intended goals leads to an instruction manual for redesigning industrial landscapes and an index of potential building blocks to implement in the redesign.

This instruction manual offers to scientific relevance through a large-scale combination of innovations, and a circular 15-minute social and 30-minute economic system, and societal relevance through lowering political unrest and the combination of technical and social functions. The manual is useful for a diverse range of parties including municipalities, policymakers, scientists, students, and residents.

Ultimately, SowGrowConnect aims for a future where greenhouse regions are not just endless rows of glasshouses but inclusive and diverse energy and social landscapes.