This paper presents the intermediate results of the Redesigning Deltas – Rivers Atelier in which a transition design approach is applied to develop scenarios for sustainable future river development. As a first step, a set of exploratory scenarios is derived from extrapolations of historic drivers for the development of the river Rhine: Water Way, Water Machine, Free Flow and Sponge Scape. Instead of addressing a predefined problem and valuating alternative futures, these scenarios were instrumental in gaining a better understanding of the river system at hand, and more specifically the effects of drivers on the physical river system. We conclude that explicit deliberation thereof is needed to break through the vicious intervention-response relationships that have characterized river management practices of the last centuries.

Worldwide, climate-related disasters are becoming increasingly common, resulting in severe destruction, loss of life, political uncertainty, climate migrations, and the extinction of numerous plant and animal species. As a result, forces of nature are often viewed as an adversary, something to fear and guard against. This perspective has led to the idea of nature as something malevolent and dangerous, even in the scientific debate, promoting the flawed notion that the changing climate must be controlled and corrected through technological means.

However, it is necessary to acknowledge that for centuries we have deliberately extracted material from the soil, constructed megacities on floodplains, confined wide river meanders within narrow canals, built dams and reservoirs on geological fault lines, established petrochemical plants in rare biodiversity regions, and developed agricultural land below sea level or in the deserts. Since the Industrial Revolution, in the name of progress, we have increasingly tried to dominate nature through technological advancements, believing we could control the water cycles, temperatures, species evolution, and geological dynamics. Yet, we are ultimately realizing that these are natural processes that lie beyond our control.

This issue of the Journal of Delta Urbanism seeks to redefine natural disasters as human-induced accidents, aiming to reshape our understanding of nature, human impact, and climate change. It promotes the perspective that these phenomena are inextricably inherent and immutable, urging the envisioning of new ways of living, designing new forms of adaptation rather than fostering attempts at control or fixing nature.