One in five municipalities in the Netherlands is prognosed to experience population decline by 2050. Especially rural settlements will have difficulty facilitating this shrinkage and the negative effects involved. With a depriving variety of available facilities and an increase in vacancy, local communities are on the border of falling apart. At the same time, an increasing number of churches are left vacated and out of service while religious participation declines. This graduation project aims to revitalize the heart of villages with the church at the center to increase the livability and social cohesion. Connecting the local community with the heritage of churches and their role in society again. With a toolbox filled with design interventions as a final product and the implementation of this toolbox on three different project locations throughout the Netherlands, this thesis provides a first step to a beckoning new perspective on the identity of rural cores.

The changing climate pressures the resilience of cities and nature all over the world, putting the position of historically valuable urban and natural environments at risk. The province of South-Holland has economically evolved around the unique triple delta landscape. In order to keep its economically competitive position and take environmental responsibility, the province aims to be circular by 2050. However, the province is facing a number of environmental challenges, such as salinization, soil subsidence and the risk of flooding, that are further aggravated by the intensification of land use and climate change. At the same time, however, the region faces an enormous housing demand. Therefore, this strategic vision was created with the aim to propose a way to answer the high demand for space in South-Holland while preserving the delta environment. Three themes were identified as key drivers to reach the use of adaptive delta water management, the transformation to sponge cities and a shift towards water circularity were identified as key drivers. Implementing interventions along these themes will preserve and redefine both the natural and the urban environment. This strategic vision provides the roadmap towards a circular delta environment in 2050. This vision involves the transformation of export-oriented agricultural land into wetland area, the densification and expansion of urban areas and a shift towards a biobased port. The strategic pathway towards 2050 starts by involving a wide range of stakeholders. Water boards were identified as a fundamental partner. Besides, local stakeholders, such as farmers and citizens, are empowered in order to secure social justice and to increase impact. The interventions are then being implemented in collaboration with these stakeholders. Pilot projects are the first step of implementation, after which the interventions are being implemented on a larger scale. The main interventions are: implementing wetlands and blue-green networks, implementing a separated water system and water retaining structures within urban areas, executing urban development projects and the development of a blue-green hydrogen network. Finally, these implemented interventions are connected to create a circular system. Based on this projects the main recommendations to foster the shift towards circular water flows are: the implementation of a separated water system as an aspect in the shift towards sponge cities, the implementation of large scale wetland areas that are connected to the water system and finally the implementation of water reuse technologies within the port, greenports and agriculture.