The ecological, climate and urban crisis globally takes place in extreme landscapes. Events like tsunamis, hurricanes, extreme drought and cold, or extreme urbanizations even the Netherlands as extreme is taken as starting point for explorative research. The research looked into a wide spectrum of six cases of extreme landscapes: drought, hurricane, tsunami and temperature which gives an overview of the different forms of critical relationship between nature (biotic/abiotic) and culture. By reading and mapping ongoing trends and projecting future change, the research engaged with a main research question which has the purpose to turn the negative effects of extreme ecologies around: How can ecosystem participation work as catalyst for healthy, climate proof extreme urban environments? The research guides the quest into how to move from considering ecosystems as a service towards going back into the system as participant and how does this affect the living in extreme situations. By comparing different extreme situations, there is an methodological understanding of how this affects the field of urban design.