The Rhine River distributes water to more than 60 million residents, vital industries, and important agricultural sites across a total of eight countries. However, due to climate change, the availability of water resources has become increasingly dependent on seasonal supply and internal distribution (UNESCO, 2009). Moreover, extended periods of high river flow have the potential to pose threats to the urbanized regions along the Rhine (IKSR, 2011; Rottler et al., 2021; Stahl et al., 2022). In light of these developments, questions arise concerning the rights to use and manage the water. Simultaneously, water governance along the Rhine remains weak, with limited coordination between nation-states, sectors, and other relevant stakeholders, resulting in minimal influence at the local level (Rietveld et al., 2013; Akamami, 2016; Moodie, et al., 2022). Against this backdrop, this project focuses on the spatial element of the "dike" as a mechanism to control water flows and simultaneously restore the lost connection between local stakeholders and the Rhine.

The project, titled "Finding Common Water," employs the new governance principle of Active Subsidiarity to prioritize local and regional autonomy in water management and identify issues that can only be addressed at higher levels of governance. Its goal is to investigate the potential for delegating the decision-making process of dike management to local levels of society. By enabling self-organizing capacity at lower levels of government, independent stakeholder systems can be synchronized to support adaptive water governance and localized protection.

The methodology of the project comprises several components. It includes literature review studies to enhance understanding of changes in governmental schemes in the transition to adaptive water governance. Additionally, a socio-spatial analysis is conducted on the Rhine River to assess current conditions related to drought, water discharge trends, water usage, and water management. To assign water management to local levels of society, the areas surrounding the Rhine are viewed as hydro-social territories. These territories are based on the mutual relationship between "water" and social, political, economic, cultural, and biophysical systems at a particular scale.

Drawing from the Dutch water management, a roadmap is created, following the principles of Active Subsidiarity toward localized dike autonomy. This roadmap empowers local stakeholder groups to evaluate their capacity to self-organize their relationship with the river through the spatial element of the dike. An assessment of indicators is made to evaluate the potential for localized dike autonomy. This is divided into four main subcategories: The Authoritative Region, The Dike, The Suitability Conditions, and The River Dynamics. By creating a calculation formula for these four main subcategories, potential locations along the Rhine suitable for localized dike autonomy can be identified. Finally, a test case is utilized to demonstrate the potential spatial outcomes of local dike autonomy.. Finally, a testcase is used to show the possible spatial outcomes of local dike autonomy.

In this report, fruitful combinations in solving livability problems and rain water nuisances are explored for the case study of the Schilderswijk. The importance of this combination is found in the importance of the two of them seperately. Climate proofing neighbourhoods is necessary when considering climate change which will only increase rain water nuisances. Improving livability is important as it has an influence on people’s and especially children’s future prospects. Combining both measures in a fruitful way provides more financial means, is more sustainable and is more pleasant for inhabitants.
The Schilderswijk is and represents a multicultural, low income, low livability neighbourhood that is densly built and well located. Furthermore it has a reputaion bigger than itself that had to be dealt with. These place specific characteristics are researched by mapping, literature and observations.
Livability is researched in a broad sense relying on a framework based on ecology in which three types of livabililty are distinguished: perceived livability, apparent livability and presumed livability. Within these three types the following aspects are considered to measure livability: 1) Health and security/safety 2) Material prosperity, income inequality, inequality in happiness 3) Social relationships 4) Control on amount of social interaction and control on physical environment 5) Contact with nature. Livability is researched by looking at data and statistics, performing fieldwork in which behavior was observed, mapping, literature and with the help of interviews.
Rain water nuisances are researched by looking at data, literature, mapping as well as fieldwork in observing how they occur.

It was found that the following solutions have a positive effect or provide opportunities in creating positive effects on both livability and rain water nuisances in the Schilderswijk:
Kitchen gardens in combination with rain barrels,
Water squares in combination with sports or playgrounds,
Delftse stoep with the boundary condition of partly replacing paved surfaces by (semi)-permeable ones,
Car free streets where one can make space for greenery and activities such as playing or relaxing,
Built-in trampolines in playgrounds, the space underneath can act as a temporary water buffer,
Fountains can give identity to a place, create a more pleasurable microclimate and can partly be temporary water buffers,
Water playgrounds provide a socializing place for children and parents, while at the same time the height differences can be temporary water buffers and educate children on water issues,
Sport fields with infiltration boxes underneath,
Nature playgrounds, and finally
Parks with added functions and zoning in terms of height differences.
Specifically for the Schilderswijk, the reputation is one of the major issues. Solutions can be found in connecting the Schilderswijk more to the city center and train station, making a quality out of the unique retail offer by making themed shopping streets and giving a new swing to the name of the neighbourhood by introducing street arts. Especially street art can also have an added positive effect on livability in a multicultural neighbourhoods as it allows inhabitants to show off their culture and create places to be proud of.

The city of Rotterdam has a long and interesting history. It began as a small settlement on the River Rotte, at the place where the river met with the Nieuwe Maas. In 1270, the long dam was built in an attempt to reclaim the swampy land for development. In another word, since its origins, Rotterdam had to adapt to the natural circumstances of the delta, the threat of the rivers and sea waters. Now, according to NASA (2017), there is scientific consensus about the fact climate change trends over the past century are very likely a consequence of human activities. And one of the major consequences of global climate change is more extreme weather events. For example, global warming and accompanying sea-level rise are threatening many of the world’s lowland areas which have the Dutch nervous about the future of their country. Moreover, predictions indicate that there will be more extreme weather conditions, such as heavier rainstorms, longer periods of drought. Within the dikes, the inner-dike city of Rotterdam is mostly well below sea level (The Rotterdam Climate Initiative 2013) which means it is vulnerable to sea-level rise and some related issues like flood and salinization. Moreover, the current defenses are adequate up to 2050 and only allowed it to deal with around 40 centimeters of sea-level rise. Especially in Prins Alexander polder, with the lowest point being as much as 6.67 meters below NAP (the National Amsterdam Level, is an agreed ordnance measurement that is almost equal to mean sea level), the pumping stations are regulating the water levels and keep the polder dry. The project will explore the possibility of the existing polder system to face extreme rainfall, flood, and salinization in an urban area for a better living environment and enhance biodiversity. The result of the design assignment can be described as follows. - Based on the current system to come out with a set of typologies of small-scale design interventions which can generate interrelation between the informal settlement, the dynamic of the landscape, and water. Analysis- - Illustrate the timeline of climate change events from the current situation to the future with section/ typologies. - Map the threats to find out the most vulnerable area. - calculate the adequate amount of daily use water and purification area to build a circular water system. Design- - An ecological masterplan to show the relationship between the site and the surroundings. - Specific site design of a chosen area with more elaborate detail design of materialization and flows. - Come out with the principles that can be applied for the other places facing the climate change effect in the urban area.

The Netherlands is confronted with drought more and more frequently. Two of the four climate scenarios predict that summers will become drier and extreme weather such as drought will occur longer and more often. Drought is a serious problem for multiple reasons. First of all it concerns large areas. Secondly it can take long before the effects are noticeable. Finally, the longer it lasts, the longer the soil and water system needs to recover.

In the Netherlands the high sandy grounds are the most vulnerable to drought. In comparison with the low-lying peat and clay grounds, it is not possible to supplement water from the rivers. Because supply from external sources is not an option, the sandy grounds are completely dependent on rainfall which makes them more vulnerable.

Humans strengthen the water shortage during drought as a result of spatial planning and water use. The current spatial planning of the landscape and water system ensures a fast discharge during wet periods in order to prevent water nuisance or flooding. So despite the fact that the Netherlands has become averagely wetter over the years, it still faces water shortages because the water is no longer available during dry periods. Furthermore the extraction of surface and groundwater for agriculture, industries and drinkwater companies increase the water shortage further during drought.

Furthermore humans cause desiccation. Desiccation is a consistent damage to nature as a result of structural diminishing of the groundwater level in combination with a reduction of the amount of seepage in groundwater dependent nature. Desiccation is mainly the impact of the modification of the water system to fit the land use requirements’: drainage for agriculture (60%), groundwater extraction for drinking water, industry and irrigation (30%) and other factors such as the amount of pavement (10%). So for nature the effects of drought come on top of the desiccation it endures consistently, whereas the quality of nature is already declining rapidly.

The graduation thesis answers the following research question:
In what way can the landscape be used and adjusted to achieve a climate adaptive landscape for the moraine of Nijmegen and provide enrichment of the local ecosystem?

This is done on the basis of literature research, site visits, mapping, reference analyzes and designs. The research is limited to the landscape of the Nijmegen moraine. Conditions for the design is a symbiosis between multispecies

The structure of the graduation thesis is as follows. Chapter 2 describes the fascination from which the research arose. Chapter 3 then provides an explanation of the problem statement. Chapter 4 deals with the research statement. Chapter 5 deals with the methodology. Chapter 6 analyzes the Nijmegen moraine with the associated threats and values. Chapter 7 contains the design. Chapter 8 is the last chapter with the conclusion and reflection.

With a growing world population and changing climate conditions, cities have many problems to face in the future. The changing climate can affect the way we appropriate urban outdoor spaces which will affect the social sustainability in the city, so adaptation strategies in cities are necessary. Urban designers should create conditions to maintain the quality of life in these spaces and therefore the question is asked: “How can urban design improve the urban microclimate of- and (temporary) appropriation in urban outdoor spaces to make Milan sustainable towards 2100? This thesis is in search of urban design solutions for a social- and environmentally sustainable development of cities in the future. To achieve this the thesis will elaborate at first on temporary appropriation and the guidelines that urban designers should take into account to create (a) pleasant walkability, places for staying and soft edges. Secondly, it will elaborate on urban microclimate and it’s guidelines. Thirdly, and most importantly, the relations between appropriation and urban microclimate will be explained. Through a strong analysis of the theoretical subjects and an analysis of Milan as a case study a vision and design strategy is developed. On different spatial scales, the projects show the opportunities and necessary actions that should be taken to create a sustainable living environment towards 2100. Design methods are used to research how urban designers can make the spatial translation of the theoretical guidelines and these solutions are shown in a handbook called: “Climability solutions for urban design”. These solutions have been applied to multiple project locations in Milan where is shown how the solutions work, who is involved and which necessary actions are needed. After all, to create a sustainable environment towards 2100 interventions on different scale levels should be designed with great attention to the urban microclimate and appropriation of urban outdoor spaces. Designers should be more climate aware and should integrate choice in their design where people should have many opportunities to appropriate the space and to choose a microclimate that is pleasant for them. This research can be extended by site visits with interviews of residents and professionals in the fields of social- and environmental sustainability. Moreover, more extensive use of design tools, like ENVI-met, will give more insight into the design of urban microclimate and will improve the design ideas.

As cities keep growing, peripheral areas are prone to becoming a playground for rapid developments. City governments seem to use it as a cupboard space for the storage of buildings and structures which they need, but do not want in the city-centre. In the process existing fabric is destroyed to be replaced by new alien structures.Therefore this project is on one hand a research into the workings of the periphery and on the other hand a proposal for an architectural intervention which responds to its peripheral context in a sensible and meaningful way.

The purpose of this thesis is to conduct research on increasing flood resilience and, albeit to a lesser extent, drought resilience of New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America. Focusing on the Orleans Lakeside sub-basin, this project builds on previous work through a joint design-engineering approach. This project seeks to address two shortcomings of existing proposals such as the Greater New Orleans Urban Water Plan: consideration for extreme weather events in the design framework as well as focusing on the integration of technical adaptation measures with the built environment. Hence, the main research question answered in this report is “How can Orleans Lakeside be made more flood and drought resilient by integrating multi-layered resilience capacities of the built environment, whilst safeguarding consistent design of technical adaptation measures within the urban space?”. The development of a design framework and detailed design interventions follows from a synthesis of earlier proposals, supplemented with a vulnerability analysis that focuses on the different capacities of the built environment in dealing with weather events of various magnitudes. For this analysis, the threshold (preventing damage), coping (mitigating damage), recovery (recovering from damage) and adaptive (flexibility to change) capacities of the built environment are investigated. The multidisciplinary approach taken in this project culminates in an urban water management design for Orleans Lakeside which is focused on introducing open water in the urban environment. This design proposal offers a high potential of meeting the required water storage capacity, with the intention to reintroduce the lost identity of wetlands to the suburbs of New Orleans. Typological and urban design across scales aim to integrate water system elements into the urban fabric, and to merge a new water-based urban environment with traditional desired American neighborhood qualities.

It is widely known that by 2050 the average temperature is going to increase by 2-3 °C while the precipitation is going to decrease 10-20 % in the North African region. The countries in this area have always been experiencing drought periods but due to the climatic changes, but, these periods are becoming more extreme leaving the population vulnerable. The inhabitants of Morocco have always lived in dry circumstances and for centuries created great water management systems to guide fresh water to the areas that needed it the most. Unfortunately, these systems cannot keep up with the rapid development of the country and even though the government is working on providing fresh water to the population, most of the inhabitants living in the rural areas do not receive the basic services, which leads to socioeconomic issues in these areas. The people in the rural villages do not have access to suitable quality and quantity fresh water, which causes health related problems amongst them. The traditional water systems that are still in use in the rural areas are not maintained properly, highly contaminated and polluted by the people as they do not have a good understanding on how these interventions work. The once respected water management elements and the riverside is neglected and the connection between the people and the water is getting lost. The graduation project aims to tackle the water related issues the rural communities experiencing today and in the future from a landscape architecture point of view of working with the spatial endowments and possibilities in the terrain. Apart for water scarcity the thesis focuses on the social issues in the disadvantaged communities by involving, educating and empowering the community in the development project to become self-sufficient and non-dependent on the government. The project works on three scales. The program starts in a middle school that acts as a testing ground for the larger developments. The findings are implemented into the development plan of the village, Adassil, located in the Atlas Mountains. Finally a zoning and recommendation are created for settlements along the Assif El Mal River for similar developments.

The city of Bandung is representative of the destiny of many cities in the tropical developing world. Demand driven population influxes combined with a lack of planning and infrastructure leads to massive problems of sustainability. The city faces the twin paradoxical problems of flash floods and the chronic lack of access to drinking water. Land use changes in the Bandung catchment are largely responsible for these water issues. The climate change dynamics only hasten the process of humanitarian disaster. Within this context, it is extremely important to find cost- efficient, sustainable solutions that can alleviate these problems and enable human activity to sustain without suffering. Research suggests that spatial solutions with circular systems may allow for the appropriate channelling of rain water and use it for sustenance. Landscape interventions aim to improve the hydrological order in the catchment, whereby sustained efforts are made to convert hard surfaces resulting from unregulated growth into water absorbing surfaces appear promising. Besides water retention and prevention of floods, these interventions have aesthetic appeal and spatial relevance to intervention through landscape design. They also achieve goals of more sustainable agriculture that further contributes to the appeal of the city and its aesthetic aspects. The efforts have the possibility of promoting eco-tourism for a city that already has abundant natural beauty owing to a volcanic terrain and evergreen rainforest cover (albeit covered under a layer of pollution today). Thus, proposed efforts through phased spatial interventions can create a positive circle of reinforcement where the benefits are much more far-reaching and sustainable beyond the primary goals of the project. Strategies for living with water need great innovation in developing countries where the fast pace of city expansion and population growth cannot keep up with the very slow pace of infrastructure development. The city can be restored to its former glory through a series of affordable hydrological and bio- engineered strategies in such challenging circumstances, creating case study for vulnerable catchments around the world. There is great promise that landscape infrastructural solutions and circular systems can transform the developing world.