The Netherlands has the ambition to transition to a fully circular economy before 2050. Between this future and where we stand now, there is still a large gap. The Netherlands produces 60 million tonnes of waste per year. This fact contains two problems that this project aims to deal with: 1) the heigh of this number in the first place, and 2) that approximately 20% of the waste does not find its way back into the system. In 2020, 7.6 million tonnes of waste was incinerated and 32.7 million tonnes of waste was exported to non-EU countries, where waste often ends up in landfill or is send for incineration with adverse health effects.

This project takes the radical stance to stop incineration and export, which means the Netherlands must take responsibility for the waste it produces. For much of the waste that currently follows one of these trajectories, there are no adequate solutions for reuse or recycling. Hence, we designed a system of waste collection, sorting, and storage where materials can be stored in waste houses until they find their way back into the system (problem 1). The piling up of the waste will create awareness of the consequences of unresponsible consumption, affecting the behaviour of people through confrontation (problem 2).

The system we design aims to create a disruption of the existing linear system at different levels. The large-scale societal perception of production-consumption-waste generation will slowly change, while the waste houses will create a sense of urgency at the small scale. This will stimulate niche innovations to find innovative solutions to deal with waste that is stored. Our project is thus both an instigator of change and part of the change itself in the transition to the circular economy.

If the project is successful, the waste houses will gradually become obsolete as consumption and waste production go down. In the far future, the former waste houses can house different functions, or they can be demolished in a circular way, returning the materials into the resource loop.

The Netherlands has created a large nitrogen pollution problem in its soils, which is harming biodiversity. By intensifying and industrialized farming, by importing animal feed for dairy production and fertilizer for crop farming, too much nitrogen has accumulated in the soil. Consequently, ecological processes are disturbed due to eutrophication (over-feeding of nutrients), from which only a few species profit, causing other species to lose the competition and cease, with detrimental effects on reliant other species.
This project explores how this intensive/industrial farming can be substituted by more sustainable alternatives in which creating and maintaining biodiversity is key. An alternative system is proposed based on the spatial intergrading between cities and protected natural areas with typologies that focus on balancing food production and biodiversity creation. This alternative system is then detailed concerning the small-scale effects it has, the necessary process of policy creation and the necessary systemic changes as preconditions for a successful execution. The transformation design is developed along a framework of values which are reflecting on current best practices in the discipline of urbanism touching on issues of planetary boundaries, justice and transitional thinking.
Our key takeaways are to keep the city and adjacent areas productive, close to where consumption of goods is high but also where functions like education and food markets can be sensibly integrated. Further from the city and closer to already biodiverse and protected areas of the Nature Network Netherlands (NNN), the gradient leans more towards focussing on the creation of biodiversity. Humans and non-human species can find their thriving space on the gradient, food production is still an integral part as well. By creating a system in which farmers are working together, and are guided to create this balance on their farms and are paid for their efforts and the services they provide to society, they can be encouraged to change their farming practices for the better.

The Netherlands, renowned for its flat landscape and strategic location at the confluence of major rivers, combined with fertile soil and a mild climate, boasts optimal natural conditions for agricultural production. However, the success of the Dutch agricultural sector and its developments has significant implications for biodiversity, as excessive nitrogen levels contribute to a decline in plant and animal species, ultimately disrupting the ecosystem balance. Currently, functions are separated by human engineered boundaries with little to no interaction with each other. Agriculture is hyper focused on the productive part of the system, lacking equilibrium. Ideally, water, agriculture and soil live in perfect harmony and so envisioned for the year 2070 is a dynamic river landscape in the Dutch Delta region; a landscape where there is room for the water to flow as it pleases. In this vision, a river's natural flow is embraced; free flowing water with little constraints. Instead of seeing this freedom as a problem that must be controlled, this project values the river's morphological changes and water fluctuations through time. This vision and strategy not only makes room for the river, but creates a new dynamic system in which water, biodiversity and agriculture works together. Adjustments are mainly made to the land-uses to correspond to the shifts of the river, using several interventions. A green network of ‘in between’ wetlands is situated within the river basin. This network serves as vital ecosystems that enhance the resilience of the region. These green marshes overflow with biodiversity, serving as havens for formerly threatened animal and plant species alike to thrive and flourish. In this project, we apply strategic tools to three locations with different conditions, such as moderately wet, wet, and extremely wet, acting as pilots to be extended into more parts of the Dutch Delta region in the future. This forward-thinking approach not only ensures the sustainability of agriculture but also fosters a healthier, more diverse environment for generations to come.

A transition is needed within the current agricultural sector. The intensive food production emits a significant amount of greenhouse gases, but also generates a nitrogen surplus. Consequently, biodiversity and soil quality have been decreasing dramatically in recent decades. One way of achieving a more sustainable food system is through regenerative agriculture, which is a nature-based practice where ecosystem services and soil health are central. This research aims to understand how the decentralisation of farming practices can aid a transition to regenerative agriculture in a socially just way. Through research by design, the concepts of decentralisation, regenerative agriculture and social justice were studied separately and layered on the project areas of different scales: Northwest Europe, South-Holland (NL) and Biesbosch National Park. The objective of this research is to develop a vision and strategy for these areas to achieve a socially just transition to regenerative agricultural practices. Based on literature, we propose a set of regenerative agriculture land-use typologies for Northwest Europe (i.e. nature buffer, food-forest, polyculture crop, polyculture crop-livestock mix, urban food parks). Next, we show how we can transition to these new land-uses, employing methods of spatial and systemic (administrative, fiscal, economic) decentralisation. Each transition is qualitatively assessed by its implications for social justice in local communities and its potential to improve soil quality of the region. On a local scale, for the Biesbosch area in the province of South-Holland, a strategy is proposed that is based on our vision for Northwest Europe. Through local strategic interventions and the empowerment of existing initiatives and cooperatives, we show that the proposed land-use patterns and decentralised food chain can mitigate biodiversity loss and foster local agri-food networks that provide food security in a sustainable way.

North-western European countries play an important role in the global food system, by providing 80 percent of the whole European production. The current production system is focused on profit, has a yearly emission of 1250 megatons of CO₂ equivalent in North-western Europe and produces pollutants in the soil, water, and air. This results in an imbalance between natural and human activities, which is destroying biodiversity, natural resources and is increasing food access inequality. Therefore, our goal is to reduce CO₂ emission to net-zero in 2050 and to reach food security for all people North-western citizens.
We aim to design a sustainable food production system that is based on three pillars: nature-based, community-based and production for need. We analysed the current system through fieldwork, data analyses and literature reviews.
The concept of the circular economy formed our basis for a vision of an open adaptive system for the food production system. It includes concepts of circularity from the production on the fields, towards the re-valuing and re-purposing of household and industrial by-products. For each of the production steps we have developed a toolbox of innovations, which are integrated following the local context. New ways of production are incorporated in the farming process; management techniques, which reduce CO₂, are implemented in the processing phase; new marketing strategies are applied in retail; in the consumption phase mindset is changed to accept alternative products and meal planning. In terms of disposal, waste is reduced by reusing it as an input for other processes. Lastly, carbon sequestration is improved by recovering and increasing natural areas, leading to an increase in biodiversity and soil health.
This toolbox is implemented as a strategy in the region of South Holland to illustrate the spatial, social, and economic impacts of the new food production system. The circular concept ensures an approachable transition from linear to circular food production systems in North-West Europe. Therefore, it can be used to inform international cooperations, national and regional governments in making policies, and to provide an overview of the spatial implications of this transition on the national, regional, and local scale. Overall, it is a radical shift towards renewable energy sources, incorporating by-products as inputs and using and producing food products with a smaller CO₂ footprint.