From Degradation to Regeneration

Abstract

The current food production and distribution system has led to extensive degradation on both the global and local scale, requiring a transformation of the vast, urbanized rural - beyond just climate-change mitigation but radical regeneration.
The ongoing intensive agricultural practices have contaminated air, soil, and water, while their market- driven character disallows the emergence of locality and circularity, exploiting workers and small-scale farmers, and disrupting the social welfare of the countryside. This system is analysed through the lenses of ecology, economy, and society, highlighting the problematic character of the Lowlands of North-West Europe, due to the immense sprawl of degenerative agriculture practices, as well as the small and fragmented network of ecosystem-valuable spaces.
Following the most urgent climate-change scenario from the IPCC report, we will attempt the transition from a degenerative system towards a regenerative one, based on the pillars of ecosystem restoration, ensuring food security through sustainable means, and the shift towards regenerative agriculture practices. Concerns about spatial justice permeate all pillars horizontally, to ensure the socio- spatial regeneration of the countryside.
To transition towards our vision, the strategy is approached through a series of interconnected key projects. The formation of a pan-European network of tree nurseries ensures the necessary capital of seedlings for reforestation and agroforestry practices, while a trans-border policy zone can integrate conservation and agriculture, enhancing the connectivity between ecosystems. The greenhouse zone of Westland is experimented upon, aiming towards the development of a replicable model of sustainably intensive food production model. These strategic interventions are underlined by a policy framework, stressing the liveability of the Lowlands for all rural dwellers, farmers, and workers, through access to services, education, and housing. Through this experimentation we hope to have highlighted that the examination of the countryside needs to be intrinsically tied to any effort of envisioning a future of climate- change mitigation and socio-ecological regeneration.