Regenerative food landscapes

A strategy towards regenerative agri-food landscapes in the province of South Holland

Student report (2020)

Authors

K. Murawska Architecture and the Built Environment
E. Lieftink Architecture and the Built Environment
B. Wei Architecture and the Built Environment
A.M.E. van Eijk Architecture and the Built Environment
M. Ebbers Architecture and the Built Environment

Contributors

Verena Elisabeth Balz Spatial Planning and Strategy - Architecture and the Built Environment (supervisor 1)
L. Qu Spatial Planning and Strategy - Architecture and the Built Environment (supervisor 1)
C. Furlan Environmental Technology and Design - Architecture and the Built Environment (supervisor 1)
Faculty
Architecture and the Built Environment
Copyright: © 2020 Kinga Murawska, Lisa Lieftink, Baokun Wei, Anke van Eijk, Maud Ebbers
Circular economy Spatial justice Societal values Province of South Holland Regenerative landscape development Productive food landscapes Destructive land use
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Published Date

01-04-2020

Language

English

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Faculty

Architecture and the Built Environment

Abstract

In the Netherlands landscape and (agri)culture have always influenced each other and there is an inherent relationship between them. Through innovations over time, the province of South-Holland developed profitable productive food-landscapes which provided an important contribution to the Dutch food production and export, making the Netherlands one of the leading food-exporters worldwide.

However, the profit-oriented character of the productive landscape no longer fits well with the changing societal values, as the current pattern is destructive to the environment and people feel disconnected from the food production and the landscape. Society today does not only value profit, but also increasingly cares about the environment and social justice. The productive systems are locked into a path of environmental destruction and do not focus on the values of society, which show increased awareness of the importance of a healthy, diverse, environmental-friendly and inclusive approach towards future developments.

To resolve this mismatch between landscape and culture, this project aims to transform the current economic-driven food productive landscapes towards regenerative food landscapes that match with the values and needs of society today. To do so, this project starts from the perspective of the landscape, uses transition theory as a theoretical base, takes into account social justice, and investigates the spatial implications of regenerative development.
The results are a vision that foresees regenerative landscapes for South Holland and a strategy with interventions to reach this vision by 2050. Both the vision and the strategy take into account the three different types of food landscapes of South Holland: agriculture on clay soil, livestock and dairy production on peat soil, and horticulture in a mixed peri-urban environment. The regenerative landscapes will not only mitigate the effects of previous destructions but reverse them by a cooperative relation between man and nature . The landscapes will revitalize the province to sustain modern values and to restore the inherent relation between landscape and culture.