"Nước, Nước" "Hydro–Harmony"

Abstract

As the "rice bowl" of Vietnam, the Mekong Delta provides a large amount of agricultural products for Vietnam and the world. Over the years, the government has dramatically altered the landscape of the Mekong Delta in order to maintain existing production patterns. When production conflicts with the natural environment, governments choose to use a series of rigid water management facilities such as dykes, sluices, and wells to control and utilize the water. However, these facilities exacerbate problems such as saline intrusion and flooding, which in turn cause a decline in crop yields. As the climate changes, sea levels will gradually rise and the seasonal distribution of precipitation will become more uneven. When the government chooses to rely on these facilities to control the water system, higher dams, more sluices, and more wells will be needed, which will also further exacerbate water problems. Therefore, when people fight against water, the relationship between people and water is trapped in a vicious circle.

In fact, within natural landscape systems, there is potential for mitigating water problems in their own right. At the same time, the richness of local production practices and traditional wisdom offer opportunities for change. It is therefore more sustainable for the communities living here to be aware of these potentials and to think differently, not by trying to control the water, but by making changes in themselves following the changes in the water environment.

The project views the landscape as a system, integrating challenges and opportunities at all layers through layered analysis, historical analysis, and cross-scale design. The landscape approach is utilized to create a framework at a large scale within which nature is given space to fulfill its potential while providing a toolbox to guide spontaneous change by local people. By combining large-scale planning with a small-scale design, the ecological resilience of the landscape is enhanced and a new system of resilient landscapes is constructed to address problems, and even respond to climate change.