In the province of Zeeland, a delta landscape at the southern coast of The Netherlands, a project on sustainable land use was carried out by the government and local entrepreneurs. Sustainability refers, in this context, to the green-blue environment, the use and production of clean energy and resources, the built environment and the regional identity of Zeeland. The province has an overarching goal to use the soil as a basis for sustainable land use.
In practice, it appears that the soil is not well integrated and embedded in the current sustainability initiatives in this area. Therefore, the province of Zeeland has initiated a research project based on local practice, in collaboration with Alterra, a research institute connected to the Wageningen University. One of the subsidizers was SKB Bodem, an independent foundation working on a sustainable use of the soil. The overall goal of this project was to make the connection visible between ongoing initiatives and the application of these initiatives on a larger scale. To reach this goal, the project used the concept of ecosystem services, referring to the supporting, regulating, producing, and cultural services of the soil.
The core team, formed by Alterra and the province of Zeeland, worked together with 13 consortium partners (including Brons + partners landscape architects) and some experts on the field of sustainability and communication. The exchange of knowledge took place during three days on which everyone gathered to work on the project.
The input of our office has been the knowledge of the landscape of Zeeland, the experience to communicate conceptual ideas to a wider public and a series of visualizations to illustrate relationships. These visualizations contribute to a common conceptual framework of sustainability, the awareness of principles of sustainability and the application of these principles in spatial developments, both in Zeeland and in other parts of The Netherlands.
Project number: 1108
Location: Zeeland
Client: Alterra / Province of Zeeland
Product: Practice-based research in the rural area
Year: 2011