The sheets of Nanco Dolman's presentation can be found under 'Documents'

On 2 November, Nanco Dolman of Deltares will take us through a different way of thinking about and designing the deltas.

In order to anticipate an extreme sea level rise of possibly 2.5 to 3.0 metres, an ever-declining soil, salinisation and other climate extremes, we must prepare now and dare to think about what our country will look like in 100 years. We will have to reform drastically, also in synergy with other transitions, such as clean energy, circular economy and the urbanisation challenge. This calls for a different way of designing in which all expertise must be combined. Researchers, urban planners, landscape architects and engineers created innovative designs for various regions in the Netherlands as part of the Redesigning Deltas (RDD) movement (2021-present).

Of a similar format is the twelfth edition of the 'Eo Wijers Competition 2022-2023': design research into where we want to live brings soil, water and air 'to life'. This 'Redesigning Deltas' approach and designs should spur bold long-term planning for our delta. This produces designs that can be quite provocative and takes people outside their comfort zone. Extreme designs are sometimes necessary to arrive at realistic solutions. It also shows where the bottlenecks lie that stand in the way of a solution and irrevocably raise questions. And it forces you to think differently about your own discipline. One such design is 'Rotterdam as sponge city' (RDD, 2022) or 'Rotterdam Waterstad 2100' (Eo Wijers competition, 2023) in the Rotterdam/ Rhine-Meuse estuary region. In this design, by adapting dike ring 14 into a super dike, Rotterdam becomes a sponge city with its own freshwater supply as the Nieuwe Maas becomes a fresh inland lake. Collected rainwater can be buffered locally in the city. This enables the city to meet its own water needs. The harbour falls outside the super dyke and will be raised in the future, entirely in the existing tradition, to keep the economic engine running permanently. Every 30 years, a plot will be raised and developed in balance with nature.

Sources:

- Redesigning Deltas (September 2022) - booklet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Nz2gcA3nyk9eSWhvvY1xojDrzYHv1I3R/view

- 'Rotterdam sponge city as response to sea level rise' (November 2022) - interview in De Ingenieur: https://www.deingenieur.nl/artikel/rotterdam-sponsstad-als-antwoord-op-zeespiegelstijging

- Rotterdam Water City 2100 (September 2023) - finalist Eo Wijers competition Rhine-Meuse estuary region: https://eowijers.nl/finalisten/rotterdam-waterstad-2100/

Documents