Raise the dikes and re-use the past? Climate adaptation planning as heritage practice

Abstract

Across Europe, coasts are drastically being changed to adapt to relative sea level rise, which will influence coastal landscapes and heritage in many ways. In this paper, we introduce a methodological starting point for analysing the ways in which landscape architects and spatial planners engage with coastal landscapes and coastal heritage in the context of current climate adaptation projects. We test these methodologies by applying them to the Marconi dike strengthening project in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. This city’s dike fortification is an interesting case, as it offers many opportunities for re-designing heritage. The city borders the Wadden Sea area, a tidal mudflat area protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site for its natural and geological heritage values. The area also consists of a rich cultural landscape, which is overlooked in the public image and in local policy. We conclude that landscape architects and planners should strengthen not only the dike, but also the interpretation of the past that dominates policy and political debates in the area. We also find that the existing heritage production model of Ashworth and Tunbridge can provide some useful structure for understanding and contextualizing spatial planning for climate change as a way of doing heritage.

Multi-stakeholder analysis of fire risk reduction in a densely populated area in the Netherlands: a case-study in the Veluwe area

“…However, generating liveable futures in the context of today's ecological challenges requires continuous adaptation of our ideas on ecologically, socially, culturally and economically valuable landscapes. This requires, amongst others, that research develops and uses adaptive biodiversity conservation guidelines, and mobilizes landscapes' histories as a source of inspiration rather than a benchmark [60,61].…”

“Beyond nature and culture: relational perspectives on the Wadden Sea landscape”

“…The Wadden Sea represents a more-than-human "meeting place" (Massey 1991: 28) while also being an enabler of this special issue which consists of eight papers that draw on empirical research undertaken in the Wadden Sea region. Stemming from various disciplines such as the environmental sciences (Schepers et al 2021), tourism research (Liburd et al 2021), anthropology (Hörst 2021;Krauß 2021), ecocriticism (Ritson and De Smalen 2021), heritage studies (Egberts and Riesto 2021) and environmental geography (Walsh 2021b;Döring and Ratter 2021), they all engage with the various theoretical facets and methodological dimensions of a relational analysis and understanding of this intertidal landscape. Individually and collectively, the papers aim to address how a relational perspective on the various topics investigated can contribute to see the Wadden Sea differently and what that means management-and policy-wise.…”

“…Their study exhibits situated knowledge(s) about the coastscape and shows how deeply humans and their coastscapes are intertwined. These emerging relations characterise a coast-multiple that hold the potential to inspire future management practices, shifting emphasis away from a purely science-informed understanding of the coast by redistributing expertise and balancing the social roles of those involved in the topic under scrutiny (see also Egberts and Riesto 2021). They state that the insight that the coast is multiple is just a start, but perhaps an entry point to manage the German Wadden Sea coastscape in a more integrated way (see also Walsh 2021b).…”

Academic Engagement with Wadden Sea Stakeholders: A Review of Past Foci and Possible Futures

“…Rightly challenging its construction as 'pristine' environment, critical academic scholarship is now examining the Wadden Sea in an array of necessary ways, from its biodiversity, to its cultural significance. This is exemplified in a recent special issue of Maritime Studies (featuring papers by Döring and Ratter, 2021;Egberts and Riesto, 2021;Walsh, 2021).…”