20. Blauwe Hart

Moving in sync with nature: it can be done, it must be done

Visionary talk annoys property developers, real estate moguls and investors. This map is a rough indication of what the Netherlands might look like a century from now. Jan Rotmans, Professor of Transition Science, is neither a hydraulic engineer nor a climate expert. If an entire area is flooded, where do the current residents, or their children and grandchildren, go? Rotmans considers himself a provocateur: ‘It’s not about definitive images, but about target images’. The map makes clear that our current way of dealing with water and nature is unsustainable. This ‘unsustainable’ present must be changed into a more ‘sustainable’ future. On these maps, the east is situated at the top, although the map does not revolve around river basins. But even if we manage to ‘move in sync with nature’, climate change still needs to stop. Otherwise, sea levels will rise not by a metre but by seven metres – which will happen if Greenland melts entirely. How long that will take is unknown, but there are tipping points and once these have been passed, things can start to move very quickly. Feel the urgency?