‘Floating Future’ and ‘Future of the Waddencoast’

What would it be like to live on the water in a floating residential area or work in a floating office? What are the results of the summer school where students explored the future of the Wadden Sea coast? Inspiring videos about both projects are now online.

The videos were recently presented at the Osaka Kansei Expo 2025 in Japan, as part of 'The Transformative Futures of Cities', a project by Prof. Ronald Holzhacker in collaboration with the Wubbo Ockels School. The project emphasises the social impact of scientific research. The videos were produced by Sensu Green.

Floating Future

In the Floating Future project, led by research institute Marin, more than 40 public and private organisations and knowledge institutions are investigating the possibilities for scaling up floating construction as a sustainable and adaptive solution for densely populated areas that are vulnerable to sea level rise and climate change.

Floating houses move with the water level (drought and high water levels), making them less vulnerable to flooding. Floating houses can also be moved and reused, offering flexibility for housing construction and logistics tasks, for example. Living on the water also offers opportunities to live closer to nature and the water, to use decentralised and sustainable energy systems, and to develop new forms of cohabitation.

Floating Future is an interdisciplinary research project. The upscaling of floating construction is being investigated not only from a technical perspective, but also from an ecological and governance perspective. Dr Margo van den Brink (UG) leads the Governance work package and, together with her team, is investigating the social acceptance of living and working on the water. During interactive sessions, potential residents and users will explore and shape this form of living and working together with the researchers. “Together with Dr Floris Boogaard's group (Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Climate Cafés research group), we have organised five online ‘Climate Cafés’ and will be organising participatory Climate Cafés in Rotterdam and Amsterdam, among other places,” says Van den Brink. More than 100 locations with floating infrastructure have also been mapped on ClimateScan, with analyses and scientific publications to follow. She realises that all this will take time: ‘A city at sea is still a bridge too far. It makes sense to start in and near the city, where social acceptance and feasibility are likely to be greatest.’

Watch the video here

Design the Future of the Wadden Coast

The summer school Design the Future of the Wadden Coast was organised in 2023 as part of the Landscape Triennial 2023. During the summer school, participants worked on developing a long-term strategy for the Wadden Coast, led by a team of lecturers including Dr Annet Kempenaar (UG).

Climate change – rising sea levels, heavy rainfall, prolonged periods of drought and salinisation – means that new measures are needed. Until now, a hard dividing line between water and land has been chosen. But further raising and widening the dykes is not the solution. More in-depth research is needed to create new opportunities for the Wadden Sea coast.

How can we adapt the coastal area of the Wadden Sea and create a future-proof, resilient and biodiverse landscape? Building on the characteristics and values that determine the quality of the Wadden Sea region?

The participating students came from various fields of study, mainly landscape architecture, landscape design or planning, but also history, architecture, urban studies and philosophy. The results of the summer school were shared with professionals in the region in order to provide input for the future of the Wadden Sea coast.

The book ‘Crossing Borders, Blending Perspectives’, written by researchers from universities in the Wadden Sea region, includes a chapter on the results of the summer school.

Watch the video here