sustainability Article From Nature-Based to Nature-Driven: Landscape First for the Design of Moeder Zernike in Groningen Rob Roggema 1,2 1 Cittaideale, 6706LC Wageningen, The Netherlands; [email protected]; Tel.: +31-6-1534-9807 2 Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, Parramatta, NSW 2150, Australia Abstract: Global climate change impacts the future of urbanism. The future is increasingly uncertain, and current responses in urban planning practice are often human-centered. In general, this is a way to respond to change that is oriented towards improving the life of people in the short term, often extracting resources from the environment at dangerous levels. This impacts the entire ecological system, and turns out to be negative for biodiversity, resilience, and, ultimately, human life as well. Adaptation to climatic impacts requires a long-term perspective based in the understanding of nature. The objective of the presented research is to find explorative ways to respond to the unknown unknowns through designing and planning holistically for the Zernike campus in Groningen, the Netherlands. The methods used in this study comprise co-creative design-led approaches which are capable of integrating sectoral problems into a visionary future plan. The research findings show how embracing a nature-driven perspective to urban design increases the adaptive capacity, the ecological diversity, and the range of healthy food grown on a university campus. This study responds to questions of food safety, and growing conditions, of which the water availability is the most pressing. Considering the spatial concept, this has led to the necessity to establish a novel water connection between the site and the sea. Citation: Roggema, R. From Keywords: nature-based solutions; landscape and urban design; urban agriculture and food systems; Nature-Based to Nature-Driven: coastal dynamics; Groningen Landscape First for the Design of Moeder Zernike in Groningen. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2368. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042368 1. Introduction Academic Editor: Israa H. Mahmoud Climate change is one of humanity’s biggest problems [1], and this is largely part related to the ways in which humans live, even causing a new geological era, the anthro- Received: 16 January 2021 pocene [2]. The climate’s impact on land use, productivity, and food security [3], ecology [4], Accepted: 18 February 2021 livability [5–7], and safety, which is under pressure of accelerated sea level rise [8,9], is Published: 22 February 2021 moving beyond planetary boundaries [10]. The question of whether policy responses can deal with these uncertainties is investigated in this article. It is clear that adaptation is Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral inescapable [11,12]. with regard to jurisdictional claims in Current spatial planning focuses on the past, reiterating former policies for novel published maps and institutional affil- problems [13,14]. New problems, however, cannot be solved with solutions derived from iations. the actions that caused them. Contemporary policies in the Groningen political arena tend to ‘muddle through’ [15], and are focused on the near future and on well-understood problems [16,17]. Current achievable policy outcomes are rooted in an existing context of political Copyright: © 2021 by the author. negotiations and compromises in governance. Wicked problems cannot be dealt with Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. using linear answers—a common mistake. A ‘negotiated average’ provides solutions for This article is an open access article an already changed problem the moment the solution is brought forward, contradicting distributed under the terms and the long-term larger scale [18], forming an adaptation gap [19,20]. Planning that responds conditions of the Creative Commons to emergencies is continuously ‘muddling through’ [15], while uncertainty and wicked Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// problems [21] require ‘unsafe planning’ [22], bridging this gap (Figure1). creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Sustainability 2021, 13, 2368. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13042368 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability Sustainability 2021, 13, 2368 3 of 24 Sustainability 2021, 13, 2368 2 of 21 Climatic trends majority of climate change research d e p ck a i G W n io at s t m p le a b spatial scale spatial d ro A p majority of spatial planning practice Governance/institutions Development needs Climatic trends timescale Figure 1. The adaptation gap and wicked problems [19]. Figure 1. The adaptation gap and wicked problems [19]. Instead, climate adaptation requires innovation in spatial planning that bypasses short- term path-dependency.Instead, climate Therefore, adaptation coping requires with uncertainty innovation [23 in] isspatial essential, planning and short-term that bypasses spatialshort-term policymaking path-dependency. needs to be replaced Therefore, by applying coping with theart uncertainty of the long [23] view is [essential,24] and and unsafeshort-term planning [spatial22], allowing policymaking us to leapfrog needs to current be replaced policies. by applying the art of the long view Climate[24] and adaptation unsafe planning is viewed [22], as allowing a spatial us challenge to leapfrog [25 current], positioning policies. ‘design’ to dis- cover holisticClimate solutions adaptation [26–28]. is This viewed way, adaptationas a spatial is challenge designed for[25], the positioning Zernike campus, ‘design’ to locateddiscover on the northernholistic solutions fringe of the[26–28]. city of This Groningen way, adaptation in the Netherlands is designed (Figure for2 ).the This Zernike universitycampus, campus located is home on the to northern two universities, fringe of severalthe city research of Groningen institutes, in the and Netherlands many enter- (Figure prises2). and This start-ups. university It hosts campus approximately is home to 30,000two universities, people, including several studentsresearch andinstitutes, staff. and The Moedermany enterprises Zernike project and start-ups. is part of theIt hosts design-manifestation approximately 30,000 of the people, Climate including Adaptation students Weekand Groningen, staff. The in whichMoeder the Zernike task is project to propose is part solutions of the fordesign-manifestation a 100-year future. of the Climate ThisAdaptation article takes Week nature-based Groningen, solutions in which (NBS) the ta assk the is pointto propose of departure solutions and for investi- a 100-year gates thefuture. potentialities of how to anticipate climate impacts. This article takes nature-based solutions (NBS) as the point of departure and investi- gates the potentialities of how to anticipate climate impacts. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2368 3 of 21 Sustainability 2021, 13, 2368 4 of 24 Figure 2. Zernike campus in the northern fringefringe of the City of Groningen.Groningen. 2. Research Problem 2. Research Problem 2.1. Problem Problem Definition Definition Climate adaptation is often practiced with a human-centred human-centred objective. In In many many cases, cases, thisthis leads leads to to increased increased deterioration of ecosys ecosystemstems and biodiversity loss, puts pressure on agricultural systems, and leads leads to to economic economic problems problems and and foodborne foodborne diseases. diseases. Moreover, Moreover, thethe lack lack of of green green space space decreases decreases the the quality quality of of life life of of humans, humans, both both physically physically as as mentally. mentally. 2.1.1. Ecology Ecology The worldwide worldwide decrease decrease in in biodiversity, biodiversity, up up to to 68% 68% [29,30], [29,30 has], has a negative a negative impact impact on soilon soiland and water water quality. quality. This This impacts impacts the thefunctioning functioning of all of kinds all kinds of natural of natural processes. processes. In 2007,In 2007, populations populations of the of black-tailed the black-tailed godwit, godwit, redshank, redshank, oystercatcher, oystercatcher, and lapwing and lapwing were 10–60%were 10–60% lower lowerthan in than 1990 in [31], 1990 and [31 this], and decline this declinein open infarmland open farmland birds has birds not stopped has not (Figurestopped 3). (Figure The3 ).numbers The numbers of the of black-ta the black-tailediled godwit godwit decreased decreased by by 40%, 40%, which isis internationallyinternationally importantimportant since since the the major major breeding breeding area area in Europein Europe is in is the in Netherlandsthe Netherlands [32]. [32].As a resultAs a result of intensified of intensified farmland farmland and cattle and farming,cattle farming, this trend this has trend continued has continued to decline to declinesince 1960 since [31 1960]. Biodiversity [31]. Biodiversity loss since loss the since second the second half of half last of century last century is very is high.very high. This Thisumbilical umbilical cord cord cannot cannot be severed, be severed, as human as human life depends life depends on nature. on nature. Sustainability 2021, 13, 2368 5 of 24 Sustainability 2021, 13, 2368 5 of 24 Sustainability 2021, 13, 2368 4 of 21 Figure 3. Trends in bird populations open farmland in the Netherlands (in blue) [31]. FigureFigure 3. Trends 3. Trends in inbird bird populations populations open open farmla farmlandnd in inthe the Netherlands Netherlands (in (in blue) blue) [31]. [31 ]. 2.1.2.2.1.2.2.1.2. Agriculture Agriculture Agriculture AA few Afew fewcrops, crops, crops,