Ideas for a water-friendly city

Water was given a face at Dutch Design Week (DDW) in 2018. The Embassy of Water was instigated as a platform for water related design, where people can meet to share knowledge, inspire each other and where innovations can accelerate.

Through creating this link between designers, government, knowledge and research institutes, companies and consumers at an early stage, a creative Water Hub was established, where people work together with a future-oriented perspective for a sustainable, water-friendly society.

The Embassy of Water was initiated and curated by Anouk van der Poll, co-owner of vanderPolloffice.

Programme

The Embassy of Water programme focused on two themes this year: Water Sensitive Urban Design and Nature Based Solutions. In an exhibition all the participants presented projects and designs that embrace these themes. There were also lectures and workshops.

With the growth in urban resident numbers and the further expansion of cities, managing water in the city is a very topical theme. Which explains why the Embassy of Water focused on water in the city during DDW. Water Sensitive Urban Design has gained global recognition as a highly effective solution for tackling the problems of urbanisation and climate change.

At ‘Nature Based Solutions’ we looked at what nature can teach us about how to deal with the problems of climate change. Questions unearthed here include: What is water? How can we make even better use of water? And how can we find solutions for today’s water issues through looking at how water behaves naturally?

The programme included an interactive lecture by dr. ir. Marlies Kampschreur and a lecture by ir. Cees Kamp.

As an innovator, Marlies Kampschreur marvels at how you can see our way of life reflected in water quality. Water is a powerful mirror; what can we do and what do we want to do with that image? Can water also be a transformer? How does water reflect vitality and health in our personal lifestyle, the neighbourhood and the river basin?

As a chemical technologist, Cees Kamp has been studying the unfathomable phenomenon of water since the mid-nineties, in wonderment and scientifically. Water is a lifesaving, miraculous liquid with exceptional properties.