Ποια ήταν η πρόκληση/ πρόβλημα που αντιμετωπίστηκε?

The Netherlands is working on a new program for World Class National Parks. The quality of life, urban environment, involvement of citizens, entrepreneurs and strengthening of the economy, play a prominent role.

Van Gogh National Park is such a World Class National Park. The combination of leading nature reserves embedded in an attractive agricultural landscape, innovative metropolitan economy and Van Gogh’s tangible legacy makes it unique.

Various parties in North Brabant intend to obtain Van Gogh National Park status in the green courtyards of Brabant’s cities. This can only be achieved by joining forces and working together with municipalities, cities, water boards, social organizations, volunteers and companies.

Many (tree) nurseries can be found within the Van Gogh National Park. The introduction of an innovative landscape hull gives these often cluttered landscapes a robust structure, which can be used for recreation, ecology and water storage. This project focuses on an exploration of the possibilities of such a shell, by talking to the growers in this region and translating this into a regional sketch design. The nursery landscapes has Arcadian qualities, endless sequence of trees, lined up with intense scents and colors in spring and autumn, The Versailles of the North.

The province of Noord-Brabant has the ambition to plant about 13,000 hectares of forest or 40 million trees in the next ten years to compensate for CO2 emissions. Van Gogh National Park includes the aim of achieving this task not only by planting forests, but also by restoring a more intricate network of landscape elements. A landscape hull with sustainable and circular forestry is extremely suitable for this. It also creates the opportunity for growers to profile themselves in a sustainable way and to receive potential customers in a landscape that can be seen as a shop window.

How did you solve the challenge/ problem?

In order to arrive at a supported and coherent design for the nursery landscape, a process is set up in which the contractor, client, municipalities, province, growers and other experts work together. The aim of the planning team was to get grip on the situation and to create support among stakeholders. ZLTO act as process coordinator to ensure that entrepreneurs and stakeholders are sufficiently informed and involved in the process.

The Haaren-Udenhout cluster has a lot of dynamism and needs from the entrepreneurs, which is why we started in this cluster. The results of this pilot will then be used in other nurseries clusters.

For a good understanding of the nursery landscape, the landscape is analyzed by means of GIS analyzes, area visits, water system, βιοποικιλότητας, recreation, infrastructure, και τα λοιπά. An extensive process is set up to create support among growers from this area and to seek connections with government agencies to develop and to ensure the robustness of the plan. This is done through work sessions.

Firstly the focus was on gathering information and sharing initial findings. Ακολούθως, a landscape hull is sketched on a regional scale level by means of various sketching sessions (by West8). Starting points, a consistent storyline and global design principles are formulated from these sketching sessions. The conclusions of the work session are processed by West8 in a regional sketch design. This will be presented and discussed during the last work session, followed by a final sketchbook.

 

Αυτό που είναι καινοτόμο στην πρακτική σας περίπτωση?

In order to arrive at a supported and coherent design for the nursery landscape, a process is set up in which the contractor, client, municipalities, province, growers and other experts work together.

Therefore is an extensive process set up to create support among growers from this area and to seek connections with government agencies to develop and to ensure the robustness of the plan. This is done through 5 work sessions with the growers from the area and processed by West8, so they could work on a regional sketch design.

What are success factors in solving the problem?

Success factors in this case are:

  • Very talented West8 advisor, with experience in these kind of processes
  • In close contact with the growers and stakeholders (be trusted)

Απροσδόκητες αποτυχίες, εάν υπάρχει.

At the beginning of the project we needed more time to make all stakeholders of the area understand the importance of working together on this topic. We therefore needed not 3 but 5 sessions to come to a regional sketch design.

Διδάγματα.

Lessons learned in this case are:

  • Start with the growers perspective
  • Stakeholder management is of great importance for an area process.
  • Working together with West8 for a broad view

Τι ρόλο παίζει ο σύμβουλος ή η συμβουλευτική υπηρεσία στην πρακτική σας περίπτωση?

The role of the advisors from West8 was to develop a regional sketch design starting with sessions with the growers from the area and implementing the wishes, existing plans and rules of the other stakeholders. They build trust with the growers, they ask the right questions and they find the common ground in the answers they get from the all the stakeholders. Their contribution to the process is invaluable.

To share experience and contact, σας παρακαλούμε, write to ZLTO contact person Rob Schrauwen rob.schrauwen@zlto.nl