pdf De uitvinding van het Uiterwaardenmodel (12MB)
www.uiterwaardenmodel.nl
The key feature of the Washland Model is a flexible alliance with the elements and as such it is a worthy successor to the dated ‘Polder Model’, a consultation model that originated in the political arena, and is also referred to as the ‘Third Way’. Both models originate in the way that water is dealt with, but whereas the origins of the Polder Model lie in the struggle against water, the complete mastery of nature, the Washland Model treats nature as a fertile basis that can be used constructively. In this model it is not a case of the resultant form that the landscape, but the way in which it has evolved, the process.
The cultural landscape behind the dike, the area between Weurt and Deest (the Municipality of Beuningen), is currently being inundated by large-scale developments in the domain of spatial planning, such as residential construction, infrastructure and sand extraction. The Washland Model brings about a sedimentation process from which qualities of culture historic and contemporary can be filtered, which can be employed as a guide for new interventions in the area. These qualities are developed and expressed so that they can enhance the cultural continuity in this continually evolving landscape.
Investigation and Sounding The project has four successive phases. The first phase entailed the collection of data about the area through ‘Investigation’ and ‘Sounding’. Various topical themes of the cultural landscape were distilled from this. Art and architecture students from the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Switzerland examined these themes. The results were presented to a ‘sounding board’ in the form of young residents of the area between Weurt and Deest. All the results of this phase make up a part of the material that is the basis for the second phase of the project.
For the Sounding, cards are delivered door-to-door on which the population could make comments about the quality of life at various different levels. There ae three levels: your own doorstep, the region, and the whole of the Netherlands. Some responses are very abstract, while others are very concrete. The answers also give a good insight into what is actually going on in the Weurt-Deest area: the nature is very highly cherished, you live in the Weurt-Deest area for the peace and quiet and because of its rural character, and so on. But many remarks are contradictory, as with the demand for more housing and services, while there is also a desire to retain the rural character. A possible solution must be found for this. All the comments have been processed and summarized in three collages. The collages show how the residents perceive the Weurt-Deest area.
Sessions The second phase involves three sessions around the appointed themes. Six experts
were invited to take part in these sessions: two residents of the Weurt-Deest area; two Dutch experts in the field of the formulated theme; and two experts from abroad. These might be concept experts, often artists, or implementation experts. The session group is joined by representatives of the group of students and the mirror group. The aim of the meetings is to act simultaneously as a pressure cooker and gauge for the ideas generated by the chosen themes.
Session 1: Innovative living, or strength from downsizing The advantages of the welfare state have led to a broad section of the population becoming highly dependent on the government. In the event of problems, the population also looks expectantly to the government. It is true that the government promotes the notion that it is in control, but in many cases it proves to be in no position to solve problems that arise. It is therefore important that the problem-solving capacity of the population itself is developed and their self-sufficiency encouraged, so that we are less dependent and more able to cope with changing circumstances.
During the session the possibilities for making people once again capable of influencing their own living environment will be assessed. From the problems signaled in the area, a team of specialists and residents seek out opportunities for innovative reversals, i.e. from dependency to self-sufficiency. For this session you might invite specialists from developing countries, where people are accustomed to and experienced in the optimization of situations that we consider far from ideal by the standards in the Netherlands.
The results of this session form the mental starting points for the next phase of the project.
Session 2: From Dirt to Waste: Dog dirt Though as a daily source of chagrin it may seem extraordinarily banal, this theme shows contemporary society on many levels: from the spatial layout of public space and the resolution of conflicting interests within it, via loneliness that is relieved by the bought companionship (of a dog), the prosperity that makes this possible, through to the twilight of the welfare state, in which people had a right to many things and the state provided. Increasingly we see a conflict between one’s personal responsibility for the consequences of the freedom demanded and the freedom itself.
In this session we bring together a number of people who will shed light on the dog
dirt problem from various different angles, in practical and sociological terms, as well as philosophically and from the viewpoint of art. Dog dirt thus becomes a key to the garbage problem identified in the Weurt-Deest area, from street litter to the waste processing plant. The results of this session form the contemporary cultural starting points for phase 3.
Session 3: Identity versus Image The Soundings demonstrated that the residents of the area have a strong but conflicting sense of identity. People value both the rural character and the urban facilities, both good accessibility and the quiet and absence of traffic. The question now is what the residents consider valuable cultural elements – in terms of landscape, cultural history or socially – that must be protected and retained. This session involves the charting, discussion and weighing up of regional identities. External experts study the Soundings results and compare this with their knowledge of the identity of contemporary society, urban and suburban, in general and with reference to Weurt-Deest in particular.
The results of this session form the cultural-historical starting points for ‘The Making of Weurt-Deest’
The making of van Weurt -Deest The starting points collected in the sessions form the basis for The making of van Weurt -Deest (TMWD). TMWD involves an intensive simulation/role-play in which all the data is applied to current developments in the region of the municipality of Beuningen. An example of this is the radical intervention to the south of the village of Winssen, where there are plans for the biggest sand excavations in the Netherlands. The participants are local citizens and external specialists, as well as those directly involved in the planning process. The roles are not fixed, but are rotated. Alongside the acquisition of a lot of new information, the participants are brought into contact with many more aspects of the project plan than they can appreciate from their own viewpoint.
The follow-ups The results of TMWD are then used to formulate at least three concrete proposals that can serve as concrete improvements to the culture of Weurt-Deest in the disciplines of visual art, landscape art or architecture. The participants in these follow-ups are selected from all those previously involved. The team develops the proposals to a level where all barriers to actual execution are resolved. These plans are the end product of this project and will be presented to a broad public in the autumn of 2001 by means of publications and a symposium.