Making Rivers, Producing Futures: The Rise of an Eco-Modern River Imaginary in Dutch Climate Change Adaptation
In the field of climate change adaptation, the future matters. River futures influence the way adaptation projects are implemented in rivers. In this paper, we challenge the ways in which dominant paradigms and expert claims monopolise the truth concerning policies and designs of river futures, ther...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Water |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/4/598 |
| _version_ | 1797296808364343296 |
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| author | Lotte de Jong Gert Jan Veldwisch Lieke Anna Melsen Rutgerd Boelens |
| author_facet | Lotte de Jong Gert Jan Veldwisch Lieke Anna Melsen Rutgerd Boelens |
| author_sort | Lotte de Jong |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In the field of climate change adaptation, the future matters. River futures influence the way adaptation projects are implemented in rivers. In this paper, we challenge the ways in which dominant paradigms and expert claims monopolise the truth concerning policies and designs of river futures, thereby sidelining and delegitimising alternative river futures. So far, limited work has been performed on the power of river futures in the context of climate change adaptation. We conceptualised the power of river futures through river imaginaries, i.e., collectively performed and publicly envisioned reproductions of riverine socionatures mobilised through truth claims of social life and order. Using the Border Meuse project as a case study, a climate change adaptation project in a stretch of the river Meuse in the south of the Netherlands, and a proclaimed success story of climate adaptation in Dutch water management, we elucidated how three river imaginaries (a modern river imaginary, a market-driven imaginary, and an eco-centric river imaginary) merged into an eco-modern river imaginary. Importantly, not only did the river futures merge, but their aligned truth regimes also merged. Thus, we argue that George Orwell’s famous quote, “who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present, controls the past” can be extended to “who controls the future, controls how we see and act in the present, and how we rediscover the past”. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:10:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-6f98687055db4432998a2c95610c6ff3 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2073-4441 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T22:10:12Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Water |
| spelling | doaj.art-6f98687055db4432998a2c95610c6ff32024-02-23T15:38:04ZengMDPI AGWater2073-44412024-02-0116459810.3390/w16040598Making Rivers, Producing Futures: The Rise of an Eco-Modern River Imaginary in Dutch Climate Change AdaptationLotte de Jong0Gert Jan Veldwisch1Lieke Anna Melsen2Rutgerd Boelens3Spatial Transformations-Climate Adaptation Group, Research Centre for Built Environment Noorder Ruimte, Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Zernikeplein 11, 9747 AS Groningen, The NetherlandsWater Resources Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708 PB Wageningen, The NetherlandsHydrology and Environmental Hydraulics Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708 PB Wageningen, The NetherlandsWater Resources Management Group, Department of Environmental Sciences, Wageningen University, Droevendaalsesteeg 3a, 6708 PB Wageningen, The NetherlandsIn the field of climate change adaptation, the future matters. River futures influence the way adaptation projects are implemented in rivers. In this paper, we challenge the ways in which dominant paradigms and expert claims monopolise the truth concerning policies and designs of river futures, thereby sidelining and delegitimising alternative river futures. So far, limited work has been performed on the power of river futures in the context of climate change adaptation. We conceptualised the power of river futures through river imaginaries, i.e., collectively performed and publicly envisioned reproductions of riverine socionatures mobilised through truth claims of social life and order. Using the Border Meuse project as a case study, a climate change adaptation project in a stretch of the river Meuse in the south of the Netherlands, and a proclaimed success story of climate adaptation in Dutch water management, we elucidated how three river imaginaries (a modern river imaginary, a market-driven imaginary, and an eco-centric river imaginary) merged into an eco-modern river imaginary. Importantly, not only did the river futures merge, but their aligned truth regimes also merged. Thus, we argue that George Orwell’s famous quote, “who controls the past, controls the future: who controls the present, controls the past” can be extended to “who controls the future, controls how we see and act in the present, and how we rediscover the past”.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/4/598climate change adaptationfuturesriver imaginarywater managementBorder Meuse project |
| spellingShingle | Lotte de Jong Gert Jan Veldwisch Lieke Anna Melsen Rutgerd Boelens Making Rivers, Producing Futures: The Rise of an Eco-Modern River Imaginary in Dutch Climate Change Adaptation Water climate change adaptation futures river imaginary water management Border Meuse project |
| title | Making Rivers, Producing Futures: The Rise of an Eco-Modern River Imaginary in Dutch Climate Change Adaptation |
| title_full | Making Rivers, Producing Futures: The Rise of an Eco-Modern River Imaginary in Dutch Climate Change Adaptation |
| title_fullStr | Making Rivers, Producing Futures: The Rise of an Eco-Modern River Imaginary in Dutch Climate Change Adaptation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Making Rivers, Producing Futures: The Rise of an Eco-Modern River Imaginary in Dutch Climate Change Adaptation |
| title_short | Making Rivers, Producing Futures: The Rise of an Eco-Modern River Imaginary in Dutch Climate Change Adaptation |
| title_sort | making rivers producing futures the rise of an eco modern river imaginary in dutch climate change adaptation |
| topic | climate change adaptation futures river imaginary water management Border Meuse project |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4441/16/4/598 |
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