On 8 October 2025, a workshop held within the EU-funded Spongescapes project brought together researchers, planners, and practitioners to explore climate-resilient landscape futures for the Aa dal Noord region (Netherlands). The event marked an important milestone in the project, focusing on how geodesign can support local stakeholders in co-designing landscapes to better respond to increasing flood and drought challenges.
Building on two earlier stakeholder workshops in which key challenges were identified and two future scenarios for 2050 were developed, this session focused on translating those visions into map-based designs. Participants worked with the GeoDesign tool to create spatial representations of future “sponge landscapes” for both mid-term (2035) and long-term (2050) horizons.
The interactive platform integrates environmental data, land-use information, and stakeholder input, allowing participants to assess the impacts of different land-management strategies in real time. This hands-on approach helped stakeholders visualize trade-offs, identify priority areas, and collaboratively design future landscape scenarios while preserving the region’s distinct character.
As a core activity of the Spongescapes project, the workshop highlighted the importance of collaboration between science, policy, and practice in developing transferable solutions for climate adaptation. The insights gained will inform the next phases of the project, including further research, pilot applications, and knowledge exchange with academic and professional stakeholders.
Click here to watch the video about the SpongeScapes workshop.
More information about the Spongescapes project is available at: https://spongescapes.eu
