Watch the WDE Talk: Food and water systems for a healthy planet
What role do designers then play in (re)considering and (re)designing our way of producing and consuming?
Water and food are essential for life on earth. For us as humanity, but also for the earth itself. At the moment, the way we deal with them has mainly negative effects on our planet, biodiversity and nature. This cannot continue. On Thursday 3 June, we discussed with Embassy curators Annelies Hermsen (Embassy of Food) and Anouk van der Pol (Embassy of Water) how we can safeguard our planet in the future and how we can reform our systems so that they contribute to a healthy earth. In addition, expert in the field, Evelien de Olde, joined us via Zoom. She is part of the team that formulated the award-winning Food Vision 2050.
The Embassy of Food is concerned with food systems on our planet. The global food system is responsible for no less than a quarter of the greenhouse gases that cause climate change. As the world’s second largest agricultural exporter, the Netherlands has no choice but to take a critical look at this large-scale production. For years, food design has been examining social themes such as sustainability, food waste, residual flows and protein transition. Countless projects have been initiated with an eye on the food system, the environment and the role of the consumer. But what actually happens to all these food projects?
The promising projects do not always find their way to the producer, the market and ultimately to the buyer. Why is that? And what can we do to take these projects further? These are the questions that are central to this year’s curator Annelies Hermsen.
The Embassy of Water also focuses on caring for a better and healthier planet, but from the perspective of water. The current climate crisis calls for a different way of dealing with water. If we want to create a better world for ourselves and our children, we must also rethink our relationship with water. How do we live together with water in harmony again, and how do we give water a respectable and central role in society again?
In ancient India, people knew how to live with water. Impressive water temples stood in the middle of a community, for everyone and with respect for water. The Embassy of Water puts man back in the natural water ecosystem and shows that the water transition is more than retaining, slowing down and infiltrating.
Do you want to watch more WDE Talks? Then click here. Please note that these talks are in Dutch.
