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What if Lab: Totaal lokaal

What if…our cities were fully self-sufficient?

Totaal lokaal: voedsel, water en energie — © Sweco

The world is changing. Extremes are the order of the day. It is either too wet or too dry, too hot or too cold. Raw materials and energy are scarce. We want everything to be better, nicer and faster, but we cannot fight against extremes. We need to embrace them. Totally local: is that the future?

What if Lab: Totally local

The world is changing. Extremes are the order of the day. It is either too wet or too dry, too hot or too cold. Raw materials and energy are scarce, and we lose dozens of square miles of valuable nature every day. We want everything to be better, nicer and faster, but we are increasingly realising that the world we live in is not makeable. We cannot fight against extremes. We need to embrace them. This means going back to the basis, to our origin. Being self-sufficient is closer than ever. Or has it just returned? Totally local: is that the future?

We staan aan de vooravond van een nieuw tijdperk. Een tijd die het mogelijk maakt om het anders te gaan doen, waarbij we écht anders omgaan met energie, ruimte, materialen, systemen én elkaar. Een tijd waarin de gezonde stad van de toekomst een nieuwe, lokale betekenis krijgt. Deze uitdaging vraagt om nieuwe invalshoeken en krachtige samenwerkingen. Mensen die van nature buiten lijntjes, hokjes en vastomlijnde ideeën denken. En de grenzen van technische mogelijkheden opzoeken. Om die reden organiseert Sweco het What if Lab: totaal lokaal.

Wat als.. de stad van de toekomst volledig zelfvoorzienend zou zijn?

In the What if Lab we challenge designers to design a trailblazing application for the self-sufficient city of five years from now. The application makes a valuable contribution to the fields of energy, food and/or water for optimum health, biodiversity and social connection for residents.

About Sweco

Sweco is Europe's leading architecture and engineering consultancy with more than 18,500 employees. Sweco and its clients are meeting the challenge of urbanisation. Together they use the potential of digitisation. Together, they make everyday life increasingly sustainable, safer and better. This creates new opportunities. The challenges of the future can use all perspectives. Technology and design are complementary and can strengthen each other. Together, we make the world more beautiful.

Totaal lokaal: voedsel, water en energie — © Sweco

Totaal lokaal: voedsel, water en energie — © Sweco

Totaal lokaal: voedsel, water en energie — © Sweco

Totaal lokaal: voedsel, water en energie