We (don't) Want Wind

Horizon pollution

In addition to tulips, clogs and cheese, the windmill is an icon of Dutch identity. There are songs about it, the Dutch are proud of it, and the rows of windmills at Kinderdijk and Zaanse Schans attract hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the world. How different is that with modern wind turbines. They actually provoke a lot of resistance: horizon pollution, noise pollution, bad for health, dangerous for birds, shout the opponents. How does that work, where does that contradiction come from? And how can we learn from the past and give the modern wind turbine – an essential part of the necessary energy transition – a more positive image? Designer Noud Sleumer raises these questions with the presentation We (don't) Want Wind.

Social and cultural factors

As part of a project by the Netherlands Open Air Museum and ArtEZ Academy of Art and Design in Arnhem, Noud, together with a number of other designers, focused on the relationship between cultural heritage and sustainable design. He delved into the museum's depot and archives and studied the centuries-old relationship that the Netherlands has with wind and wind energy. He then collected Delft Blue vases and pots with images of old Dutch windmills and used them to build an installation of small-scale, modern wind turbines, together with designer and creative engineer Nikolai Gillissen. The installation is not only visually stimulating, but also has a deeper layer. In collaboration with the RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment), Noud Sleumer investigated which aspects influence the support for wind energy. The windmills visualize the results. In addition to ecology, economy and technology, social and cultural factors also appear to play a major role. And it is precisely the latter two that are often forgotten in the planning and construction of current wind turbines.

Creating support together

“We can learn from the past,” says Noud. “In the 18th and 19th centuries, there was also criticism of the many windmills. But the local residents had a much more direct relationship with those mills. They themselves had noticeable benefits from them: flour, wood or protection against the water. They knew the miller, the mills had a name, and the sails were used to communicate: the joy position when a child was born or when there was a wedding, the party position when there was a party in the village, or the mourning position when someone died.” The installation at the Dutch Open Air Museum in Arnhem attracted so much interest and elicited so many responses that Noud and Nikolai developed and expanded the project further for Dutch Design Week. Their presentation aims to inspire companies, governments, social organisations, media and a broad audience of visitors to think about and discuss this theme. In order to create more support for wind energy and to find solutions to this issue together.