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News · March 22, 2025
Living with Water: embracing new challenges and opportunities
On the occasion of World Water Day celebrated on 22nd March, we remark our passion and expertise on one of our core themes: “Living with Water”.
At OKRA, we reflect on water’s transformative power in shaping our landscapes, cities, and communities. We believe that forging a strong, sustainable connection between people, society, and nature is key to ensuring that everyone thrives, especially as climate change and population growth present new challenges. As landscape and urban designers, we view water as both a vital resource and a dynamic opportunity. By embracing its challenges, we enhance resilience, foster biodiversity, and create more liveable communities for the future.
Our Dutch heritage, enriched by centuries of water management expertise, inspires our innovative urban and landscape strategies. From tidal parks and revitalised riverbanks to climate-adaptive streets and coastal protection, our projects reconnect people with water while ensuring ecological and urban sustainability. By designing with water, we create spaces that are safe, dynamic, and inspiring for both nature and society.
Water quality and green-blue systems
Water is essential for life, and its quality significantly impacts both people and nature. This is why, at OKRA Academy Programme, we focus on sustainable solutions to improve water quality, within the design of green-blue structures. Our internal research will widen our expertise in the sources and pollutants in urban and rural water, investigate natural treatment processes and identify tools for nature-based solutions for water quality.
At the foundation of our research is our ambition to develop sustainable water-based projects that operate on multiple levels through:
1. PRESERVATION of existing water quality and current water cycles, to maintain environmental quality in changing conditions.
2. REGENERATION of (urban) water quality, by employing green-blue structures as Nature-Based solutions within our projects.
3. DEDICATED DESIGN to improve water quality and water sanitation to meet new life standards for a healthy, urban or rural living environment.
We are committed to deepening our understanding of water quality and exploring further innovative solutions shaping our designs, implementing innovative and future-proof methods for a positive impact on both people and nature. In the coming months, we will share more insights and findings from our ongoing studies. Join us on this journey as we continue to transform challenges into opportunities for a healthier, more sustainable future.
Living with water
We design landscapes that establish and improve a healthy, natural relationship with water. Whether they are applied on the coast, in the city or in rural areas, our solutions are nature-based, science-backed, sustainable and resilient. This results in naturally integrated environments for people and nature.
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