Water as collective Leverage

Climate change can’t be dealt with by using simplistic infrastructural solutions. A dike might protect a neighborhood from fl ooding, but it does not solve the draught at other times of the year and the fl ooding elsewhere along the river. What is needed are integrated solutions that look at all spatial and infrastructural aspects and include the people and their knowledge. Next to space and technological advancement, behavioral changes are one of the most important tools to keep the planet cool. In Semarang we did exactly that. Our comprehensive water masterplan “no drop gets lost’ was created together with local experts and representatives of local inhabitants. We learned from them what they are struggling with but also what they achieve, and they learned from us what we can bring to the table. The result is a plan that targets the problem of water on all levels. Not only is fl ood risk mitigated by means of storing water: on large scale outside the city and in its canals and in micro scale in every courtyard house. In this way the stored water is available during dry season, replacing scarce ground water. The infrastructure and community based approach not only delivers signifi cantly better results, it also ensures participation of each and every citizen that makes this complex local-global solution feasible.