Revealing the Power of Landscape in Mitigating the Climate Crisis

Climate crisis demands decarbonization of our energy supplies. The upscaling of renewable energy is accelerating around the world. Most renewable energy projects fail to realize values other than reducing greenhouse gas emissions and societal support is eroding. Many critics appropriate ‘land-scape’ to oppose, postpone or reallocate climate action. The objective of this paper is to highlight an-other, often overlooked power of landscape: The power of landscape to enable learning, reflecting, and resolving critical questions regarding climate action. Landscapes, we sustain, deserve ever more attention in the pursuit of timely climate action. We illustrate that the transition to renewables provides the very foundations for new cultural landscapes. This paper draws from a recently published book – The Power of Landscape – which presents our research and design at the Amsterdam Academy of Archi-tecture, complemented by essays from renown architects, geographers, sociologists, and historians.