Flood safety and cultural landscapes, a contradiction or not?
AUKJE DE HAAN, INGE VERDURMEN
Flemish Heritage Institute
The Sigma-plan coordinates the transformation of a series of river valleys in Flanders into flood plains to protect more build-on areas against the future threat of flooding. The second aim of these flood areas will be nature development and nature compensation. As a result, all these newly developed areas will drastically change and with them the historic landscape and all its values. The polders along the rivers are after all rich cultural-historical landscapes which contain a wide variety of landscape relics as reminders of the human occupation and organisation in the past.
Commissioned by W&Z (Waterwegen en Zeekanaal NV – Waterways and Sea-canal NV) the last few years the VIOE (Vlaams Instituut voor het Onroerend Erfgoed - Flemish Heritage Institute) has been doing research in these rapidly changing landscapes. Research in the polder Kruibeke-Bazel-Rupelmonde gave insight in the history of the water management and landscape evolution since the land has been reclaimed by man. This year, a research will be done in a future food plain in the river Dijle. The landscape history will be researched and landscape relics will be inventoried and valued in relation to similar elements in the river valley.
At the same time, a long term project was started to gain insight into the archaeological, palaeo-ecological and cultural-historical value of all ‘Sigma’ areas along the rivers Durme, Schelde, Dijle and Zenne. Endangered archaeological and historical sites are located, inventoried and selected for further research. Until now, contrary to all the necessary procedures, the blueprints of these flood areas lack attention for historical landscape. All the VIOE-projects have the same goal: to find possibilities to merge safety and nature as well as cultural heritage. From the historical research, recommendations for the development of the flood plains will be formulated, particularly the way to deal with landscape history.
