Water en Land

Abstract

Water and Dry Land
Water management has always been a major concern. Dutch pragmatism certainly has roots in water management, but it is also rooted in the culture of meetings of the Dutch cities and in the attitude of the peasant who produced for the market very early on. Water control reached its height when we introduced reinforced concrete for hydraulic engineering. Around 1970, the ecological turning point caused a change in focus. Water managers became concerned about the quality of water, the creation of ‘new nature’ and the adaptation to water. In this way, we did not discard the assets of the Industrial Revolution, but rather put them into a new framework: more green in the blue. Water is by definition international. The Netherlands co-parented the international cooperation of the Rhine countries. Is this history part of our national consciousness? Can the water history of the South- and Eastern Netherlands also join in the national water history of the twentieth century? This article is part of the forum 'The Dutch National History Museum'.