Desirable nature futures for Nationaal Park Hollandse Duinen

Nationaal Park Hollandse Duinen is a new national park in a densely populated region. The park is developed bottom-up by a diverse group of actors. The ambition is to be a showcase of how people and nature can co-exist. A participatory futures workshop helped to bring people’s diverse relationships with nature to the fore, and jointly envision desirable futures and the pathways to get there. The workshop process integrated the Nature Futures Framework with the 3 Horizons Framework. The implications of different visions for sustainable development were assessed using a SDG target analysis. The participatory scenario approach aligned well with the development process of Nationaal Park Hollandse Duinen for which it strengthened long-term thinking and plural valuation of nature, which got carried forward in the official landscape strategy for the national park.

The outputs of the workshop provide a rich source of inspiration and ideas for the participants to build from, supported by the enthusiasm generated by the process. As important is the pluralistic thinking that is promoted by the Nature Futures Framework, and the transformative thinking promoted by the 3 Horizons Framework. This thinking continues to play a role in the development of the park.