Water itself also sets own agenda. Climate change
brings more water into cities through sea level rise
and more frequent and heavier rain. The capacity of
Norway and Oslo´s water systems are under increased
pressure, exacerbated also by a loss of permeable are-
as, due to increased urbanisation. The result is flooded
streets, basements and park areas. The Oslo municipal-
ity has taken the initiative to map and understand the
relationship between the natural and the engineered
water systems. The ambition is to create a new water
management systemwhere the basic ideas are to reopen
former rivers and creeks and to collect floodwater in
basins as a part of the park system. The crucial need is
to reduce the pressure on the existing pipe systems to in-
crease flow capacities. With a strong vision for sustain-
ability and environment the Department of Oslo Water
and Sewerage Works secures that ‘The infrastructure
associated with water supply and wastewater collection
must be handed over to the next generation in better
condition than it was when it was handed to us. Water
supply and wastewater services must be carried out in
such a way that it does not harm the environment.’
From policy to large-scale water projects to urban
design and landscape architecture, the marriage of de-
sign and ecology is of primary concern. The mitigation
and development of strategies of resilience for flooding
has to work hand-in-hand with an understanding of ir-
rigation and stormwater management. Designers need
to more actively engage the larger world of politics and
policy and demonstrate a bold, cross-disciplinary, co-
operative intelligence in making water landscapes. Spa-
tial factors matter and landscape architecture, design
thinking and research methodologies provide insight
and new knowledge that is different than other fields—
it is a missing link in cooperation that can help bridge
missing gaps, solve problems and create productive and
more evenly distributed water landscapes for tomorrow.
This is what AH2O is about; the landscape architect has
the key role in mediating between different water com-
petences and in shaping water futures.
AHO has the ambition to train landscape architects
and engage in the most challenging urban water issues
of today through research and education. The master
program in landscape architecture at AHO has started,
and will continue, through the lens of water to address
the contemporary to fundamentally question and de-
fine the broad socio-political, economic and ecological
questions that facing our cities.
Water Mosaic Water,
habitation and live-
lihood (aquaculture)
blend into a seamless
whole in Vietnam’s
Mekong Delta (in Ca
Mau, the nation’s
southern most city).
