Under the leadership of Theo Spek from Zeegse, it has been worked on for five years: the new manual ‘Landscapes of the Netherlands’. With the almost 700 -page work, he hopes to give insight into the history of our living environment in an understandable way.
The 61-year-old bacon is professor of landscape history and head of the Knowledge Center Landschap at the University of Groningen. “It was a tough birth, the book weighs 4 kilos,” he laughs in the Radio Drenthe program Cassata About the end result that appeared this week. “We made it with 30 writers, everyone with his own specialty. I have assigned Drenthe to myself.”
With a wink, bacon calls itself a sand hare. “I did most of my life investigations in the sandy landscapes: Drenthe, Twente, De Veluwe and Salland.” And although he lives in Zeegse, his roots are quite somewhere else. “My family comes from Goeree-Overflakkee, completely on the other side of the Netherlands. But I have fallen in love with Drenthe. That is because of the old landscape. I started researching here in 1988 and now I am still working on Drenthe.”
So in recent times, Spek did that for the brand new manual. “For my students, but also for the people who work in the landscape world, I wanted the very best textbook that exists. With good information based on research from the last decades. Because a very outdated book from the 80s was still used as teaching materials. That was no longer possible.”
According to Spek, the Netherlands has the most varied landscape compared to other European countries. “We have all kinds of soils: dunes, clay, the river area, peat, sand and loess. Every 30, 40 kilometers that you travel through the Netherlands, you end up in a different landscape. And every landscape has its own story and history. If you understand more about the landscape, you will also appreciate it more. I hope the book helps with that.”
He would also like to convey that enthusiasm to his students. “Every Friday I have a different landscape in my training. The students will first read the chapter in the book in question and then we will really go there. Whether it is South Limburg, Zeeland or Drenthe. In such a way you learn the best how a landscape works. And it is also very nice to travel with the students to another part of the Netherlands every week.”
Bacon sees two different species in the design of the landscapes. “You have economic landscapes, which are functional in nature. Where farmers set up it as it is best for agriculture. But you also have landscapes made for the ‘show’. For the viewing figures, say. The elite and ordinary people are both in the landscape. But ultimately it is of everyone.”
According to Spek, policymakers and management organizations must look carefully at what makes a landscape characteristic. “You have to ensure that plans fit well with the existing area. So that in the future we will continue to recognize the seventeen different landscapes in the Netherlands. That you know if you are in Brabant or in the Drentsche Aa area. It is about heritage, what the people have made for us. And they have not made it for nothing.”
And according to bacon it is important to look at the big whole. “Solutions for climate change, greening of agriculture and residential construction are all sought separately. That is not possible, because you have to do it together in an area -oriented approach. Unfortunately, the government parties chose to let it go last year.”
“Of 29 billion, 5 billion is left, which means that plans cannot be carried out or only partially. In the end, nobody is really happy. I think we should look for compromises,” emphasizes Spek. “Nature is part of the landscape, but that is also agriculture. There must be good solutions for farmers, but there must also be respect for nature managers.”
Bacon has not yet been written with the appearance of the manual. “There will be another book, that will be in ten years. That is about the landscapes of Europe. I am getting bigger: from Drenthe to the Netherlands and then to Europe. Whether I write a book about the landscapes of the rest of the world? No, I will not save that anymore,” he laughs.