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The Dutch have a saying: God created
the Earth, but we created the Netherlands.

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For centuries, they braved the exposed
location by the sea and the forces of nature.

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They devised a sophisticated plan
and turned water into land,

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canalized rivers, drained swamps,

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and built dykes and pumping plants.

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The North Sea flood of 1953
was a major shock.

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2,000 people died,
but the Dutch didn\'t give up.

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They called it \"the disaster\".

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Nobody was talking about
climate change yet.

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And so the Dutch trusted in
what they were already good at:

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perfecting the technology.

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They set up the Delta Programme,
blocking estuaries with dams,

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and secured the coastline
by building closure dams.

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But rising sea levels
can no longer be ignored.

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In Rotterdam,
a city lying below sea level,

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creative minds
are already tackling climate change.

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Many small but important projects
have emerged.

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They call themselves De Urbanisten,
and their name says it all.

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They don\'t work against the sea,
but for the city.

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For its future.

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And not with one big project,
but by redesigning spaces and places,

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and by integrating
or even restoring nature.

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How can humans and nature be reconciled?

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In 2005 De Urbanisten joined forces,

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a group of experts from various fields:

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Architects, spatial planning experts
and landscape designers.

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Visionary foresight is needed
to meet the city\'s complex challenges.

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One example of this is the Water Square.

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From a bird\'s eye view, it looks like
a hip playground designed for young people.

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In fact, it\'s a catch basin for rainwater
or other masses of water.

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Delegations from everywhere
come here to learn from Water Square.

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It has brought its planners acclaim
and its neighbourhood good luck.

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Teachers and pupils of the adjacent schools
were invited to submit ideas.

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How often do people manage to build something
that is fun and useful at the same time?

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The question of how to use the water best
occupied De Urbanisten for quite some time.

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They were not happy with just
pumping it back into the open sea.

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The solution
was an abandoned railway viaduct nearby.

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A public park is being developed here,
similar to the High Line in New York.

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Once finished, the Hofbogenpark

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will be the longest and narrowest park
in the Netherlands.

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A green lung at the heart of the city.

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De Urbanisten are convinced

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that the threats posed by drought and flood

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can be contained
with the help of biodiversity.

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Insects, animals and plants are invaluable
partners in the fight against climate change.

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But they have a hard time
in cities with their sealed soils.

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Rotterdam, this city below sea level,
is constantly under pressure.

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It\'s in deep water,
that keeps coming from all directions:

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From the sea, rivers, the sky,

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and from the ground.

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What do we do when we spill water?
We wipe it up with a sponge.

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De Urbanisten have a similar idea.

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They\'re working out how to turn
the sealed soil into a water reservoir.

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Removing the asphalt
and replacing it with porous materials.

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And this is what their experiments look like.

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The citizens of Rotterdam
can see how it works in a public park.

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In the Sponge Garden, clay, building rubble
and shells form a happy symbiosis.

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It\'s almost as meditative
as a Japanese garden.

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Plants grow nearby,
suited to such an environment,

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attracting a whole range
of small animals and insects.

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Suddenly, this highly industrialised
harbour city of Rotterdam

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looks like an urban research station,
experimenting with renaturation methods.

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Isn\'t it crazy? We tried so hard to get rid
of everything that creeps and flies,

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everything wild and not meant for decoration,
and to banish it from the city.

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And now we\'re going to huge lengths
to bring it all back.

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These two men are also on the nature trail.

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They have left their desks in a museum
to indulge in a spot of field research.

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Right behind the Natural History Museum,

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they have established
the first urban nature sanctuary.

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Lawnmowers are not allowed here.

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Curiosity, a sharp eye,

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and enthusiasm for rank growth,
weeds and small insects.

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Maybe we city people
should be more like children

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if we want the cities to become biotopes.

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Cultivated parks

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may soon become relicts
from a time of cultivated carelessness.

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Rotterdam: The largest port in Europe.
It has always been a gate to the world.

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The coasts are not recreational areas,

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the rivers are not for enjoyment,
but transport routes,

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bringing in goods and profit.

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But trade has changed,
just like the climate.

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It has retreated from the city
and left behind deserted facilities.

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Yet another experimental field
for De Urbanisten.

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They are planning a park here,
which, like the Water Square,

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will connect the pleasant with the useful.

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Biodiversity and flood defence.

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Helped along by... the tides.

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Unfortunately,
things aren\'t always as easy in practice.

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If the prototype works out,

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a 360-kilometre-long tidal landscape
could emerge here.

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By the time the funding
and plan of action are in place,

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a fair few tides will have come and gone.

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You need the boundless fantasy
and enthusiasm of the Urbanisten

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to be able to imagine all that.

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The area still looks like
just another harbour basin.

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Like a lot of work.
But this work is for the future.

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They are laying fascine mats
in order to prevent erosion.

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A technique
that the Dutch invented 400 years ago.

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The Dutch built their country from scratch.

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They built it on sand.

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About half of the country
is less than one metre above sea level.

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About a quarter is below sea level.

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Climate change is helping the sea reclaim
what was once taken from it.

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The water level is already rising
much faster than feared.

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As one of the cities
most at mercy to the sea,

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Rotterdam has good reason
to worry about its future.

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The race has begun.

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De Urbanisten cannot work wonders.

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But they could set an example,

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demonstrating that solutions
need complex thinking and simple actions.

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That many small ideas can make a difference.

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Green is the colour of hope.