This past February, the 4th edition of the Next Generation Podium took place.
For context, the Next Generation Podium is an annual cross-border symposium and workshop hosted and organized by Verening Deltametropool (Deltametropolis Association in English), one of the ASSET partners. As a platform for students and young professionals in the fields of urban planning, (landscape) architecture, research & policy, it aims to foster knowledge development and interdisciplinary collaboration, focusing on future spatial development of the EuroDelta.
As one of the main activities of the ASSET project, this 4th edition of the Next Generation Podium focused on 3 interrelated themes:
- Circular Delta
- Accessible Delta
- Inclusive Delta
Similar to the past 3 editions, this year's program is all online and included an opening ceremony, lunch forums, a working conference, student workshops and a closing ceremony.
The lunch forum portion consisted of 3 online lunch sessions over 3 days, each following one of the interrelated themes with speakers of relevant expertise and experience. The working conference included key note presentations, panel discussion between experts, resulting in 4 teams fine-tuning their ideas under the mentorship of practitioners, and developing and presenting actionable spatial narratives for 2035 and 2050 to a jury panel.
Key insights of the Next Generation Podium 2025:
- Real-world challenges were integrated into the program (emphasis on circularity, accessibility and climate resilience), which led to participants not only discussing theoretical solutions, but also developing tangible strategies applicable in real-world planning contexts.
- A layered approach to spatial planning is promoted and applied throughout the program, in which local, regional and mega-regional strategies are connected to address complex challenges of the EuroDelta.
- The Next Generation Podium addresses the notable gap in university curricula regarding megaregional thinking, particularly in bridging local design scales with strategic regional perspectives.
- The Jury recommended key considerations to participants when translating a vision into action. They included: aligning actors and long-term collaboration; overcoming hindering factors (e.g. fragmentation and public resistance); leveraging financial instruments and funding opportunities; building public legitimacy through transparency; and developing institutional capacity.
Samples of the work done by the teams during the Next Generatio Podium 2025 are provided below:
Proposal by Circular Delta team
For more information about the Next Generation Podium, click here.