Without water there is no mankind, no landscape that evolves. For ages man has lived together with water that has supported the landscapes of civilisation. It is with water that the outward appearance, the face of the earth has come about, grows and ever evolves.

Recently, changing weather conditions pose an urgent and demanding task to humankind all over the world. The great Tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, melting glaciers, and the extreme drought in many parts of the world show the dramatic forces of water, whether we get too much or too little. Agricultural systems will have to be adapted, our leisure behaviour will change with popular holiday destinations becoming too wet, too hot and dry, or lacking needed snow. Other areas perhaps will prosper from an improving climate. Urban structures will have to be rethought in order to cope with extreme peaks in precipitation, or to use scarce fresh water through smart retention planning for surface and subsoil water.

Water is transforming the landscape and it will continue to do so. We landscape architects can try to better understand the transforming power of water; to design our landscapes on the common theme of transforming forces of water; in the end also to transform ourselves, to transform our education, practice, and profession. Then it is water that transforms and presents an epoch-making chance to advance landscape architecture.

Who Should Attend
Landscape and Gardening Professionals involved in:
- Architectural Design
- Site Planning
- Housing Estate Development
- Environmental Restoration
- City, Town and Urban Planning
- Urban Design
- Park Planning
- Recreation Planning
- Regional Planning
- Historic Preservation

Three Days Congress
Landscape architects and professionals from all over the world are invited to join the 2008 IFLA Congress and share knowledge and ideas on the challenges and possibilities that we face when it comes to Transforming with Water.

The three days of the congress cover the theme in full breadth and depth. Each day has its own central theme to focus the activities of the day. The program offers a mix of keynote speeches, presentations, debates, excursions, workshops, executive lectures, an interactive forum, and social events. All participants can pick their choice to gain maximum benefit from the rich variety of the contents offered. But everybody shares time together at the beginning and the end of the day, to provide every opportunity for meeting and exchanging ideas.

The primary focus of the congress is to facilitate a full discussion on the possibilities to design with water, whether not enough or on the contrary too much. Through the juxtaposition of water as either friend or foe the debate is stretched to facilitate the discovery of new ways to live together with water's transforming power.

With excursions and on-site lectures you can visit the Dutch landscape, see the struggle of trial and error, and the - at times - successful dialogue with nature that was achieved. The indoor lecture sessions are reserved to hear about experiences from other parts of the world and reflect in a global perspective on wisdom, experience, and universally sound knowledge when it comes to Transforming with Water.

Program
Sessions
Speakers in sessions will present their subject interpreted to people with different backgrounds and in a universal applicable way. Included with examples from – study or reallife – cases that illustrate approach and perspectives.Sessions will feed discussion of the relevance of presented project(s) for landscape architects, designers, planners in other parts of the world.

Workshops
Speakers in workshops are a group of applicants that will work two hours on a theme related to the day theme. The workshop approach will challenge participants to work together producing an added, new awareness of the issue proposed as the result of collective group creativity.

Talkshops
Speakers in talkshops will present their contribution in the frame of a panel session. Together with two other contributors they will present their abstract in a short introduction. Participants of the session will have an opportunity to ask questions and be in debate with these speakers and other contributors.

Hot Item Forum
The Hot Item Forum is an open fair with presentations by exhibitors and participants, basically open all day, every day. Participants and exhibitors put forward their case in the casual atmosphere of the

Congress Foyer
30 June 2008
Living with Water
08:30 - 08:45: Introduction Opening 45th IFLA World Congress
08:45 - 09:30: Key Note (Adriaan Geuze Partner, West 8 Landscape Architects Netherlands)
09:30 - 10:15: Coffee and Hot Item Forum
10:15 - 12:15: Sessions Living with Water - Transforming with the Arid
- Creating an Oasis in the Gobi: Water Oriented Network Development in Oasis City (Binyi Liu, Professor and Chairman Department of Landscape Studies, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai, China)
- Water and Desert, Alice Springs (Judith van Gelderen, Landscape Architect, Kiahinfranet , Australia)
- Sustainable design concepts for building a Scarce-Watercity (Melanie Klein, Professor, Kansas State University, US)
10:15 - 12:15: Sessions Living with Water - Transforming with the Rains
- Water Purificative Landscapes - Constructed Ecologies and Contemporary Urbanism (Antje Stokman Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Landscape Sciences, Leibniz University, Hannover, Germany)
- Water in Malaysian Landscape Architecture (Rotina Mohd Daik, Landscape Architect, National Landscape Department, Malaysia)
- Flood Resilient Cities (Chris Zevenbergen, Professor Urban Water Management and Sanitation Unesco-IHE, Netherlands)
- The Water Adaptive Landscapes in Ancient Chinese Cities (Kongjian Yu , Professor at the Graduate School of Landscape Architecture, Peking University, China)
- Water and Space. Towards a National Waterplan for the Netherlands (Renske Peters, Director Water, Director-General Water, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Netherlands)
12:15 - 13:30: Lunch Hot Item Forum
12:15: Departure Excursions (pre registered delegates only)
13:30 - 15:30: Workshops "Transforming with the Arid"
- Rijn- and Maasharbours, Rotterdam (Monique Marijnissen & Onnie Tjia, dS+V Rotterdam, Netherlands)
- Archives and Profession I (Erik de Jong, Lecturer history of architecture at the Free University of Amsterdam, Netherlands) 13:30 - 15:30: Talkshops "Transforming with the Arid"
Theme: Oasis
- Amir Semiari (Post Graduate Student in Landscape Architecture at SBU, Iran)
- Miguel Martiarena (Magister Landscape Architecture, Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Argentinia)
- Hu Jie (Director Branch of Landscape Architecture Beijing Tsinghua Urban Planning & Design Institute, China)
- Ken McCown (Professor Architecture and Landscape Architecture Cal Poly Pomona, US)

Theme: Drying Heritage
- Cristina Castel-Branco (ACB Arquitectura Paisagista Lda, Portugal)
- Katrin Hagen-Richard Stiles (Technical University of Vienna, Austria)
- Mehdi Khakzand (Ph.D. candidate at the school of Architecture and Urban studies, Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST), Iran)
- Hidefumi Imae (Kyoto City Municipal Office, Cultural Properties Protection Section, Japan)
15:30 - 16:00: Tea Hot Item Forum
16:00 - 18:00: Workshops "Transforming with the Rains"
- Design solutions for environmental improvements in Banger area, Semarang, Indonesia (Hilde Westera, Hoogheemraadschap van Schieland en de Krimpenerwaard, Netherlands)
- Archives and Profession II (Erik de Jong, Lecturer history of architecture at the Free University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)
- Park Haifa (Gil Har-Gil, Founder and owner of Greenstein, Har-Gil Landscape Architecture ltd, Israel)
- International evaluation towards a National Waterplan for the Netherlands (Senta Modder DGWater, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, Netherlands)
16:00 - 18:00: Talkshops "Transforming with the Rains"
Theme: Discharging Rains in Public Space
- Paulo Pellegrino (Professor of Landscape Planning and Design at the School of Architecture and Urbanism of the University of São Paulo, Brasil)
- Ben Kuipers (Landscape Architect, Netherlands)
- Apinya Limpaiboon (Instructor in Planning and Landscape Design, School of Architecture and Design, King Mongkut’s University of Technology, Thailand)
18:00: Arrival Excursions
18:30 - 20:00: Reception Royal Palace 't Loo

01 July 2008
Land Meets Water
08:30 - 08:45: Introduction
08:45 - 09:30: Key Note (to be announced)
09:30 - 10:15: Coffee and Hot Item Forum
10:15 - 12:15: Sessions Land meets Water “Building Shores with Nature”
- The Seaward March: The Pod and The Buoy (Cathy Soergel Marshall and Kristi M Dykema, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture, Louisiana State University, US)
- Transforming the Gulf Coast: Rebuilding a Cultural and Ecological Infrastructure after Hurricane Katrina (James L. Sipes and Anne Kirn Rollings , Landscape architects and environmental planners, EDAW, US)
- Littoral Machines: How Waterfronts Become Coasts (Matthew Bradbury , Senior Lecturer Landscape Architecture,Unitec Institute of Technology and Frank de Graaf (Consultant DHV), New Zealand)
10:15 - 12:15: Sessions Land Meets Water “Urban Waterfronts”
- Venice Is Not a Modern City (Jorg Sieweke (Landscape Architect and Urban Designer Ass. Professor, TU Berlin, Germany)
- Community Design Around Kobe City to Live with Water (Mayumi Hayashi , Associate Professor, University of Hyogo, Japan)
- Recapturing a Waterfront: Panama City, Panama (Ken McCown, Urban Designer, Arizona State University and Design Workshop, US)
- Littoral Machines, How Waterfronts Become Coasts (Cornelia Redeker - Han Meijer, Researcher Technical University Delft, Netherlands)
12:15 - 13:30: Lunch Hot Item Forum
12:15: Departure Excursions (pre registered delegates only)
13:30 - 15:30: Workshops "Building Shores with Nature"
- Urban Waterfronts in Multiple Use I (Huibert Haccou, Multifunctional and Innovative LandUse (MILU), Netherlands)
- Dwelling Dyke (Erik Luyendijk, Consultant Policy and Innovation Grontmij Nederland bv, Netherlands)
- Selections in Landscape I (Michel Lafaille, Michel Lafaille Garden and Landscape Design, Netherlands)
13:30 - 15:30: Talkshops "Building Shores with Nature"
Theme: Building with Nature
Beyond Civil Engineering - Building with Nature (Wolfgang Ansel, Director IGRA Head Office, Germany)

Theme: Coastal Ecosystems Conservation
- Nik Ismail Azlan (Department of Landscape Architecture Faculty of Architecture Planning and Surveying, MARA University of Technology, Malaysia)
- Katherine Dunster (CSLA, R.P.Bio.Unfolding Landscapes, Canada)
- Thierry Kandjee (Paysagiste dplg Sebastien Penfornis architecte dplg Paris, France)
15:30 - 16:00: Tea Hot Item Forum
16:00 - 18:00: Workshops "Urban Waterfronts"
- Rebuilding New Orleans (David Wagonner, Principal Wagonner & Ball Architects, US)
- Urban Waterfronts in Multiple Use II (Huibert Haccou, Multifunctional and Innovtive LandUse (MILU), Netherlands)
16:00 - 18:00: Talkshops "Urban Waterfronts"
Themes: Water in Historic Cities
- Philip De Roo (Landscape Architect and Urban Planner City of Gent, Belgium)
- Robert Barker (Baca Architects, UK)
- Anna Kurbatova (First Deputy Urban Environment Research & Development Institute (UERDI), Moscow, Russia)
18:00: Arrival Excursions
18:30 - 20:00: Reception & Dinner at Royal Palace 't Loo

02 July 2008
Flow of Water
08:30 - 08:45: Introduction
08:45 - 09:30: Key Note (Anne Whiston Spirn, Professor of Landscape Architecture with Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Massachussets Institute of Technology, US)
09:30 - 10:15: Coffee and Hot Item Forum
10:15 - 12:15: Sessions Flow of Water "Perceptions of Water"
- Bangkok Liquid Perception: Waterscape Urbanism and Vanishing flow: The Chao Phraya River Delta and The City of Bangkok (Brian McGrath Associate Professor of Urban Design, Department of Architecture, Parson the New
School for Design New York, US)
- Place-telling at Dubai Creek: Encoded Visions (Tim Kennedy Assistant Professor, Architecture Department, School of Architecture + Design, American University of Sharjah, United Arabic Emirates)
- Sacralizing the Water’s Edge: the Landscape of the Ghats at Varanasi (Amitabh Verma, Assistant Professor, University of Georgia, US)
- The Drying Beijing, The Rethinking of Fengshui (Fu Fan and Zhao Caijun Phd Candidates Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China)
10:15 - 12:15: Sessions Flow of Water "Rivers"
- Urban Riverfront Rehabilitation, Recalling Nature to the Public Realm (Sareh Moosavi, Kamyar Abbassi, Authors (MLA), Beheshty University, School of Architecture & Urban Design, Iran)
- Critical Reflection on Han-Gang (River) Renaissance Project in Seoul (Kyung-Jin Zoh Professor Ph.D. Seoul National University, Department of Landscape Architecture, Graduate School of Environmental Studies, Korea)
- Room for Rivers (Regina Collignon, Program Director Room for Rivers, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure,
Netherlands)
12:15 - 13:30: Lunch Hot Item Forum
12:15: Departure Excursions (pre registered delegates only)
13:30 - 15:30: Workshops "Perceptions of Water"
- Lessons from the Past - Action Program Space and Planning (Oswald Lagendijk, Consultant Deltares, Netherlands)
- Bath House Spring (Onno Heijsman, Apeldoorn, Coordinator streams City of Apeldoorn, Netherlands)
- Summer School Radio Kootwijk (Eric Luiten, Professor Cultural History and Design Technical University Delft, Netherlands)
13:30 - 15:30: Talkshops "Perceptions of Water"
Theme: Philosophies on Water
- Jusuck Koh (Chair Professor, Landscape Architecture Group Wageningen University and Research Center, Netherlands)
- Mathew Davis (Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture School of Architecture Philadelphia University, US)
Philippe Nys, Landscape Philosopher Ecole d'Architecture de Paris-Belleville, France

Theme: Culture as an Inspiration
- Indra Tjahjani (Doctor of Environmental Design University of Canberra, Indonesia)
- Scott Hawken (Sydney University, Australia)
- Anahita Mahmoudi (Landscape Architect, Iran)
15:30 - 16:00: Tea Hot Item Forum
16:00 - 18:00: Workshops "Reflections on Water (City Flows)"
- River as Recreational Landscape - Rotterdam (Joke Klumper & Annemieke Fontein, dS+V Rotterdam, Netherlands)
- Rotte, Little River Dammed - Rotterdam (Martin Looije & Pieter de Greef, dS+V Rotterdam, Netherlands)
16:00 - 18:00: Talkshop "Transforming Landscape Architecture: Education" (Jeroen de Vries, President European Council of Landscape Architecture Schools (ECLAS), Netherlands)
18:00: Arrival Excursions
18:30 - 20:00: Farewell Reception at Royal Palace 't Loo

Excursions Water Landscapes
Several excursions are planned to parts of The Netherlands connected to the theme. On the excursions you will see and experience the continued transforming of the soft, resilient soil of the country into a man-made landscape through water control, wetland management, and land reclamation. In coastal regions, dams and dikes to defend agriculture and human settlement from the tides of the sea gave a harder solution to the problem. A need for architecture was felt from the earliest time on, such as reflected in the design of roads and waterways in the seventeenth century reclamations north of Amsterdam, inspired by Vitruvius’ tradition; part of which is now designated as an UNESCO World Heritage Site. Also the post-war sea defense works have a strong architectural quality.

But unconstrained functionalism negates nature, and has proved to be inadequate and too simple, certainly in the face of the increasing complexity and dynamics of the landscape processes today.

30 June 2008, 12:30 - 18:00: Excursions - Living with Water
- Excursion Sea Bed is a visit to 20th century landscapes reclaimed from the Zuiderzee sea bed.
- Excursion Lakes and Marshes is a visit to an older and more complex, vernacular landscape reclaimed from lakes, marshes and wetlands, north of Amsterdam. 
01 July 2008, 12:30 - 18:00: Excursions - Land meets Water
- Excursion Delta is a visit to the post-war coastal landscapes of the delta of the Rhine and Scheldt rivers. An in-depth lecture will be given on site at lunch time. We visit the bold, outer coastal works and inner lakes, where civil engineers and landscape architects have worked on challenging projects.
- Excursion Harbour is a visit to the harbour landscape of Rotterdam.
02 July 2008, 12:30 - 18:00: Excursions - Flow of Water
- Excursion River in Balance is a visit to the Nijmegen-Arnhem area and involves visits to retention landscapes along the Rhine and revival efforts for run-off streams of the Veluwe hills.
- Excursion Controlling the Floods is a visit to the lower Rhine branch Waal to see how reinforcement works to control high river floods fit in with the older landscape.

Timing Excursions: Daily Departure at: 12.30, daily arrival at: 18:00
Limited Capacity: 100 pre registered delegates per excursion