A vital element for human and non-human species, as well as a metaphorical and emotional element, fresh water is simultaneously political and economic. Therefore, it is urgent to have a public discussion about the protection, management, and future of thid natural resource. These are global issues with dramatic manifestations in different areas of the Portuguese territory.
Focusing on seven distinct hydrogeographies, Fertile Futures commissions young architects, in collaboration with experts from other areas of knowledge, to present propositional models for a more sustainable tomorrow, in a non-hierarchical cooperation between disciplines, generations, and species. The seven case studies exemplify the anthropocentric action on finite natural ware resources, namely: in the Tâmega Basin; in the International Douro; in Middle Tejo; in the Alqueva Reservoir; in the Mira River; in Lagoa das Sete Cidades; and in Madeira's Streams.
Fertile Futures advocates the pertinence of architecture's role in designing a collaborative, decarbonised, and decolonised future, based on a heterogeneous approach, open to experimentation, dialogue, and joint reflection, focused on the reality of the Portuguese territory.