World News

Here in the Netherlands, citizens regularly tear up sealed surfaces and plant flowers in an effort to combat overheating and flooding. The government not only accepts this practice, which is known as tegelwippen — it actually provides support.

Tegelwippen is about more than just planting pretty flowers. As the climate crisis increases heat, drought and heavy rainfall, urban, concrete-covered areas can’t easily adapt to the changes. Buildings and sealed surfaces heat up and contribute to further warming of the climate. Yet more and more ground is sealed over, preventing rainwater from seeping into the ground. New houses are built, along with parking lots, roads, shopping centers, airports and commercial buildings. According to the European Environment Agency, between 2000 and 2018, around 6,178 square miles were sealed in the European Union, more than twice the area of the London metropolitan region.

Though the annual increase has fallen slightly in recent years, around 270 square miles are still added every year — the equivalent of over 90,000 soccer pitches. In Asia, the growth rate is even higher. And in North America, the area covered by impervious surfaces nearly doubled between 1985 and 2020.

The more cities are paved over, the greater their need for cooling and areas where rainwater can seep away and be stored. This is why in the Netherlands, citizens are taking matters into their own hands.

Tegel means tile in English. Wippen means rocking or picking up. In the last five years, Tegelwippen has developed into a mass movement across the country. The aim is to unseal as many surfaces as possible, whether in private gardens, schoolyards, driveways, public squares or sidewalks, as in the Katendrechtse Lagendijk.