A pen gives water a place at the building table

The Waterambassade wants homes, neighbourhoods and roads to help restore the water system. There is already plenty of knowledge available, but how do you ensure that construction professionals also take this into account in the decisions they make? In the Co/Lab with Dutch Design Foundation, the search focused on ways to give water a place at the table with the people who make these decisions every day.

The Waterambassade, led by Anouk van der Poll, initiated a Co/Lab around this challenge. An open call was launched to find a designer to work on the question. Although an open call is labour-intensive, its major advantage is that it expands the network.

Designer Jeroen Peeters of Future of Now emerged from the open call. He recognised that the challenge was about creating an experience that could encourage construction professionals to act differently.

DDF provided programme management and structure for the collaboration. This allowed Van der Poll to focus more on the creative content. With project partners including the municipality of Eindhoven, De Dommel Water Board, the Province of North Brabant and Rijkswaterstaat, the research found a place at the intersection of design, policy and construction practice.

Jeroen Peeters developed In Good Hands: a pen with a small glass sphere filled with water that creates patterns of light as you write. The user chooses which water to fill the pen with. The striking pen is a true conversation piece. Put it on the table and the conversation about water has already begun.

That conversation is encouraged by a group of Water Carriers (Waterdragers): the people who have taken on the role of using the pens to spark change. Jolande Kors, Director of Sustainability at Heijmans Infra, is one of the Water Carriers. “With this pen, we have brought water to the table,” she says. “And water is crucial to our work.” Anouk van der Poll sees the pen as a powerful way to get the conversation started. “Often, once the conversation has begun, good proposals emerge from it as well. The results of this project may not be easy to express in numbers, but there is definitely an impact.”