Delft students shape greener future for their neighborhood with climate-resilient street design
Students from Christelijk Lyceum Delft teamed up with the municipality to redesign Henry Dunantlaan, adding more greenery and rainwater solutions. Their innovative ideas, now part of the final plan, will transform the street before summer, making it more climate-resilient for residents.
| Key Data | Details |
|---|---|
| Location | Henry Dunantlaan, Molenhuispad, and Lodenvloer, Delft |
| Involved Parties | Christelijk Lyceum Delft, Municipality of Delft, Alderman Frank van Vliet |
| Project Timeline | Redesign to be completed before summer 2026 |
| Student Contributions | Climate adaptation research, design proposals, scale models, neighborhood input |
| Key Improvements | Increased greenery, better rainwater capture, heat reduction |
| Project Leader (Municipality) | Chiel van Wensveen |
The Municipality of Delft is responsible for urban planning and sustainability initiatives within the city. This project reflects its role in engaging local communities, particularly youth, in creating climate-adaptive public spaces while fostering educational collaborations with schools.
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Helping to create a greener neighbourhood
Students from the Christelijk Lyceum Delft (link is extern) symbolically planted a new tree on Henry Dunantlaan last week. They did so together with alderman Frank van Vliet. The area is being redesigned before summer. The trees along the avenue were in poor condition and had to be replaced. This gave the municipality the opportunity to redesign the street, adding more greenery and space to better capture rainwater.
Research
The municipality also took the opportunity to link an educational project to the new design, in collaboration with the school. “We’re happy to do this,” says project leader Chiel van Wensveen from the municipality. “This way, students get to know our work and contribute their ideas about their own living environment.”
Advice
Havo 4 students researched possible measures to better adapt to climate change during the school project, such as reducing heat and improving rainwater capture. They then provided advice to the municipality.
Collaboration
“I’ve learned that sustainable solutions can greatly benefit the environment,” says Sanne Scheffers. “I really enjoyed working with the municipality and helping them,” adds Livia Erades. Delaiyna Lamur: “I found it interesting because the municipality is actually going to implement the project.”
Design
Students from the *Onderzoeken & Ontwerpen* (Research & Design) track at the school created a design for the public space near the school at Molenhuispad and Lodenvloer, a side street of Henri Dunantlaan. They studied the area and mapped out the needs of street users. Based on this, along with the municipality’s requirements and wishes, they created sketches, developed scale models, and presented their ideas to the alderman.
A great project
“We’ve solved several problems, such as a lack of greenery,” says Senne Werksma. “I’m really pleased that our design was chosen.” Daniel Burger: “I thought this was a great project because we were able to do so much designing ourselves.” Jason Ma adds: “I’d love to see more projects like this.”
Neighbourhood input
The ideas from the project were incorporated into discussions with the neighbourhood. During a participation meeting, various options for the redesign of the green strip were discussed, with the havo students present. There was another meeting later, where the students’ scale models were also used.
Before summer
The winning student design served as the basis for the final redesign. The municipality further developed it and presented it to residents, who had additional wishes. “Some of the students’ ideas have been retained,” says Chiel. “Now we’re getting to work on the redesign, and everyone will be able to see the result before summer.”
Refreshing ideas
Alderman Frank van Vliet: “It’s incredibly fun and inspiring to see how students contribute their ideas about their own living environment. With their refreshing ideas, they show how you can transform a paved-over area into a street that can withstand heat and heavy rain. This way, we’re building a greener and healthier future for Delft together with the new generation.”