ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the emergence of sustainability as a new identity in the Dutch Wadden Island of Ameland. It situates contemporary sustainability projects within the island's longer history of environmental adaptation, subsistence practices, communal governance, and grand geoengineering projects. Long-standing debates about land consolidation and gas extraction have contributed to perceptions of vulnerability in the landscapes of the Wadden Sea, which rendered the Sea a nationally and internationally protected site. At the local level, however, Ameland's historical identity is rooted in memories of autonomy and subsistence. Islanders have often contested nature preservation, arguing that it interferes with local decision-making. It is in this context that sustainability, and the ambition to become a frontrunner in the energy transition, emerged. Its competition with traditional land uses which make use of the island's limited space makes Ameland paradigmatic of the Dutch planning context. This is exemplified by the case of the Ameland Solar Park, completed in 2016. Ultimately, the chapter demonstrates how Ameland's sustainability ambitions reflect an ongoing negotiation between independence, innovation, and external governance pressures, a negotiation manifested in heritage narratives and continued historical practices.
