Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for letting me stand here to sum up everything that has been discussed today.
Today’s theme is Heritage. But as I stand here, I find myself wondering. Inherited Good?

Inherited good?

Is everything we inherit actually good?
Is everything we keep worth keeping?
And – perhaps the most important question – are we passing on the right things to the next generations?
Or should we pause more often on how and what we pass on?
Should we sometimes simply give something back?
Should we restore something?
Or perhaps let go?

Because let us be honest:
If there is one thing we are not good at, it is passing on a healthy earth.
We endlessly extract raw materials from the earth, poison our surroundings, and pump extra CO₂ into the air every day. We acidify the oceans, pollute the air – and in doing so we poison not only the ecosystems around us, but also ourselves.

And still we call it a climate crisis. As if the climate is in crisis, and not us.
Meanwhile we forge plans to travel to Mars, while leaving our own earth behind like a broken battleship.

What if we went back in time

Sometimes I wonder:
What if?
What if, when the Pilgrim Fathers were in Delfshaven, we had simply had a good conversation?
A conversation about their plans.
To discover the world? Or to conquer it?
To trade? Or to plunder?

What if we had asked them: What are you going to take? And what are you going to give back?
And perhaps even more important:
Is it not already beautiful enough here?
What if, back then, we had decided to work together, to cherish this place, and to use that ship to protect and share our own treasures?

What if we build a ship: The Ark of Now

It reminds me of Noah’s Ark.
A ship full of animals – and people – to secure the future.
In fact, that ark was an early museum: a collection of what we valued most.
But do we learn from that story?

Or would we rather keep blinders on…
than place a solar panel before our heritage?

The drought is already tangible.
The need is already here.
But how often do we keep the wrong things?
How often do we forget to learn from our mistakes?

So let us pause today on the power of nature.
On projects such as Fotosynthese, which show how we can store CO₂ in the soil and in building materials. Let us transform buildings into museums for CO₂ storage.
And let us think not only of preserving, but also of giving back.
Giving back to the earth.
Cherishing our planet.
So that we can pass it on in good condition to the next generations.

Learning to restore

We must also learn to restore. Not with chemical agents that keep causing damage, but with natural solutions.
Old techniques, such as methods that also improve our water management.
That way we work together with nature, for our future.
So that nature, too, can inherit what is good.

Curators of the future

Because each of us is a curator. A curator of what we keep and pass on.
Every handshake you give leaves an impression.
And every impression influences the footprint you leave behind.

Inheriting well means making conscious choices. Green choices.
What if we give land back to the commons?
A collective that decides how we use it:
For healthy food, poison-free soil, and farms where we learn how nature keeps us healthy.
Imagine: picking up organic packages in a museum, and at the same time learning how, together, we write a new story.

Together with nature

We cannot do this alone.
We must work together with nature.
For our future.
For a future in which nature, too, inherits what is good.
Let us be creative, like two teenagers capturing graffiti with an old camera.
The moment it all turns on.

Passing on with pride

Perhaps you feel resistance now.
But you know what? I learned this at the volunteer session.

Resistance is in fact a sign of engagement.
It is the beginning of change.

So let us find a new, shared language.
Let us pass on with pride.
Let us do good.
Let us inherit well.

Inherit Good.

Pepijn Duijvestein, 15 November 2024