To deal with rising tides and flooding, the Netherlands has begun to turn to floating structures, including the New Water development, which will feature "The Citadel," the world's first floating apartment complex. But a group of social engineering students from the University of Amsterdam have been applying the same idea to public spaces as well, creating floating markets and parks. It appears that they are also responsible for this floating campground, which could herald a future of temporary plots of DIY floating land.

[Inhabitat]

Human rights activist Mohamed Nasheed was sworn in this week as president of the Republic of Maldives, a collection of atolls off the coast of India. Nasheed announced a new tourism initiative to bring visitors to the islands, saying that the government will set aside a portion of the proceeds toward the purchase of a possible backup homeland:

"We can do nothing to stop climate change on our own and so we have to buy land elsewhere. It's an insurance policy for the worst possible outcome. After all, the Israelis [began by buying] land in Palestine," said Nasheed, also known as Anni.

It may sound like an outrageous doomsday scenario, but most of the Maldives is a mere 1.5 meters above sea level, and the highest point, on the island of Villingili, is 2.4 meters above sea level. Ensuring that its citizenry has a place to call home in the next hundred years might be its most prudent option:

Environmentalists say the issue raises the question of what rights citizens have if their homeland no longer exists. "It's an unprecedented wake-up call," said Tom Picken, head of international climate change at Friends of the Earth. "The Maldives is left to fend for itself. It is a victim of climate change caused by rich countries."

[The Guardian via Futurismic]