Samenvatting

For centuries the Netherlands had struggled against water. After years of struggle the Netherlands had turned from a swampy and unstable river delta into an orderly country with a strong agricultural image. Since 1990, however, the Netherlands are no longer primarily known as the country that reclaimed land from water, but as a country that allows water to come in once again for nature development reasons. Tiengemeten is one of the largest nature development projects in the Netherlands. Influenced by European and national governmental policy, this former agricultural island has been transformed into a nature island. This development can only be understood if we consider the current culture of authenticity. In this article I will argue that Tiengemeten is an expression of this culture of authenticity and that this affects the communication about Tiengemeten. Based on the case of Tiengemeten I assume that communication is culturally bound or embedded.