Trine Stausgaard Munk
September 3, 2025
Design as water
Ramboll Water and Henning Larsen recently joined forces to explore a new paradigm where water is treated as a stakeholder within the design process. We caught up with Trine Stausgaard Munk, Head of Sustainability at Ramboll Water, to understand how this thought-provoking publication came about.
1) What sparked the idea behind Design as water, and why did now seem the right time to introduce it?
Working with water in Ramboll reflects our commitment to our natural environment and our concern about our planetary crises. However, water sometimes becomes an afterthought or technical detail, even a problem, threat, or something we need to get rid of. Headlines such as ‘conquering the cloudburst” or ‘the fight against climate change’ insinuate a battle against nature, and such war rhetoric does not help us address the root causes of our planetary crises.
This journey started by reflecting on our role as consultants and as designers, and a recognition that the current water paradigm will not help solve the world’s water challenges or the interconnected planetary crises. So, we started to wonder how we might unfold an alternative water paradigm.
As for why now? We are living in a moment of ecological and planetary crisis. Last year was the hottest on record, with extreme weather and climate impacts everywhere. That demands transformation in all sectors, including in our own work. We felt it was time to step back and really question our mindset and responsibility as professionals.
Design as water questions the dominating narratives of what is human and what is the purpose of design, as well as the continuous need for growth, development, and infrastructure. It connects our water crisis to that in mental health, inequity, and biodiversity. Water is ever-present and ever-relevant. When designing as water, water becomes our client, our guide, and our teacher.
2) The publication suggests that water should be treated not as a resource, but as a story-teller and guide. What does that look like in practice — can you share an example?
Our team is very inspired by the feminist writer, Astrida Neimanis, who talks about ‘bodies of water’, and the ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer, who introduces plants as our teachers. As we move towards designing as water, we recognise ourselves as bodies of water, interconnected and interdependent on our water cycles, borrowing from and contributing to our local water systems. We move from perceiving the water cycle as something solely external to ourselves, to something that’s within us. This perspective challenges our role as a designer, as an engineer or architect, and helps us understand ourselves as part of a global ecosystem and the same water family.
It's also about learning from water’s natural qualities, embracing complexity and going with the flow. We want to work more like water. There’s inspiration both in the patterns we see in the water world, which we can translate into design through biomimicry, and in the softer qualities water embodies. Water creates connections. We’re all connected through it, and that awareness should be much more conscious in our work.
3) You talk about moving away from “solving” toward “stewarding.” What mindset shift does this require from designers, engineers, and planners – and how might that change our day-to-day work?
To truly work as water, we need to connect to the watery world and our watery self, entering projects as stewards of our watery connections and ecosystems. Just like water, we evolve, learn, adapt, and flow, and embrace our purpose as designers to sustain life and design conditions for ecosystem health. By letting water guide our designs and our decision-making, we embrace the systems of place and work with them, rather than against them. The moment we work against water, we often increase our own vulnerabilities. So, water can be a strong ally in designing for resilience.
But most of us don’t really know what water cycle we’re part of. We just turn on the tap and take it for granted. In a water stewardship mindset, we would know exactly which cycles we are a part of, and we would care for the whole cycle, whether in our offices, our homes, or our projects, recognising our participation in and interdependency on these cycles.
Stewardship means giving these local water cycles a voice in design and decision-making. It means letting water’s wisdom and stories of place guide our path towards resilience.
4) How do you hope Design as water will influence the conversations we have with clients and collaborators?
I hope Design as water helps our clients and collaborators develop a deeper understanding and care for the water cycles that sustain our very existence. I hope it sparks some difficult but much-needed conversations. For generations, we’ve placed infrastructure in sensitive areas without considering the long-term consequences. Stewarding water means asking whether those practices should continue. It means challenging business-as-usual. For example, are there places where we should simply stop building, such as wetlands or other protected water areas?
Nine out of ten climate change events are water-related, so water sits at the heart of resilience. Too often, new infrastructure reduces resilience and increases vulnerability. A green, unbuilt space is usually more resilient than what we put on top of it. Design as water pushes us to think in systems, in connections, and to recognise that every intervention is impacted by and impacts a local water cycle.
That also raises the question: who is really the client? Our projects leave footprints that will last for generations. Maybe our client is not the developer, the city, or the utility. Maybe it’s the place itself, the community, or water.
“Nine out of ten climate change events are water-related, so water sits at the heart of resilience. Too often, new infrastructure reduces resilience and increases vulnerability.”
5) If there’s one idea from Design as water you hope readers carry with them into their next project, what would it be?
My hope is that readers find courage to act as the voice of water, asking critical questions, challenging business-as-usual, and bringing connectivity and empathy to design and decision-making.
Many of the stresses we experience today are a result of being disconnected from nature, and water is one of the most powerful ways to restore that connection. Think about what happens when we’re near a lake, a river, or just listening to the sound of water. Our stress levels drop and we’re reminded of the healing powers of nature. Human existence and well-being are directly tied to the health of our water systems.
Imagine starting a workshop outdoors by a water body or introducing the sound of water as you invite for creative conversations. Or even asking water how it feels about a design brief or proposal. It might not only be fun and different but also help frame actions and decisions in a different light.
I invite you see yourself as a steward of waters in your next conversation, workshop, or board meeting, and ask yourself how you can inspire water stewardship around you.
Design as water
This companion is for anyone who seeks to bring water to the forefront of design and decision-making, as a vital and powerful stakeholder.
Want to know more?
Trine Stausgaard Munk
Head of Sustainability, Ramboll Water
Martin Zoffmann
Communications Manager, Ramboll Water
+45 51 61 45 75