A history of futures: A review of scenario use in water policy studies in the Netherlands

► We reflect on 6 decades of scenarios use in Dutch water management studies. ► We observed a paradigm shift from predicting to exploring the future. ► This increased the opportunity for robust decision-making. ► The scenarios enabled learning about impacts and effectiveness of policy options and raised awareness. ► The turn-over rate from science to policy has speeded-up and further intensified.