Welcome back! Today we visited another InHolland campus, this time the one in Rotterdam. We arrived at 10 am and met our two guides, which this time were two faculty members. The Delft campus was more of applied sciences with a focus in engineering, but the Rotterdam campus is focused more on social studies with a focus in business.

We started off with a tour of the campus while our guides told us about the city of Rotterdam and the universities history. The whole day had a focus in “place making”, which is essentially sustainable development done with a focus on the people who should be benefitting from it.

As we walked our guides talked a lot about the gentrification Rotterdam is undergoing, and described how monoculture in Rotterdam is becoming an increasing problem with the class separation that is occurring, and he said that place making could be an important way to mend the gap.

I found it fascinating how he tied back the idea of place making into sustainability, because I hadn’t really thought of it that way. Sustainability is not just taking care of the environment, it’s can also be social and economical. Social sustainability is essentially what place making looks to sustain, and I loved hearing him talk about the importance of creating communities that are socially sustainable and well as environmentally.

Of course, Rotterdam is also looking at environmental sustainability. While we were there we looked at some floating houses and a floating event center. Right now the floating houses are being tested out as air B&Bs. There’s a rule that everything in the water in Rotterdam must be towable, so all of this is actually capable of moving.

We were also told about the history of the city and what it suffered during WWII, which I was shocked to only be learning now after four days in the city. Around 85% of the city was actually bombed and destroyed by the Germans, and over 300000 people died. All across Rotterdam there are little red lights in the ground we’d been seeing for days but didn’t know what they are, and it was finally explained to us that each light is a spot a bomb landed. Later, on the walk back to the hostel from the metro station, my friend and I were shocked to see how many there are.

This lead me to think about the cultural differences surrounding tragedy between the United States and the Netherlands, and I suspect Europe as a whole. In the United States, when a mass casualty event occurs on our land, it is highly publicized and mourned. Past events such as 9/11 or Pearl Harbor are still discussed and rehashed even decades later. It would be hard to enter New York City and not hear about 9/11.

But somehow, I went four days in Rotterdam without knowing that only 75 years ago 85% of the city was razed to the ground and 300000 people died. Somehow I had been walking on the ground of a mass tragedy and didn’t even know it. In Europe, people do their best to move on from horrible events such as bombings and floods. I think it’s because in their history it’s much more common place for cities to be destroyed, and they either have to spend their entire lives mourning it or just continue on. It’s a fascinating difference, and I don’t think either way is wrong.

We finished up our university visit with lunch and a short lecture, and then we had the rest of the day to ourselves. Some friends and I traveled 45 minutes by train to The Hague, which is the capital of the Netherlands. We walked around and shopped, saw the front of the palace, and got some delicious Turkish food.

Tomorrow is our last day of activities, and we’re visiting a floating farm and a boat yard. See you tomorrow for one last post!