As I am writing this last blog on the way to the Amsterdam airport, it feels so crazy that two weeks had passed so quickly. For our last true day in the Netherlands we visited two sites that showcased the innovation of the Dutch people and their culture of being open to everything. The first was a floating farm, which is exactly what it sounds like: a farm floating atop a body of water. This brings the idea of concept to consumer to a whole new level since the concept is a literal bike ride away from getting straight to your door.
The floating farm was created with the intent of trying to mitigate the impact of the floods that the Netherlands have been facing for centuries. The foundation of the farm is settled into the ground and the farm is able to move up or down depending on the surrounding sea level. The floating farm just moves up and down to then ensure the cows are safe and sound within their enclosure. The “farm” also has a bunch of sustainable features about it including its rainwater cycling system, its solar panels, and the most interesting its manure collector. Their waste dos not necessity stay as waste in which they dry out their manure and create products from it such as fertilizer, pots, and even bricks in some cases! In terms of concept to customer, there is a lot of sustainable concepts that are playing into the floating farm first such as the preservation of the cows, the renewable energy sources they are using in the solar panel farm that’s also on the water, and the cycling of resources and products. While they are keeping the sustainable concepts on the farm, they are getting the concept out to customers in a cost effective and efficient manner in which they are right in the center of Rotterdam so the energy and fuel that would be needed to ship their milk out to consumers is this negated. The concept of the floating farm, within itself, is an important innovation to have as a safe guard from the floods that much of the Netherlands have faced in the past centuries but with how the farm is focused on more than just farming and making a profit is the true value within the company.
The next site visit that we went to was on the outskirts of the city in which we had gone to a repurposed dock warehouse that is now being used as a workspace for many startup companies so they can solely focus on their innovations rather than trying to get investments and their financial support settled. This warehouse serves as a maker-space for up and coming engineers as well as companies that are just making their mark on their own respective industries. Our tour guide showcased the spaces and resources that these companies and students are given in terms of space and resources to allow them to grow in their knowledge. In this facility, it held so many companies and concepts that all are leading to a new generation of sustainability in the world. There were 3D printed coral reefs that would help with the crisis that many coral reefs are facing with the current climate crisis and increasing temperature of our oceans. Throughout this entire tour of the facility, there clearly were so many inventions that were based off of a current problem whether that be connected to renewable energy sources or trying to save our earth, it was truly remarkable to see all of these companies working towards a common cause but through different lenses and processes.
