Hallo! Welcome back to my final blog post! Today we started the day early in Rotterdam, heading to the Floating Farm. This concept began after Hurricane Sandy (in 2012- opened in 2019), inspiring the owners to make a farm that can survive in the water (more space, less flood risk), as climate change and flooding continues to affect coastal areas. Additionally, as population grows, more urbanization occurs, and challenges arise in urban food production. To construct the floating farm, two spudholes are drilled, allowing the platform to move up with tides, but stay in one place on the water without disturbing cows. The company is privately invested and has around 11 workers, as well as many volunteers. 

This farm provides the chance for dairy products to travel shorter distances (due to its urban location) which therefore reduces CO2 emissions. This shows how the entire company concept revolves around sustainability, reaching consumers with promises of a positive environmental impact. Additionally, the company contributes to a circular economy by recycling the cow waste into eco bricks and fertilizer. Cow urine and ground water is also purified into clean water which is used again on the farm. The food waste from the city is also used to feed the cows, obtaining fruit waste and other items from local businesses. This is important due to the 927 kilos of waste in the city of Rotterdam (20% of which is used for cattle feed).  Finally, the farm uses 60% renewable energy, mostly from solar panels on the water. All of these sustainable aspects show that the Floating Farm truly sticks to their concept of sustainability and delivers actual effective eco-solutions. However, they do use plastic in all of their products. They addressed this problem, saying it was better quality than glass or cardboard, but I believe this might be a marketing ploy and not a sustainable decision. 

The main products produced on the Floating Farm are milk, cheese, yogurt, and some microgreens. All of the products are homogenized and pasteurized, but use minimal chemicals, making them healthier for consumers. The main market for these products are businesses and consumers in Rotterdam, such as cafes, hotels, restaurants, and residents. Their sustainable marketing is attracting their unique concept to mostly every type of consumer in Rotterdam. One thing I thought was interesting during the tour is the process they used to milk cows. Every cow has a chip in it and gets a “treat” when it is milked. The cows will come back to get milked more often due to the positive reinforcement, but the chip will stop them if they come too frequently. There were around 30 cows in the farm and we also saw adorable baby cows that they bred onsite. 

This entire tour experience was very interesting, learning the innovative concepts behind urban farming, as well as sustainable marketing. We were able to try cheese and milk at the end, which was delicious. After the Floating Farm, we ventured once again to the Markthal, where I got my last bitterballen of the Netherlands. We also saw the famous cube houses and even toured the inside of one. I now would love to live there.

After this short trip, we recharged and went to RDM, which is an old shipyard turned innovation center and University. The University is a combination of vocational knowledge and engineering/applied sciences. This combination provides practical skills and knowledge to both types of students, especially because they are working together. The building itself is 120 years old in an isolated harbor of Rotterdam, surviving the world war due to its value as a bustling shipyard. In recent years, the market has shifted with technology advances and the Port Authority took a new concept of sustainable innovation and start-up entrepreneurship to the existing building. 

During our tour, we saw a composite materials lab and a workshop where students were building a life-size hydrogen-powered car. This was very interesting to me because I did previous research on the topic of hydrogen and sustainable energy. We saw a student-made chess board that they sold, encouraging entrepreneurship young. Additionally, we had a chance to see the start-ups that rent space out in the other half of the building. My favorite is Urban Reef, which gives a habitat to local bug populations with 3-D printed clay. This also contributes to the cooling of urban areas, due to clay’s cooling properties. I also enjoyed seeing the Aqua lab, which teaches students water management in a hands-on way. They have large flood control/sand displacement models and a large pool to test various products under controlled conditions. Having this hands-on lab experience would really help to learn effectively. 

After RDM, we had a delicious dinner in a boat in Rotterdam. I had the most delicious meal yet, starting with pumpkin soup (which is a lot better than I thought) and a vegan burger. We said our final farewells and thank you’s to Raha and the Bursics. 

I am so grateful for the meaningful friendships, lasting memories, cultural awareness, engineering and business principles, sustainability knowledge, concept-to-consumer thought processes, and critical thinking skills I have learned on this trip. I will take this experience and further develop these skills in order to flourish academically, professionally, and personally back in the States. This experience has also shown me how much I love exploring new places and cultures. I hope to go abroad again, possibly for a longer trip or full semester abroad in the future. The Netherlands is somewhere I would encourage everyone to see once in their life, and I hope that one day I make it back here. Lastly, thank you for being engaged and interested to read my blog these past two weeks! Until next time NL, Doei!