Goodbye to Rotterdam :(((( I am writing this from the airport and so so sad to leave. But, our last day was super fun and I thought it was a great way to end the program.
We started out at the Floating Farm, which I was really excited to see because it was our group’s research project in the pre departure meetings. The Floating Farm is really all about sustainable farming which is really exciting to see because currently the agriculture industry is one of the biggest sources of GHGs and global warming. Floating Farm has many initiatives to bring sustainability to farming. First, they are a local farm and only deliver close by with electric vehicles so they are not using as much fossil fuels and creating emissions. Secondly, they have solar panels which power the farm. Additionally, they use food waste from the town to feed the animals, and sell the waste from their animals as manure or even possibly manure that could be turned into bricks. Something I can really take away from the floating farm are the ideas of localization and circularity. I love the idea of going back to that community feeling which uses much less fossil fuels than mass production and shipment, like some of the farms I see in the US. Additionally, using waste in every way possible is really inspiring and also seems like it just benefits everyone involved. The town now gets dairy products, fertilizers, and bricks, while the farm gets practically free feed for the animals because it is waste. I hope in my future career I can continue to think about the uses of all waste products and how it could be used for something different! At the farm they also let us try their cheese, yogurt, and flavored milk and it was so delicious. Me and luiza even bought some (yum).
After the floating farm, we headed to RDM which was one of if not my favorite parts of the whole trip to the Netherlands. It was so cool to just see so much engineering at work. Basically, RDM grants space for cheap to engineering startups to work on new products that will benefit the port osustainability goals of the Netherlands. We saw so many cool things like 3D printed homes for bugs and plants, coral reef starters, beginnings of a hyper speed train that could take passengers across Europe in 3 hours eliminating the need for planes, radar detection, and even drones that can map out entire factories. The main thing I noticed from this was that the 3D printed bug lodges and coral helped each-other to better their technology. I thought this was amazing to see the cross pollination of ideas and engineers on separate projects working together instead of competing. This is something I hope I can also be a part of in my future career. Other than that, this part was just so interesting and it felt like I was really getting a glimpse into what a more sustainable world will look like in many different sectors.
After that, we had our final dinner on a boat on the canal in Rotterdam! It was so good to reminisce about the trip with everyone and it was the perfect way to say goodbye. I cant say enough about how much this experience has truly meant to me and I am so grateful for everything we have seen in the last 2 weeks!!!! I could not have imagined a more perfect trip for my first time to Europe and I can’t wait to see more of the world in this way and to bring critical thinking and learning to everything else the world has to offer. Until next time!! 🥲
