Today I had the opportunity to explore the city of Delft, first at TU Delft, one of the world’s foremost engineering and architecture institutions. I really enjoyed the chance to get hands on with an institution (TU Delft) that has both deep expertise and investment in the topics associated with sustainability (illustrated by the green village and the workshop we had the chance to be involved with.)

We arrived in Delft and walked through campus to reach the Green Village where we would receive a tour on the student-led project. As we moved through campus, I was struck by how large it was – my suspicions were confirmed when we learned the school houses ~30,000 students. I also thought it was a remarkably beautiful school, with large, ornate buildings that displayed a mishmash of various architectural styles. As a non-engineer, even I could see myself at a school like this, illustrating the impressiveness of the campus. We arrived on the tour and our guide introduced us to the Green Village, a collection of houses and structures centered around sustainable living and the testing of these various methods to see their viability. I was very impressed by how integrated the housing was with its designated sustainability field. For instance, the house designated the “House with skin” seamlessly blended a traditional Dutch country house design with a glass exterior and several solar panels that could be adjusted to meet weather condition and energy needs, creating a home that aligns with the larger climate goals of the originators of the project while retaining an aesthetically pleasing Dutch feel. I also was shocked by just how much the engineers and architects working on these projects were able to coopt seemingly random materials to build livable, functional housing. From pieces of melted plastic to actual cow manure, the bricks used on these structures indicated how sustainability does not have to mean a decrease in quality of life. Further, I really enjoyed talking to our guide after the tour about his experience as a student in Delft. His story about taking a gap year to discover what he was actually interested in pursuing as a career (coupled with him being a fan as the same soccer team as me) deeply endeared him to me and my friends.

We then had a chance to explore campus a bit before the workshop, and I was struck by how the food resembled Pitt’s but was much less buffet style, even if this is not necessarily surprising given the proportional differences in European and American cultures. I also really found it cool how the dorms were situated in large towers like at Pitt, even if there seemed to be more apartment style living in the areas we explored. It can be easy to forget that both of our cultures are so similar and that we both attend University in a similar capacity. Campus was very fun to explore, and walking around on the way to the Climate Frisk gave us a chance to see how different things are over here than at home.

Next, we had the chance to participate in the unique experience that was the Climate Frisk, a workshop that helped us understand how/why carbon is released into the atmosphere, the immediate and long-term effects of this process, and the potential solutions to rectify the fallout from climate change. I had the chance to work with my friends Ben, Desi, and Umur, and we worked through the cards they gave us to help establish a cause-and-effect chain related to climate change. I feel that our different backgrounds academically, me in political science and economics and them in various types of engineering, helped a lot in the different ways we worked to solve and address the problems presented to us in trying to work through such a complicated process. Further, I found it really productive that they gave the chain’s components in steps, as this really forced us to build a hypothesis, argue and test this hypothesis against one another, and then deconstruct the faulty parts of our explanations once further parts of the cycle were introduced. I feel we articulated ourselves very well to our proctor, and in working through this activity I feel I have been reminded of the personal responsibility I have to reduce my carbon footprint. When we worked through the chain, we ended at key social issues like war and displacement of people, and I realized how deep of an impact my use of fossil fuels has on the rest of the planet around me. As we brainstormed solutions at the end, I put forward that we must work to stage political protests and lobby for our own interests to our governments, as our own health, well-being, and entire way of life is contingent on handling the climate change problems we face.

To end the day, my friends and I explored the town of Delft, which struck me as far less urban than Rotterdam, Amsterdam, or The Hague. I really enjoyed getting to explore such a uniquely Dutch town, and we had the chance to walk through several churches and town halls that explained the story of the town from its humble origins. Ending the night with such a pleasant experience set me up well for our trip tomorrow.