Day 11 brought us a cloudy day and even better a nice laid back day with some amazing experts that gave us tours and a lot of sustainability knowledge. After a quick breakfast, we started with a walking tour focused on sustainable architecture and water management in Rotterdam. Our guide, Rob, showed us how the city is very creative when it comes to handling rain.

First, we visited a sunken park designed to hold excess rainwater during storms and then drain it into the canals. This is because a lot of Rotterdam is below sea level so these water squares/spaces are necessary. Another example is in the Heliport neighborhood the sidewalks are tilted so the rainwater flows into one main drain. We also stopped by an old train station that’s been turned into a rooftop garden and park, with more public space still under construction. It was interesting to see how Rotterdam is able to make use of different public spaces improving their sustainability with sl ight changes in architecture. The tour ended at Dakakker, a rooftop urban farm on the sixth floor of the Schieblock building. It’s not just a green roof it also had a social use. It grows veggies, herbs, and flowers, along with housing bees, chickens, and a worm compost system. Everything from the produce to honey and compost gets sold to local businesses, making it a very sustainable business model and a great example of circular farming.

After that, Brian took us on a historical and architectural tour of Rotterdam. We started at city hall, one of the few buildings that survived WWII bombings. Since the city was largely destroyed, it was rebuilt in a modern style which is influenced by American architecture. This is why Rotterdam looks so different from other Dutch cities. On our way, we saw an EDGE construction project. They’re known as one of the most sustainable builders in the world, using smart tech to make buildings more energy-efficient and space-saving. For example, their office in Amsterdam can support three times the typical number of workers through shared workspaces.

Lunch at Markthal was the perfect ending. The indoor food market doubles as an apartment complex and features a giant mural overhead. The fresh stroopwafel and cannoli I had in the Markthal was probably the best dessert I had throughout this entire trip.