Today we travelled around 160 km from Amsterdam to the town of Enschede in the far east of the Netherlands, and this is where we will spend the next few days, exploring the town as well as the University of Twente.
One of our first experiences once arriving on the campus of UT was a tour where we learned about the layout of the campus, how it operates, and the differences between it and a traditional American university campus. UT is the only American style university in the Netherlands. This means that it is the only university laid out in contained campus system, with most universities in the Netherlands being spread out across cities or towns.
The campus is divided into three sections each housing different types of buildings that serve different purposes. On the west side of campus are all of the academic buildings that house departments from physiology to robotics. In the central area of campus is a main thoroughfare called the boulevard that houses the student union, recreation facilities, restaurants, the library, and a grocery store. The east side of campus holds all of the student housing as well as housing for some staff. The campus is very spread out with stretches of forest, meadows, and ponds dotted around campus.
After being shown around campus we had a brief lecture from a member of the local water board where we learned about water management in the Netherlands and a local project called the Kristalbad. In the Netherlands, elected organizations called waterboards, which are defined by the water table of the country, make legislative and project decisions that protect water resources. They are actually the oldest form of democracy in the Netherlands.
The Kristalbad is a project that was initiated by the local water board to help naturally filter phosphorus out of water post sewage treatment, and it helps to control water flow and reduce the risk of flooding between the towns of Enschede and Hengelo.
The Kristalbad uses a system of three interconnected basins which contain plants, fish, birds and other organisms. Water flows to the Kristalbad directly from the sewage treatment plant and once here the natural environment pulls things such as phosphorus out of the water before it continues to flow downstream. It is the first project of its kind in the region.