Today, we took a tour around the city of Enschede to learn how the city incorporates sustainability into its city and everyday life. We learned that the city used to have a heavy textile industry, which required lots of water, but they soon shifted away from it and were left with a surplus of water. Our tour guide explained that Enschede has a large elevation difference, causing runoff from the higher parts of the city to flow to the lower areas. Now, when I was walking around this city, I didn’t really think the elevation differences were that crazy; to me, they looked like a little bump. I wonder how they would react if their landscape were similar to Pittsburgh’s, since the change in elevation there is much more drastic than theirs. Due to this elevation difference, the city has experienced multiple floods, and a couple of years ago, the flooding was so severe that it damaged roughly 80 homes. To help fix this issue, they have created openings and dips throughout the city so that water runs off into these patches of grass rather than onto the road. The grass helps absorb some of the water but also provides a nice green area around the city.

After this, we headed to the farmers’ market, where our tour ended, and along with our program for the day. The farmers’ market here reminded me of the one I visited in Seattle. So many people are shopping for good food deals. After this, we headed back to campus, where the activities for the race were still going. You can see some people who have finished their part of the race celebrating with others and waiting for their team to finish. As I said before, it was crazy to see just how many people care about this event, participate in it, and stay to watch all their friends compete and celebrate with them.