For our last day in the Netherlands, we visited the Hague which is the administrative capital of the Netherlands. It is home to the royal family and the parliament. While there, our tour guide explained the inner workings of the Dutch government. We learned that the Netherlands is a parliamentary constitutional monarchy which means they…

We started our day by taking a tour of DakAkker, a 1,000 m^2 rooftop farm that grows various plants, vegetables, edible flowers, and fruit. The farm covers the top of the Schieblock in Rotterdam. For structural reasons, the soil on the top of the building must not be too heavy; the farm uses a mixture…

The Delta Works is a huge series of flood protection barriers that span the southwestern coast of the Netherlands. Today we visited one of the Deltaworks sites, Deltapark Neeltje Jans. This site is the main tourist hub for viewing and exploring the history of the barriers and is located in the middle of Oosterscheldekering, the…

We began our day by visiting Rotterdam’s Floating Farm. The Floating Farm is a prototype designed to create a more circular farming process. It is stationed in water, similarly to the floating houses we visited earlier in the trip. With the constant changing of water levels, the structure must be built to adjust to these…

Today we traveled from Enschede to Munster, Germany, for the day. Upon our arrival, we learned a few quick facts about the city’s history from our tour guide, Enno. He informed us that Munster is a city that had been bombed numerous times during the Second World War. Therefore, much of the city has been…

We started our day by going into the city center in Enschede. There, we met with a civil engineer who works for the municipality, and he showed us different water management techniques throughout the city. Most of the runoff water is directed from the city to the Kristalbad through the use of semi-permeable asphalt in…

This morning we attended a lecture on wind energy organized by Twente University faculty. We learned about the aerodynamics of windmills and how they generally function. Some calculations and equations were also provided for further reference. We were then taken on a sustainability tour of the campus. One of the main features of the campus…

This morning, we waved goodbye to Amsterdam and began our journey across the Netherlands to the city of Enschede. Enschede is home to the University of Twente, where we will be staying for the next three nights. After arriving, we were received warmly by the Twente faculty and given a tour of the campus. They…

We started our day by taking the train to Zaandijk Zaanse Schans, a historic Dutch village just outside of Amsterdam. The neighborhood features windmills, clog making, and cheese tasting. In the 17th century, the windmills located here became the first central industrial zone. Over 600 wind-powered mills served as sawmills, pigment mills, oil mills, spice…

The first two days of our journey have been filled with great cultural and learning experiences. So far, we have gone on a canal cruise and a walking tour, and had two visits to sustainable companies. Day 1 While on the cruise, we observed the city’s architecture and other significant buildings, such as the Anne…