LILa construction September - October

Here are some impressions of the construction of the underground utilities and fencing so we can observe the progress on site over time. 

September 11

September 15

September 18

 

 

September 25

September 28

October 2

October 17

Results from Urban Green Infrastructure Walk Shop #2

Today we had our second Urban Green Infrastructure Walk Shop, funded by a grant from the UT's  Climate Centre. We had invited the participants from our previous symposium in April and anyone else interested, which attracted several UT scientists and students. If you missed out, no problem! There will be another walk shop during the sustainability week at the end of November. It might be colder though ;)

During this walk shop we focused on the Extinction of Experience and how this ultimately translates into how urban green infrastructure is designed. Through loss of knowledge on species, urban spaces become less green or have little attention to benefits for species other than humans. This increasing the knowledge gap as we become consumers of green spaces instead of thinking about how our local ecological systems function and what are the wider benefits for all. 

For this walk shop we had two experts from the KNNV (Royal Dutch Natural History Society for field biology) who tested our knowledge before going outside. They then explained what species we encountered during the walk, the interactions with the environment and other species, and answered every question we had. Afterwards, we asked our participants to reflect on their experiences and how this would influence what urban green infrastructure should/could look like. 

 

Check out the UT's event website, or the Climate Center events, or the Green Hub events to register for the next walk shop.

Impressions of the walk shop, with a stop at the Bee Hotel:

Impressions of one group's translation of their experiences and linked values:

Green Panel reconstruction

After obtaining permission we now have our fake roof on the roof enclosed against the elements. This was again performed by using only waste wood gathered from the UT's various buildings, inherited nails, available handheld tools (no electricity), and breaking an axe. The result is two permanently enclosed sides, and looking from the back, a sliding left panel and a removable right panel to access the batteries and sensors behind. 

After a storm this week the left hand side panels needed some touching up but now the structure is solid. We now hope to get a higher difference in temperature between the top and bottom of the roof tiles. We still hope to replace the plastic tape and covers with more durable official sensebox covers.

 

 

Weekend of Science and green panel testing update

7 & 8 October it is Weekend of Science! With the LILa still under construction we hope to be a part of this next year. For now you can check this website for all kinds of science related events in your neighborhood, while we prepare our site and also collect data for the continued Green Panels performance testing. 

There are two main issues with data gathering. One is power supply. While the 2 sets of power banks of 50 and 20 mah are working well, they take long to charge and currently cannot cover all days in the week. A steady power supply could solve this, or a larger generator. The second issue concerns the results. There is little difference between the temperature measurements at the top of the panels and the bottom. It is likely due to the setup requiring the wind to freely blow through the triangular structure so as not to blow over. We may get permission to enclose the entire structure, depending on the weight restrictions. The improved design would consist of enclosed sides and removable back panels. For now, data is gathered when possible.