(Project specification by Alex from UBG14 translated from Swedish).
Background
Today's
cities are largely dependent on intercontinental transport to secure
their supply of food. Globally, humanity has built a civilization that
is dependent on fossil fuels to feed the growing cities. This leads to a
difficult adjustment process now as the amount of newly discovered
fossil fuels declines. The price of food will increase, which means a
reduction of growth in many other sectors where consumption is severely
limited by the greater part of disposable income swallowed up by rising
food prices.
In
a globalized world where information and technology travels quickly and
efficiently, there is little reason not to act now. There are already
technologies and knowledge that can show us a sustainable way into the
future distinctive of adequate understanding of the earth's resources
and the ability to allocate and use them right. In order to "build a
bridge" that mitigate the impact of increased food prices focus has
shifted to local production. The Scandinavian climate does not lend
itself naturally to the production of agricultural products during the
winter months without the use of greenhouses. Traditional greenhouses
are not ecologically sustainable and rely largely on pesticides and
fertilizers which not only can be questioned in terms of ecological
sustainability but also because they are based on fossil fuels.
Therefore, we want to develop a system of cost-efficient and
climate-regulating greenhouses for sustainable production. The aim of
this project is to create innovative models to support local action to
pave the way towards a sustainable future for all.
Purpose
Innovative, Feasible
With
this project, we intend to add new knowledge in technology and agrarian
strategies for sustainable growth through technology that promotes
self-sufficiency at the local-level and the reduction of greenhouse
gases. These skills should be made available and the technological
applications will be simplified to the level that people at the
grassroots level can take these innovations and introduce them into
their own business / everyday life. The idea is to deploy innovations to
various municipalities, companies, associations and individuals
regionally / internationally to support the transition towards
sustainable development.
Long-term
objective is to mitigate the adverse effects of rising food prices
globally, which Västerbotten, where we are based, is a vulnerable region
due to transport lengths and climatic conditions. We hope to excite
interest, commitment and enthusiasm for alternative solutions,
engineered ecosystems and implementations of alternative technologies to
solve the agrarian problem. As part of this we want to apply the
geodesic design, which represents one of the most ecologically
sustainable ways to use materials.
Another objective is to create conditions for the large scale production of organic vegetables.
Goal
Thoughtful, Relevance, Sustainability
Milestones I: Prototype
Complete a semi-prototype of a bio-dome. Below is a breakdown of the components of bio-dome
a: Structure
A
dome-shaped structure based on geodesics principles. Such a shape holds
heat well in winter plus, with the need for ventilation in the summer
the air circulation is done almost automatically by the air traveling up
the sides of the dome and then out through the top, which is explained
below (see Geodesics).
b: Aquaponics
A
agro-systems that produces vegetables with fish feces as manure.
Aquaponics has two main components; an aquarium, with aquaculture, and a
plant bed. An aqua culture will be in the aquarium and in the plant
bed, plants that provide the fish with vital minerals and bacteria.
(Vegetables, edible fish)
c: Control controllers
This
system controls all sensors to keep track of the climate inside the
dome, for example. temperature in the water / air, humidity, light, also
bacterial levels, nitrite / nitrate levels in the Aquaponics system.
(Programs that control different sensors in bio-vault)
Milestones II: Employment Opportunities within the project
The
project will open new opportunities for many different types of work,
below is a list of the occupations that would be involved. It is also
open for internships, where work on the project would be an advantage
for participants. Participants can choose any of the following and have
the opportunity to learn from a supervisor in the chosen profession.
a: Construction Work
b: biologists
c: Program Planner
d: engineer
e: Media Producers
f: IT
Milestones III: The Media
Continuously create new channels to communicate the collected knowledge and experience gained from the work in different media.
a: WordPress
b: Facebook
c: Tidnginar
d: Forums
Milestones XI: Scientific documentation process.
a: continuously measure and log levels in the Aquaponics system.
b: Continuous film construction of bio-dome
c: Total documentation and transparency
Milestones X: The public
a: Everyone should have access to the finished product.
b: A more developed understanding of ecosystems be given on the availability of bio-dome.
c: Improving our national footprint.
Milestones XI observance of equality
a: Achieving gender composition of the team.
b: Increase awareness and interest in these issues among young women.
c: Well, a good partnership between women and men in the project and oppose discrimination and suppression techniques.
Target
Delimited, Accessibility to, Well-defined
The
primary target group for the project's end product is expert players in
industry and academia with an interest in technology and studies and
activities in sustainable development. The User Group is divided into
primary users whose need of vegetables and fish will be met up to 70
percent by the bio-dome. The secondary user group consists of users, who
through the activities that take place in bio-dome, gain greater
knowledge and awareness of the importance of organic and local food.
Method
What we want to achieve
The
bio-dome is an encapsulated and closed ecosystems in a dome built using
geodesic principles. This means that the dome is constructed of
triangles that are angled according to geometric calculations,
maximizing the use of space and sunlight. The dome houses an aquarium
with aqua culture for food fish, small fish, small shrimps and aquatic
insects.
Above
the aquarium are the plant beds with material of high porosity (eg
hydrograins) for growing vegetables. In the plant bed will be worms
which will eat up old plant matter so that bacteria levels are kept at a
steady balance.
The
water from the aquarium is fed to these beds and filtered through the
root systems before returning to the aquarium. As they return to the
aquarium, the water is enriched with vital minerals and bacteria that
the fish need, particularly for the gills to function as they should.
This circle of fish and gardening - aquaponics - forms a closed
ecosystem that reduces the need for addition of new resources for the
system's survival. The only thing that must be added on a monthly basis
will be iron, which ends up in the plant beds through adding particles
of dust to the aquaponics system, this will not harm the fish and goes
through the system until it is completely absorbed by the plants.
How it is accomplished
• The first step is to write the project description and business plan as well as the budget.
• Financing of the project is done by searching stakeholders including public, private and social networks.
• Composition of a production team with the right skills.
• Collaboration with companies and public institutions for the production of components.
• A mix of bio-dome prototypes.
• Monitoring and analysis of the success of the project, final report.
• Organization
The
project is owned by the non-profit organization EOS (or the economic
association UBG14) and is thus the legal entity behind the project. For
implementation of the project, working groups will be appointed composed
of people who represent areas of expertise. A reference group is also
connected to the project in order to review the business plan and
provide feedback on the performance of the plan. The project will have
three project managers with responsibility for the technical
construction and management and a coordinator with coordinating mandate
and overview of the business as a whole. Project managers work on
planning, statement of operations for the project's working group for
feedback and facilitation of follow-up.
The
project will document all activities through documents and photography
to achieve broad transparency in all relevant areas of the project.
Time and activity
Milestones Activity Time Results
Milestones
in building prototype via existing channels within the Umeå University
and the business community, seeking new expertise February 2013,
extending skills base and increase the quality level
Organize
information meetings from February to March deepening partner’s
knowledge and connect with new partners for the project.
Contact representatives of the partners / target March. Forming peer group.
Applying for planning permission in March. Initiate the process of digging
Test
new materials / models of Oil Heating and begin work on the control
systems from April to October. Build dome control system 1.0
Excavation for the basic structure from May to September. Finished Building bio heating model.
Test
material for Energy 1 and begin construction June to September.
Determine the suitability of the material and produce prototype for
Energy 1
Test materials for Aqua 2 October to April. Finished Building Aqua2
Purchase of fish / plants in March 2014
Aqua 2 and controllers tested April. Ensuring the validity of the model and the system.
Test Power 2 and heat 2 June to September. Finished Building Energy 2 and heat 2
Harvest Festival September arousing interest and curiosity and inform the public.
Presentation of the prototype in October. Identify new partners and begin marketing model
Milestones II:
Scientific documentation
Milestones III Study November 2013 ((Purpose and result))
Study June 2014
Effectiveness and expected results
Some indicators that will provide instructions on the projects performance are:
that
we make progress with the construction of the structure and that it
fulfills the same purpose as the mission statement, that we implement
the project on a voluntary basis as it is described in the project plan.
Risk Analysis
RMP broken down by milestones. (This goes through the whole group together (SWOT))
Follow-up
From
the outset of the project, will be linked external evaluators,
beneficial representative from universities that will oversee operations
in terms of plan accordingly, implementation, effectiveness, and
dissemination of results.
Beyond
this, the project managers will continuously keep log of activities and
inform the Working Group on the work. In consultation with the working
group and the reference group established the monitoring template for
each milestone.
After
the project is summarized, logs and documentation and a final report by
the evaluator and project manager will be produced and signed.
Cooperation
EOS
Umeå University
International cooperation
We
work for global sustainability, and therefore we work at national and
international level with other players. Our goal is to promote social
development, entrepreneurship and creativity worldwide.
Therefore,
our projects seek sustainable transparency, collaboration with public,
private and non-profit-driven actors, be inclusive and strive for gender
equality and the participation of all major groups in society, to
reflect the diversity we want to achieve at the global level.
A
common strategy will be developed to realize this goal on the
composition of the people involved in the project. We will work to
support employment goals in Västerbotten region.
We
will try to achieve diversity within the project and engage people with
a wide variety of backgrounds and life experiences; we must also have
the final report in English.
