The student teams participating in the Urban Greenhouse Challenge #3 are taking on a real and complex challenge: devising an urban farm for one of the most diverse lower-income neighbourhoods of Washington D.C., that contributes to improving the quality of life of the residents. How are they faring?
In the final stretch of the Urban Greenhouse Challenge #3, the teams are now preparing for the second selection moment that will determine who will compete in the Grand Finals. Helping them are experienced coaches from the partner network. ‘We’re about 70% finished,’ says Camilo Ayala of team AgroLab. The teams are now working to complete their proposals, trying to bring together all the different aspects of a complex project like this. With the added emphasis of social impact, this year’s competition is a challenge indeed.
The student teams have also overcome their share of hurdles already. The members of AgroLab and team AggieCulture have learned how to work together in interdisciplinary teams, got some reality checks from industry experts and got inspired for the future of urban food ecosystems. The Urban Greenhouse Challenge has cast a spell over their lives. ‘It’s very hard not to be thinking about these things all the time,’ says Max Vo of team AggieCulture.
Mateo Villegas of AgroLab came to the challenge out of interest in sustainability, and more specifically the role food plays in a more sustainable world. ‘Food is our number one resource. It’s what we consume the most. This makes its potential enormous.’ Mateo is an anthropologist as well as a biologist. Bringing sustainable farming into our cities, among our lives, calls for a combination of his specialties. ‘Combining the cultural and natural, so to say.’ Camilo Ayala adds that the Challenge is great opportunity to work in a diverse team of students with different areas of expertise. ‘We get to see all the potential from all these knowledge areas.’
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