AKVABY
A project that creates a communal research-based learning arena in aquaponics and urban cultivation for schools in Oslo with foundations in sustainability and circularity for the cities of the future.
- Project period
- -
- Funders
- Sparebankstiftelsen DNB
- Total budget (NOK)
- 1,750,000
- Research section
- Urban environments and infrastructure
- Contact persons
-
Gabrielle Hairabedian
- Involved from NIVA
-
Anne Luise Ribeiro
-
Sondre Meland
-
Sindre Haugan
-
Trond Sivert Moe
-
Ole-Kristian Hess-Erga
About the project
Project AKVABY (Learning arena - aquaponics in the city) is a continuation of the USAGE project where NIVA has established an aquaponics facility at Natur upper secondary school. Aquaponics is the combination of two types of technologies:
- Hydroponics, which is water-based cultivation of plants.
- Aquaculture, which is the cultivation of aquatic organisms such as fish.
Production takes place in a closed circulation system where the waste produced by the fish provides nutrients for the plants, and the plants, together with bacterial decomposition, help to purify the water for the fish. The circulation of resources such as water and nutrients in aquaponics makes it an ideal arena for learning about circularity and sustainability.
Resource booklet for teachers
In AKVABY, we will further develop the facility, and we will test new and more solutions, involving digitalization and green solutions. We will continue to work on additional educational resources (Classroom Model System for Aquaponics in Education), and achieve dissemination and information initiatives for children, youth and other relevant target groups.
Schools in Oslo can use the facility
We will make it possible for other schools in Oslo to use the aquaponics system, and make the data and teaching material available to all schools in Oslo through their own platforms. In addition, we will offer students the opportunity to write a master's thesis based on aquaponics. Through the project, we also want to reach out to other actors working in urban agriculture and planning, and will arrange four workshops to create a meeting point between these different groups of people.
Collaboration and learning for a sustainable future
AKVABY is carried out as a collaboration between NIVA, Natur and Kuben upper secondary schools, and through the project there will be opportunities for training in fish welfare in aquaculture for the teachers. Teachers at Natur and Kuben upper secondary schools will carry out activities and engage students in the project through the educational resources generated in the project. Overall, the project will demonstrate how aquaponics is important in bringing us closer to the origin of food and how we are connected to the earth.
Take a look at what the fish are doing right now: https://fishes.t.niva.no/
