Led by Department of Industrial Design visiting professor Bart van Bueren, a team of National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) students in October traveled to Mactan in the central Philippine province of Cebu to construct four floating gardens alongside students from other nations.
The participating universities included Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (RUAS) and Hanze University of Applied Sciences (HUAS) in the Netherlands, and the University of San Carlos (USC) in the Philippines, NCKU said.
Floating mangroves benefit the environment in many ways, NCKU Department of Hydraulic and Ocean Engineering associate professor Wang Hsiao-wen (王筱雯) said.
Photo courtesy of National Cheng Kung University
They provide all kinds of mangroves and other plants a space to grow, she said, adding that the students had constructed the gardens completely from organic or reusable materials.
The gardens could improve local water quality and even reduce wind-induced waves or modify lowland flooding, Wang added.
The floating gardens can assist in protecting the coastline, increase habitat diversity and beautify the landscape, Wang said, adding that the project has received great reviews from the local government.
Photo courtesy of National Cheng Kung University
The professors and students presented their results at this year’s City Climate Scan Challenge at Cebu City in October.
The four floating gardens built by the students are about 6m2, totaling 25m2, Wang said.
Van Bueren explained the method for creating a floating mangrove garden, and then RUAS’ Tijmen Oudendammer led the team in measuring the clogged plastic pollutants on the riverside, NCKU said.
Using a mobile app, Floris Boogaard measured the water quality and taught the students how to map the floating gardens, NCKU added.
Last year, Wang and Van Bueren led students in constructing floating gardens on Tainan’s Anping Canal (安平運河).
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