A floating dairy farm has opened in Rotterdam, showing how food production can become less vulnerable to climate change.
Floating Farm was designed by Peter van Wingerden and Minke van Wingerden of Beladon, a company that specialises in waterborne architecture.
It is now home to 32 cows, producing dairy products that will soon be on sale in Lidl stores all over the city.
The cows each have their own stalls, with rubber floors
The project is designed for a future where rising sea levels mean that farmland is increasingly out of action due to flooding.
It aims to show a new way of bringing farming back into the city, with minimal impact on resources and the environment.
"We are seeing an ever-growing world population," explained the Floating Farm team. "In 2050, it is expected that two to three billion people will have been added." A milk robot allows cows to be milked as they choose
"The available area of fertile agricultural land does not grow along with the world population. In fact, fertile land is becoming increasingly scarce," they continued.
"Climate change shows that there is increasingly heavy rainfall and flooding of cities and farmland. So we will have to look at a climate adaptive system to continue feeding the city."
Minimal impact on the environment
The structure was developed to follow circular design principles. It generates all of its own electricity from floating solar panels and provides fresh water through an integra...