{"id":11097,"date":"2025-12-02T11:59:08","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T09:59:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rotterdammakeithappen.nl\/verhalen\/plants-light-up-the-city\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T12:13:05","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T10:13:05","slug":"plants-light-up-the-city","status":"publish","type":"verhaal","link":"https:\/\/rotterdammakeithappen.nl\/en\/stories\/plants-light-up-the-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Plants light up the city"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Het Park van Morgen 2.0 is het eerste park ter wereld <\/strong>met verlichting op energie van planten. <\/strong>Biotechdesigner Ermi van Oers<\/strong> wil <\/strong>Rotterdammers bewust maken dat ze onderdeel zijn van de natuur. <\/strong>\u2018Door <\/strong>natuur, wetenschap en design te laten samensmelten wil ik mensen zich laten verwonderen over de natuur zodat ze <\/strong>denken: Dit is eigenlijk zoals het hoort<\/strong>.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Park of Tomorrow 2.0 is located in the Reyeroord neighbourhood in Rotterdam Zuid. Sparkling lights respond to the presence of people and illuminate the path. The plants in the park collectively generate the energy needed for this lighting. Here\u2019s how it works: nutrients from plants partly end up in the soil as residual matter. Natural bacteria break down this residue, releasing electrically charged particles. A biological battery captures these particles and supplies energy to the lights.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″]

Pioneering is in this city\u2019s DNA.<\/blockquote>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”909877″]Ermi van Oers calls this technique \u201cliving light.\u201d She discovered it during her studies at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. \u201cI chose that programme because I saw they were truly looking toward the future \u2014 both in their use of the latest technology and in their vision of how designers can build a sustainable career.\u201d Living in Rotterdam wasn\u2019t my first choice at the time, but after six months I was completely in love with the city. The directness, the openness, and the constant sense of movement and life \u2014 pioneering is in this city\u2019s DNA.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Breathing light<\/strong>
\nShe graduated cum laude in 2016 with the Living Light Lamp. With the help of technicians and scientists, Ermi mastered the knowledge and techniques needed to make a lamp run on the energy generated by plants. No one had ever done it that way before. \u201cYou see a kind of breathing light \u2014 it gently fades in and out. Yet it still feels as if the lamp is continuously on. It requires only a very small amount of power, which the plant itself generates. That\u2019s only possible if you program cleverly and design extremely energy-efficient electronics.\u201d**<\/p>\n

The idea was born in the M4H district.
\nIn this former port area, Ermi researched residual waste streams during her studies. \u201cTake a bakery, for example \u2014 its biggest waste stream is heat. For an Islamic butcher, it\u2019s blood. What do we do with that? In nature, every residual or waste stream becomes a source of nutrition for something else. That was my trigger. Humans are the only beings on this planet who don\u2019t follow that principle. The question became: how can I, as a designer, turn that into something valuable?\u201d**<\/p>\n

Electricity from urine<\/strong>
\nA sewage company in the area caught Ermi\u2019s attention the most. \u201cBecause it\u2019s so closely connected to humans. You can imagine what their largest waste stream is. We explored all the possibilities. That\u2019s how we discovered a technique that allows you to generate electricity from urine. Something so \u2018dirty\u2019 can suddenly become something valuable. It completely changes how we perceive waste streams.\u201d
\nThis discovery inspired Ermi to design the Living Light Lamp in collaboration with the biotech company Plant-e, and she used it as her graduation project. She went on to win three awards with it.<\/p>\n

After graduating, Ermi founded the biodesign studio Nova Innova<\/a> in the Keilewerf. More than eighty creative and innovative companies are based here, supporting and strengthening one another. Before long, the City of Rotterdam reached out to explore the possibilities of applying the Living Light Lamp on a larger scale in the city. The first version was installed in 2019, and with support from Citylab010<\/a>, the ambitious Park of Tomorrow 2.0 became a reality.
\n\u201cRotterdam is truly the place I need to be,\u201d Ermi says. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s the city to innovate \u2014 because it has the courage to pioneer, to take risks, to make mistakes. Make it happen, indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n

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I want to harness the intelligence of Mother Nature<\/blockquote>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″][vc_column_text uncode_shortcode_id=”868894″]Ermi van Oers wins the Marketing Award Rotterdam Talent 2025 for positioning the city as a frontrunner in sustainable innovation. Together with her team, Ermi has developed another striking design: POND (Power of Nature-Based Design). \u201cThese are floating, glowing lenses that change colour depending on the health of the water. I want to give nature a voice in this way. Designing with nature means using the intelligence of Mother Nature. There is so much we can learn from her \u2014 and collaborate with.”<\/p>\n

Nibbling bacteria
\nThe pilot installation of POND is currently floating in the water of Diergaarde Blijdorp. The intention is for the glowing lenses to appear in other parts of the city soon as well. Rotterdams Weerwoord<\/a><\/strong> is funding the project. Once a location has been selected and the permit is approved, Rotterdam residents will be able to marvel at this natural light. \u201cThe water needs to contain enough organic material \u2014 something the bacteria can happily \u2018nibble on\u2019 to keep the light glowing. POND will also be installed in Utrecht and Amsterdam in early 2026.\u201d**<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a chance Ermi may be away at that time, as it\u2019s important for her to alternate the city with periods spent in nature. \u201cEarlier this year, I spent two months in the Costa Rican jungle. That\u2019s where I feel truly, deeply happy. But I also feel that I need to be here in Rotterdam to help restore the connection between people and nature. I want the people of Rotterdam to understand that they are part of nature \u2014 and that when they take good care of nature, nature will take good care of them in return. That\u2019s how we\u2019ll create a much healthier living environment, now and in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Foto credit \u2018Nova Innova\u2019<\/strong>
\nwww.novainnova.com<\/a><\/span>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1\/1″]

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