Our research on hydroponics is focussed on the production of high-value crops close to market (urban farming) with a low carbon and water footprint using polyurethane foam as a synthetic soil.
We connected it to a waste disposal problem posed by UNHCR - the UN's refugee agency at the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan. They saw dirty, unused foam mattresses, we saw an alternative growth substrate and more than that ‘a problem’ that could actually help. In doing so we developed small-scale hydroponics at the household and community scale. We responded to the frequent cry of the Syrian refugees - that they miss the colour green - not only did we find a technical fix, but also an impact on well-being.
These benefit our work in Sheffield, we now have an urban farm built using the low-cost technology developed in Za’atari with farmers from Syria
We connected it to a waste disposal problem posed by UNHCR - the UN's refugee agency at the Za'atari refugee camp in Jordan. They saw dirty, unused foam mattresses, we saw an alternative growth substrate and more than that ‘a problem’ that could actually help. In doing so we developed small-scale hydroponics at the household and community scale. We responded to the frequent cry of the Syrian refugees - that they miss the colour green - not only did we find a technical fix, but also an impact on well-being.
These benefit our work in Sheffield, we now have an urban farm built using the low-cost technology developed in Za’atari with farmers from Syria
