Innovation Showcase (Asynchronous - Online Only)
Sustaining Agriculture while Recovering from Pandemic : A Community Project to Support Local Agriculture View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Lisa Hickey
Typical agricultural distribution systems and venues ceased temporarily during the pandemic. Commodities were dumped into or turned under in fields or left behind for wildlife to pilferage while food banks became food deserts. Utilizing advisory board membership, wholesale producers will connect with retail outlets to provide their commodities. In addition, producers will work with local organizations providing their unsaleable produce to food banks. Through an online system, local produce will be identified. A farmer’s market started a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) venue for wholesale producers to sell their crops retail. Extension created a list of producers with available or excess crops and a volunteer organization gathered unsaleable commodities and delivered them to food banks. With the assistance of the county GIS team, extension created an interactive map of local agriculture commodities and venues of available crops. The volunteer group organized 50+ gleaning events in nine months, harvested over 70,000 pounds of produce for food desert residents. Two producers created a CSA model based on the farmer’s market model and offer their produce to additional venues than their previous restaurant venue. As a result of pandemic changes, four wholesale producers now sell to non-traditional retail venues. The GIS map includes over 100 local agriculture producers searchable by locale and commodity types. Through extension efforts, the GIS map has escalated awareness of local agriculture commodities. Wholesale producers changed marketing venues to help rebound from pandemic deficits. Gleaning events provide local fresh, healthy fruits and vegetables to food banks.
The Sustainability Mindset Indicator : A New Personal Development Tool View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Beate Klingenberg
It has become clear that change is urgent in order to halt the many impacts humans have on our planet. Research has shown that if we want to promote engagement in sustainability actions and instill a paradigm shift, the most powerful avenue is the mindset. However, what are the key elements for a sustainability mindset? How can they be developed, and how can they be assessed? This session addresses these questions and introduces the new Sustainability Mindset Indicator (SMI), a personal development tool that addresses the complexity of our mindset and that maps and profiles where individuals find themselves on their journey towards a sustainability mindset. The SMI has been conceived to accelerate the needed paradigmatic shift. It has been designed for educators, trainers and coaches, to assist them in exploring their own mindset as well as in supporting their students/trainees in their journey towards becoming planetary citizens shaping a better world. Participants will learn about the underlying principles of the Sustainability Mindset. Furthermore, they will have an opportunity to experience the Indicator by themselves, in order to inform a joint discussion of applications for teaching and research.
Sedimentation of Biomass from Microalgae Produced with Domestic Wastewater as a Nutrient Removal Alternative with Zero Energy Use View Digital Media
Innovation Showcase Santiago Morales Maldonado
In order to obtain a sustainable technological development, the cultivation of microalgae to assimilate nitrogen and phosphorus from domestic wastewater was satisfactorily studied, but the problem was how to separate the microalgae produced. Therefore, the objective of this study is the determination of the dosage of a domestic solution of chlorine to settle the microalgae. For which, microalgae culture tests were carried out in photobioreactors, using as a culture medium domestic wastewater from a channel that collects municipal wastewater, and microalgae as an inoculum. Photobioreactors are inverted plastic bottles of 20 liters, to accumulate microlagas sedimented in the neck of the bottle. 100, 25, 12 and 6 ml of clarifying solution were dosed in four bottles with 1 liter of biomass volume. With 100 ml, the microalgae spontaneously began to settle and clarify satisfactorily, with 25 ml after one hour, with the other doses after several days. The same procedure was performed on the photobioreactors after drainage of accumulated sludge, 50 ml of clarifying solution per 1 liter of biomass was used, after one hour, the water was clarified satisfactorily. In the all system, BOD removal yield was 70%, nitrogen and phosphorus between 80 and 75%, the chl(a) concentration in the photobioreactors was 2500 μg/L. It is concluded that the proposal is a good sustainable alternative, since research was not used energy but from the sun. In addition, the sludge produced has possible use in soils.
