The full Floating Future consortium gathered in Rotterdam on 17th April 2024 to jointly kick off the project. The societal relevance of the project was shown by presentations from the City of Rotterdam, which highlighted the necessity for innovative (floating) solutions that combine living, leisure, and water storage needs. Water taxis brought the team to the unique Floating Pavilion at RDM Campus – no venue more suited for starting this project. During an inspiring and highly interactive co-creation event, the participants built miniature versions of future floating constructions for varying applications. The complementary backgrounds of stakeholders contributed to designs with social, economic, and ecological win-wins.
Floating Future participants were enthusiastic. Tjeerd Bouma, NIOZ: ‘The floating future project has a lot of potential for humanity, by creating space for living, food production or energy generation.’ Eefke Huisman, Open University: ‘I’m really looking forward to create impact together!’ For an impression of the kick-off, watch the video below: