Newswise — University of Virginia assistant professor of architecture Phoebe Crisman and students are exploring an exciting and unique floating environmental education field station located on the most polluted river in the Chesapeake Bay, the Elizabeth River.
"The Learning Barge: researching + teaching about environmental + cultural ecologies on the Elizabeth River" will provide meaningful K-12 and public environmental education about how the river, and hence the ocean, and humans are inextricably interconnected. The Elizabeth River is a tidal estuary-an important nursery for marine and aquatic species that is severely impacted by human actions. Participants will learn about the ongoing river restoration, the tidal estuary ecosystem and its' importance to our ocean, and the river's economic and transportation significance as a major world port. The project is a collaboration among Crisman, students in U.Va.' Architecture School, The Elizabeth River Project, the NOAA Chesapeake Bay office, diverse educational partners, the maritime community and technical experts. The U.Va. School of Architecture will research, design and possibly fabricate the project over a 2-year period.
"Using the Elizabeth River's specific and intertwined cultural and environmental ecologies, students will learn about the earth's dynamic water and air systems, how they shape our lives and the importance of environmental stewardship," Crisman said.
Unlike environmental education centers located in pristine "nature," the Learning Barge traverses an important urban river where the complex relationship between human settlement and the natural world is jarringly visible. The heavily industrialized and polluted Elizabeth River can be an important generator of both livelihoods and learning for those who reside on her shores in Norfolk, Portsmouth, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. The Learning Barge will visit ongoing conservation and restoration sites on the Elizabeth for a few months at a time-each site demonstrating particular environmental lessons.
The 30'x90' recycled barge will support a contained bed wetland that filters greywater and creates habitat. Off-the-shelf, state of the art solar technologies will be innovatively integrated into the barge's design, building systems and the construction process. Sustainable building concepts will be used, including rainfall and grey-water reuse systems, composting waste disposal, passive solar concepts and daylighting, and material choices. The movable barge will travel to ongoing sediment remediation, pollution prevention and wetland and shellfish restoration projects along the River.
RSS