Thirty-four years ago at Amsterdam Science Park (Amsterdam East), the fundament was laid down for a scientific online network: the world wide web (WWW). The Netherlands where the first country in Europe to be plugged in on the internet that connected the National Reserach Institute for Science and Computer Science (CWI) with the rest of Europe and the U.S. Today, the Science Park is one of the main nodes of our digital worlds. Underneath our feet, it's a jungle of cables and copper. Does that leave enough place for roots and natural life?
The digital and natural underground
Next to the digital network, there's a natural version: the Wood Wide Web. This enormous underground network of fungi connects roots with each other, allowing them to pass or exchange water, carbon, nitrogen and other nutrients.
During this practical workshop, talk and discussion, we'll take a look at the ground beneath our feet. Together we question the living and material infrastructure of the Science Park together with soil ecologist Elly Morriën (University of Amsterdam) and biologist Kas Houthuijs (BioHack Academy instructor at Waag). Last but not least, we'll grow new wood-wide-web' networks in dead wood.
You will go home with enough knowledge to revitalise your garden, street or balcony with new fungi.
What we'll do
15:00 - 15:30 hrs: DIY measuring the Wood Wide Web 1,901 / 5,000
Together with biologist Kas Houthuijs, we dig into the ground to see how the complex society of the Wood Wide Web works. Micro-organisms work together, fight and make deals with each other to survive. Kas will show how he built a homemade mud battery in Waag's Open Wet Lab and how it helps to get to know more about the ground.
15:30 - 16:00 hrs: A conversation on biodiverse soils
Soil ecologist dr. Elly Morriën will give a talk on the importance of a health soil and ecosystem. As a researcher at the Institute for Biodiversity and Environmental Dynamics (IBED), Elly is interested in the interactions between plants and soil communities. With her work, she wants to create a better understanding of the importance of a healthy soil. Did you know for example, that not only is a biodiverse soil important for the distribution of nutrients, but also that it plays an important role in storing carbon and softening the effects of climate change? Together, we go into a conversation about the importance of a healthy soil in The Netherlands and at Science Park.
16:00 - 16:30 uur hrs: Discussion - Who claims the underground?
Plants, fungi and people: everyone claims a piece of subsurface. It is quite a challenge to get them to live harmoniously together. The site is regularly open for area development by, among others, the municipality for the maintenance of fiber optic networks and cables underground. But what does this actually mean for underground life? Whose interest does this underground opening and closing of the soil serve? And who's in charge there? An exchange of perspectives.
16:30 - 17:00 uur: Inoculating tree trunks
If you want to lend a hand to soil life and grow mushrooms at home, you can do so by 'grafting' tree trunks and old wood. Together we will fill a few stumps in the park with mycelium and you will learn how to repeat this yourself at home.
About the Green Maker Space
The Green Maker Space is a monthly open workspace from Waag at Amsterdam Science Park. Here, we bring together neighbours, students, workers and researchers to have a look and listen to nature together. We organise practical workshops in which you playfully learn how to create a greener garden, street, and city environment. The Green Maker Space is for everyone who wants to dig deeper into urban ecology.
