The starter: Resilient Island Foundation

“We want to build the first self-sufficient and fully circular greenhouse, specially designed for Small Island Development States (SIDS),” says Sebastiaan Brouwer (24). “There are 57 SIDS. People think of them as tropical paradises but the climate of these islands does not allow many crops to grow. They heavily depend on imports, making them fragile to external changes. Our greenhouse – the first will be on the Maldives – will produce crops that the islands currently cannot grow, so we won’t be competing with local farmers.”  When delivering produce, RIF will collect organic waste simultaneously which a biodigester will turn into electricity. They intend to use the profits generated by the greenhouse to close other waste streams.

‘A multi-million investment is needed to start construction’

The Resilient Island Foundation (RIF) is a non-profit organisation, but to reach their goals the five students also have to establish a company. Thomas Edes (24) says: “We are currently putting our own money into it. Our office is sponsored and we also receive free consultancy from Wageningen University. A multi-million euro investment is needed to start construction.” Stan van Stralen (23) continues. “We need partners to invest in all aspects of the project so that we can officially register as a business comprising a greenhouse builder, a biodigester company and so on. We have found most of the partners we need, although not everything is formally signed.”

Melchior Bos (24) explains how they intend to attract partners. “To get more people on board, we have to show that there is demand for our project. Several big resorts in the Maldives that we spoke to showed great interest and underlined their dependency on imports. We will go to the Maldives in May to finalise the market research. Furthermore, building greenhouses is a complex process with many variables. Every aspect has to be right if our greenhouse is to function properly.” Sebastiaan adds that “On top of that, as architecture students we have experience with project development but horticulture was new to us. We needed help from a Dutch greenhouse company. Furthermore, Wageningen University has advised us and we are part of RVO.nl and TKI Horticulture funded programmes.” No matter how many hurdles the students have to overcome, they remain positive. Sebastiaan believes that “we are 20% of the way there. In three years’ time, the Maldives will have the first ever circular greenhouse.”

• Study: Architecture
• Founders: Melchior Bos (24), Stan van Stralen (23), Sebastiaan Brouwer (24), Thomas Edes (24) & Trang Phan (24)
• Number of employees: 4 full-time, 3 part-time
• Target groups: Resorts in the Maldives
• In five years: The greenhouse is operational
• Board members: 5

Elise Mooijman is a freelance journalist.

The founders of the Resilient Island Foundation from left to right: Melchior Bos, Sebastiaan Brouwer, Trang Phan, Thomas Edes and Stan van Stralen. (Photo: Resilient Island Foundation)

Elise Mooijman / Freelance redacteur