Category: News

Dear followers, the RUVIVAL project will be completed by the end of the year. Our funding by the Hamburg Open Online University will expire, so we will not create any new learning content. But don’t worry – our content will stay online! You can find all our learning content on the Hamburg Open Online University website.

Highlights of RUVIVAL

• Together with Master students, PhD students and researchers at the Hamburg University of Technology we developed 19 Toolboxes. Each toolbox represents a bundle of different learning materials containing knowledge and methods developing rural environments.
• We have also provided a virtual classroom and published 6 Lectures by guest lecturers on various topics related to rural development and reviving the rural.
• To increase the accessibility of our learning materials, we have translated our content into Spanish, French, Urdu and German. This has demonstrably led to the distribution of the materials in other countries.
• We have founded our own publication series, which is available for download via Open Research at the Hamburg University of Technology. In the RUVIVAL Publication Series 6 volumes were published.
• In 2020 the RUVIVAL Simulation Game was successfully held for the 6th time. In this game students and other interested people plan several eco-towns in a simulated world. So far, over 600 people took part in the game, mainly students from Hamburg University of Technology and ICAM France.
• Our making-of series shows how the different parts of the project were created.
• In 2019, we partnered with Global Water Dances (GWD) to portray and support dance performances at a global event. These highlight a local water issue and improve the audience’s understanding of the importance of water.
• Throughout the years we have given presentations about the project and released various publications. These are summarised on our Press & Publications page.

We proudly look back on successful years of knowledge transfer for the revival of rural areas. We would like to thank all our project partners, but also our followers and learners. Let us not forget that change is possible.

Goodbye

Your RUVIVAL Team

Volume 6 of the RUVIVAL Publication Series is out! As this is the last volume, there is only one literature review this time. This literature review gives you an overview on sand storage dams and most recent research on the topic. A sand storage dam is a type of groundwater dam, a rainwater harvesting technique consisting of both an impermeable structure built across sandy riverbeds in seasonal streams and a crest raised above the riverbed. These have the potential to increase the water storage capacity and the yield potential of seasonal sandy rivers by trapping coarse sediments coming from the upstream catchment area in the dam. The optimal performance of a sand storage dam depends strongly on the proper selection of a suitable siting place, a tailor-made spillway design, which minimises the risk of siltation and appropriate construction procedures. While water in sand storage dams is of good quality, this can be affected during abstraction, transportation or storage.

Learn more about Sand Dams in the RUVIVAL toolbox on this topic!

As with previous papers, this paper has also been reviewed by members of the RUVIVAL Community.

All our publications are available to download for free via the library of Hamburg University of Technology. The previous issues can be accessed here.

With the recent Toolbox on the topic of ‘Rural Energy Systems‘ all RUVIVAL Toolbox elements are now also available in German! You can find them on theHOOU webpage, good luck with learning!

Rural Energy Systems provide sustainable energy.

On the HOOU website new content in German is available again today: The RUVIVAL Toolboxes on the topic of Aquifer Recharge and Biowaste Usage. Enjoy learning!

Aquifer Recharge replenishes ground water.

Biowaste Usage utilises biodegradable material.

As of today, the RUVIVAL Toolbox content about check dams and sand dams can also be viewed in German on the HOOU page, good luck with learning!

Check Dams are one erosion control measure.

Sand Dams retain rainwater and recharge groundwater.

The RUVIVAL team is very happy to participate with its own booth at this year’s University:Future Festival. The event will take place from 6th to 8th of October online.

The festival is organised by the association Stifterverband, which is the only one that offers holistic consulting, networking and support in the fields of education, science and innovation. The association describes the festival as follows:

“The University:Future Festival is breaking new ground as the first digital festival on higher education in Germany: For three days, the University Forum on Digitisation will bring together teachers, students, university management and other stakeholders from universities, politics and society and create a virtual space for the exchange of ideas on digital higher education”.

The RUVIVAL team will be represented by Dr. Ruth Schaldach and Mascha Frey.

Today we are publishing the next four German language Toolboxes, which are now accessible on the HOOU website. Have fun and enjoy learning!

Agricultural Practices vary geographically and internationally.

Agroforestry combines agriculture and forestry.

Livestock plays a vital role in the food and water nexus.

Terraces control erosion and build soil.

A lot has happened in the last few months. We have published new learning content every week: introducing new learning tools, translating our ‘Making of’ section to Urdu, publishing the first toolbox contents in German, and successfully completing the fifth RUVIVAL Simulation Game.

The RUVIVAL Toolbox on methods for rainwater harvesting is now also available in German. In the course of the next weeks all other toolboxes will be published in German on the HOOU website, have fun!

Rainwater Harvesting teaches you to collect, store and use rainwater. 

An overview of all translated toolboxes can be found here.

We did it one more time! The 5^th edition of the RUVIVAL SimGame 2020 has successfully concluded on Tuesday 23^th June. The hard work of all students during the two months yielded wonderful outcomes and exiting debates on Sustainable Development.

Despite the students’ different locations and the particular challenges this year’s edition faced, all eco-planners could work together for the same goal, thanks to the online SimGame communication system. All town meetings and our final conference were held in the form of an online video conference. This multimedia concept made it possible to develop two plans for two different sites with very diverse environments.

Over the course of two months, teams of students from the Hamburg University of Technology in Germany and ICAM in France worked hard on planning two new Eco-Towns in a simulated world. This round gathered 67 eco-planners among them 14 bachelor and 28 master students from TUHH and 25 students from ICAM. They were supported by external participants contributing to the game by playing the role of Eco-Town inhabitants.

This year’s task was to plan one ecological settlement in Wales and one in Ethiopia. Each development plan had to be based on solutions that endure an ecological balance between soil, water and energy while providing the needs of the inhabitants in terms of housing, income, food, transport and waste assimilation. The plan also includes the assessment and mitigation of the Eco-Town’s ecological footprint. For this purpose, different groups of students were formed and were responsible for certain aspects of the development plan, town affairs and communication.

This year the Media & RMC Group reported in our virtual newspaper about the town meetings and planning progress. They kept track of the planning discussions and stayed well informed on the future inhabitants’ needs and requirements. Just as in real life, the virtual Eco-Towns planning benefited from the intense exchange and interactions that took place.

Earth, the main character in our simulated world, was responsible for publishing all the important announcements and sometimes interesting news. Earth had an important management role, since, well… you know… Earth knows everything in the world. Earth coordinated and moderated communication with the outside world, as well as the Travel Agency, Newspaper and Conference Center.

The Simulation Game keeps growing and we are already looking forward to the learning, knowledge transfer and exchange that is to come for 2021. Stay tuned!

Many people are involved in developing RUVIVAL learning materials. This is both a challenging and rewarding process. On the one hand, it requires thorough planning and elaborate coordination, but on the other, unique perspectives, linkages and expertise emerge from this exchange. We strongly feel that this is a story that needs to be told alongside the sustainable rural development content you see on our website as the finished product. This is why we are excited to announce: Making of RUVIVAL is now also available in Urdu!

Urdu Version: روائول کی تیاری

English Version: Making of RUVIVAL

Here you can have a look at the various elements, about the technical and pedagogic aspects as well as about the experiences of those taking part, You can explore Making of RUVIVAL Simulation Game, Stop Motion Videos, Community Projects as well as a look into how the Toolbox Elements are made. We will keep adding more material to this section as we expand our work in 2020.

Ever since its beginning, RUVIVAL is on a mission to reach a wider audience and spread the word on sustainable rural development. Now this word is also available in Urdu. Therefore, we welcome the Urdu speaking community to our growing RUVIVAL network.

Today we updated our world map of sustainable environmental practices. Now you can also find case studies on Terra Preta Sanitation – and you can take part!

Making of RUVIVAL gives you a peek into the inner workings of RUVIVAL. Here you can learn how we produce Open Educational Resources (OERs) and other content on our webpage. Today, we have published a new post about our simulation game. This post, Making of RUVIVAL Simulation Game, details how the RUVIVAL team runs the simulation game.

Also, check out the Insights article we wrote about this process! Our Making of RUVIVAL Simulation Game article can be found with this link (available only in German).

Making of RUVIVAL gives you a peek into the inner workings of RUVIVAL. Here you can learn how we produce Open Educational Resources (OERs) and other content on our webpage. Today, we have published a new post about our community project. This post, Making of Community Project, details how the RUVIVAL team created the posts and media for our community project.

Also, check out the Insights article we wrote about this process! Our Making of Community Project article can be found with this link (available only in German).

We are happy to announce that the 2020 RUVIVAL Simulation Game applications are now open! The online game will officially start on the 28th of April. We recommend, that you join us from the start, as you will get to observe and participate then in the entire planning process! Late applications will also be accepted, in case there are still free spots left.

So, how do you apply for the Simulation Game?

Explore the newest addition to our website: RUVIVAL Learning Tools. Click on a tool type below to open a page that lists all learning contents using this specific type of learning tool.

RUVIVAL Learning Tools

All Videos

All Literature Reviews

All Calculators

All Maps

All DIY

All Overviews

All Click & Plays

All Quizzes

All Analyses

All Summaries

All Databases

You can also find this list of learning tools in our RUVIVAL Toolbox. Speaking of which, the contents of the RUVIVAL Toolbox are getting a design makeover! We are hoping that the new setup will make it easier for you to navigate through the topics of sustainable rural development.

RUVIVAL Highlights of 2019

Do you still remember our news about publishing 100 posts? Well that was two years ago and by now we have 650 posts online! At the end of 2019 it is time for a little yearly review. Next to publishing more online learning content, these are our RUVIVAL Highlights of 2019:

• Publication of our website in French, German and Urdu.
• The fourth RUVIVAL Simulation Game was conducted successfully.
• Publication of Volume 4 and Volume 5 of the RUVIVAL Publication Series.
• RUVIVAL workshop at at the public libraries (Bücherhallen) in Hamburg and at the climate week.
• Meeting with Digital Changemakers at Hamburg University of Technology.
• Launch of a new Making of Section on our website.
• Cooperation with Global Water Dances.

In addition, we went to several events and conferences. We can look back to another successful year of RUVIVAL and thank all our project partners. Happy holidays from RUVIVAL!

We were honoured to participate at the international conference ‘Virtual Exchange – Borderless Mobility between the European Higher Education Area and Regions beyond’ organised by German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD – Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst).

Today we added two new posts to our Community Project page! Read more about Kilifi and Diani by following the links below.

Today we added three new posts to our Community Project page! Read more about Motakondur, Bwaise and Durban by following the links below.

RUVIVAL and Global Water Dances worked together to support eight sites during the 2019 GWD event. Located in Asia and Africa, each site choreographed a performance to highlight a local water issue.

Today we updated our community page to include community projects concerned with rising awareness on pressing issues like water scarcity, pollution and other water related issues. For more information about this project, visit our new Community Project page with the first three posts for the sites in Johannesburg, Beach House, and Ganvié. Each Thursday in the next three weeks more project site videos will follow.

On Friday at 13:10 Dr. Ruth Schaldach and Tina Carmesin will hold a workshop together with other projects of Hamburg Open Online University (HOOU). Participants will have the opportunity to get to know game based learning arrangements developed within the HOOU.

Find more information below:

RUVIVAL Presentations and Publications

HOOU Sessions (link in German)

Campus Innovation (link in German)

Today we updated our world map of sustainable environmental practices. Now you can find case studies on Agroforestry – and you can take part!

Today we updated our world map of sustainable environmental practices. Now you can find case studies on Aquifer Recharge – and you can take part!

Hallo!

!السلام عليكم

We are excited to announce: RUVIVAL is now also available in German and in Urdu!

We regularly publish new German e-learning content and we will start today with a lecture on Raw Earth Construction:

German Version: Lehmbau

English Version: Raw Earth Construction

We will start to publish material in our lecture section and keep up in 2020 with material in the toolbox.

In addition, these two Toolboxes are now available in Urdu: Traditional Rainwater Harvesting and Decentralised Wastewater Treatment.

Urdu Version: روایتی بارانی پانی سے کاشتکاری

English Version: Traditional Rainwater Harvesting

Urdu Version: گندے پانی کا غیر مرکزی علاج

English Version: Decentralised Wastewater Treatment

Each post with a German or Urdu version available will have this indicated at the top of your screen.

Ever since its beginning, RUVIVAL is on a mission to reach a wider audience and spread the word on sustainable rural development. Now this word is also available in German and Urdu. Therefore, we welcome the German and Urdu speaking community to our growing RUVIVAL network.

On the 28th of September 2019 you can meet RUVIVAL during the Klimawoche Hamburg (Hamburg Climate Week) at Bücherhallen Hamburg (public libraries). The aim of the Klimawoche Hamburg is to initiate a dialogue with the population on the sustainable development goals between actors from business, politics, the environment and society.

You will have a chance to meet the RUVIVAL founders Ruth Schaldach (Project Manager and Editor in Chief) and Tina Carmesin (Editor). Come and experience RUVIVAL first hand!

Find more information below:

Facebook event (link in German)

Bücherhallen Hamburg (link in German)

Klimawoche Hamburg (link in German)

Read more about our previous cooperation with Bücherhallen Hamburg below:

RUVIVAL at Bücherhallen Hamburg

A review: RUVIVAL at Bücherhallen Hamburg introducing the Simulation Game

The 5th Volume of the RUVIVAL Publication Series is out! This volume starts with an introduction on the global soil status, which in the past decades has continued to deteriorate. This is followed by two literature reviews. The first one focuses on soil erosion and explains the mechanisms that cause it, both natural and human-induced. Additionally, it presents soil conservation practices from around the world. Lastly, the third paper deals with traditional ecological knowledge regarding water management practices. It concentrates on rainwater harvesting methods and introduces two case studies from India.

As with Volume 4, the papers in Volume 5 have been reviewed by members of the RUVIVAL Community. We have now also started the reviewing process for the papers that will be included in Volume 6, which will be published in the first half of 2020. Join our community and comment on these papers here!

All our publications are available to download for free via the library of Hamburg University of Technology. The previous issues can be accessed here:

Today we updated our world map of sustainable environmental practices. Now you can find case studies on Urine Utilisation – and you can take part!

Today we updated our world map of sustainable environmental practices. Now you can find case studies on Rainwater Harvesting – and you can take part!

Click on the element below to read the literature review.

Making of RUVIVAL is a section on our webpage for peeking into the back office of RUVIVAL. Here you get to know how we produce Open Educational Resources (OERs) or the yearly game. Furthermore, we collaborate with the online magazine Insights of the TUHH. Therefore, you will sometimes find our insights published first in Insights.

This section will grow and it will be worth stopping by regularly as we will publish new content every two months. Together with the first article, we start by providing material for your own stop motion video production. Just follow this link and maybe get inspired to produce your own video. Here you can see our stop motion video collection:

Let us know if the content is useful for you and if you use the material for producing your own OERs, we will be very happy to get to know about it. You can send us a message using our contact form.

The RUVIVAL SimGame 2019 has successfully concluded on Tuesday 25 June, with the dazzling display of wonderful outcomes yielded from the hard work of students during the two months. Three virtual Eco-Towns were planned, 1 located in Wales and 2 in Ethiopia. Over one hundred students joined in the game as eco-planners – 68 from TUHH in Germany and 37 from ICAM in France supported by external participants contributing to the game by playing the role of Eco-Town inhabitants. They united for the same goal and worked without hindrance despite of the different locations thanks to the online SimGame system.

Tasks in the Eco-Town planning game

The fundamental task of the students was to plan the future Eco-Town and find ways to incorporate various water and energy solutions with sustainable agricultural practices, while taking into consideration the specific challenges resulted from different geographic, political, economical and climatic conditions, as well as the diverse opinions of the inhabitants. To accomplish the final task, the students have gone through several steps and formed into different groups responsible for the respective development plans and town affairs. Approximately 370 posts and 1300 comments were created during these processes which paved the way to the final achievements.

It would be unfair to leave the SimGame without mentioning those important management roles. First is our Earth, the main character in the virtual world, who is responsible for publishing all the important announcements and sometimes interesting news. Earth knows everything in the world and gives direction by answering their questions.

This year over 50 articles were published in our newspaper reporting about the town meetings and planning progress. Each article was also discussed in the comment section and all participants were not only up to date, but also well informed on new developments in the area of environmental practices and technologies.

Travelling to other parts of this fictional world was made possible by the Travel Agent, the smart robot who is responsible for the travel agency. Overall 22 travel tickets were issued to the participants, most of which led to Ethiopia and Arba Minch being the most popular towns. The currency in the game to get a ticket were written articles as we considered the spread of useful knowledge as most valuable.

Town meetings and a final conference were held in form of an online video conference so that it was possible for all participants to present and discuss the concepts not just in written form. This multimedia concept made it possible to develop three elaborate plans for three sites with very diverse environments.

RUVIVAL in 2020

As in the real life, the virtual world will keep growing and improving from the intense exchange and interactions. We are happy to announce that the next round is already planned for 2020! We are in negotiations to get more Universities, especially from Africa, involved and hope to find more future inhabitants from all over the world willing to share their knowledge. Stay tuned for the next round of SimGame!

Bonjour! We are excited to announce: RUVIVAL is now also available in French!

We regularly publish new French e-learning content and we will start today with a lecture on Raw Earth Construction and System of Rice Intensification:

French Version: Construction en terre crue

English Version: Raw Earth Construction

French Version: Système de Riziculture Intensive

English Version: System of Rice Intensification

Each post with a French version available will have this indicated at the top of your screen.

Ever since its beginning, RUVIVAL is on a mission to reach a wider audience and spread the word on sustainable rural development. Now this word is also available in French. Therefore, we welcome the French speaking community into our growing RUVIVAL network. We will start to publish material in our lecture section and keep up in 2019 with material in the toolbox.

Find photos from the launch event below (pictures by Jorrit Specker)::

Last weekend we offered a workshop at at the public libraries (Bücherhallen) in Hamburg. After the welcome and introduction by project manager Ruth Schaldach, Tina Carmesin presented the overall concept of RUVIVAL.

The main topic of the event was the RUVIVAL Simulation Game. Ruth Schaldach described the game design and showed the game platform. After this, the participants were asked to explain their vision of ecological towns and a discussion started. In the end the registration process for participating the game was shown.

Last week, the 2019 RUVIVAL Simulation Game officially started. We are more than happy that in this years edition we have already 125 participants registered in our system! The first planning tasks were executed and fruitful discussions evolved. Since 2017 students in Hamburg, Paris and Toulouse face the challenges to plan ecological towns in the simulated world created by the RUVIVAL Team. However, everyone can participate! If you want to take part in the game find further information and the registration form here.

We are looking forward to another exciting game. We hope to see you online!

Find more articles about the Game in our News Section.

We thank all workshop participants for their interest and involvement. Furthermore, we thank Bücherhallen Hamburg for the invitation and support during the event.

Stay tuned for next event announcements and subscribe to our newsletter.

On the 4th of May 2019 you can meet RUVIVAL at the public libraries (Bücherhallen) in Hamburg. We take part in a series of events organised by Hamburg Open Online University and Bücherhallen. According to the motto of this event series ‘shape your digital future’, we want to show you how to participate in our RUVIVAL Simulation Game.

Find the program and learn more about the Hamburg public libraries here (link in German).

UPDATE

We offer a game meeting on 7th May 2019,17:00 at Hamburg Zentralbibliothek in room 2.4.

During this meeting we can help you with register the game, translation or explain you further details. This meeting also offers a place for game participants to get together and discuss further ideas. However, you can also play the game solely online, without coming to the meeting.

We are looking forward meeting you!

We are excited to announce that the new volume of the RUVIVAL Publication Series is out! This volume talks about the challenges faced by the lack of energy supply and wastewater treatment. Especially in rural areas of developing countries is the electrification and rural water supply challenging. However, sustainable decentralised technologies are available and reviewed in this Volume.

Finally, in this volume we tried a new peer review process and invited our audience to participate as editors. Volume 5 and 6 is still under review or production and you can also be part of our community by following this link. You get the opportunity to read and review our working papers and to contribute your knowledge.

As all our publications, RUVIVAL Publication Series Volume 4  is available for free download via the library of Hamburg University of Technology. The previous issues can be reached here:

RUVIVAL Volume 1

RUVIVAL Volume 2

RUVIVAL Volume 3

RUVIVAL is on a mission to revive rural areas around the world. As there is diverse sustainable development in motion we are developing a world map of sustainable environmental practices. Today we publish our first topic on Check Dams. Soon we will release more topics and pins on the map in the area of: Agroforestry, Rainwater Harvesting, Urine Utilisation and Aquifer Recharge – and you can take part!

We are happy to announce that the 2019 RUVIVAL Simulation Game applications are now open! The game will officially start on the 7th of May. We recommend, that you join us from the start, as you will get to observe and participate then in the entire planning process! Late applications will also be accepted, in case there are still free spots left.

So, how do you apply for the Simulation Game?

Go to registration

A couple of weeks ago we had a visit from the student group Digital Changemaker. They are part of the German Forum for Higher Education in the Digital Age (Hochschulforum Digitalisierung). This group is made up of 15 students from all over Germany, studying in different fields. They are working on improving digitalisation at the university level, looking at different aspects such as innovative and didactic learning formats, platform solutions, sustainability, e-participation, etc.

The students visited the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH) to get to know different projects from the Hamburg Open Online University (HOOU). Carla Orozco Garcia from RUVIVAL showed them how we create Open Educational Resources (OERs) in form of stop motion videos. They visited her in the editing room, where she showed them our video-making process. This starts by creating a storyboard. Then, the video elements are drawn, printed and cut out. Afterwards the video is filmed at the studio and finally, it is all put together with a video editing software.

If you are interested in learning more about this process, take a look at our Making of RUVIVAL Stop Motion Videos section.

#DigitaleChangeMaker– Das #HOOU RUVIVAL-Projekt zeigt im Schnittraum, wie offene Bildungsmaterialien in Form von Legefilmen produziert, geschnitten und übersetzt werden. pic.twitter.com/z5cOkbgmzp

— HOOU (@HOOUHamburg) March 20, 2019

RUVIVAL partners with Global Water Dances and you can be part of the global dance event!

Apply until the 31th of March 2019 here.

Global Water Dances aims to use the international languages of dance and film to raise awareness on issues related to water. The project promotes awareness and a behavioural shift toward solutions for water preservation and conservation through community engagement.

Water is one of the central topics in our RUVIVAL Toolbox and a part in each of the Lectures. However, now you can be part of an international movement to raise awareness on water issues. Therefore, join one of the events as a dancer, choreographer, film maker or organiser.

Already ample dance groups have registered for the event and you can make the next dot on the site map by organising an event in your area (worldmap of registered sites). If you are a dance group from the African continent, there are special funding opportunities possible, just register and you will be contacted.

Let’s dance for water.

As we had promised, the RUVIVAL Toolbox is now available in Spanish! We start this week by publishing the first Toolbox on World Water Resources completely in Spanish and we’ll continue posting the rest in the next weeks.

Ever since its beginning, RUVIVAL is on a mission to spread the word on sustainable rural development. We just visited the island of La Gomera to be part of a conference on permaculture, sustainability and water.

Local and international experts presented innovative ideas in the context of rural development, sustainability and water use. However, we also enjoyed taking the opportunity to network in workshops and engage in mutual exchange with likeminded people. We swapped seeds, got to know local projects and enjoyed regional products and music.

Specific topics were discussed in working groups, such as permaculture, reforestation, ecological cultivation practices, eco-tourism and water reuse. Thus, about 100 participants as well as representatives of the Island Council found common interests and connecting points to further develop the island of La Gomera in a sustainable manner. All in all it was a successful start for future cooperation and more events.

The meeting was organised by Finka Alexandria and Allerhand am Alpenrand in cooperation with the Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection, RUVIVAL, AIDER (Insular Association of Rural Development of La Gomera) and the Island Council of La Gomera.

Have a look at some photos from the event (pictures by Sara Hornig):

More information about our new project partner
Finka Alexandria will follow soon. Stay tuned!

Find out more about our existing cooperations and project partners in our News section.

New Year calls for a new look – the RUVIVAL Toolbox is getting a makeover! We are hoping that this new setup will make it easier for you to navigate through its diverse topics. Stay tuned for more new and exciting updates of our website that are yet to come!

There are several ways in which you can help us translate RUVIVAL. Of course, you will be given due credit for your work and be listed as a contributor on our website. The general discussion regarding translation will take place in the RUVIVAL Community discussion forum. Here both the technical and linguistic details will be discussed. Our stop motion videos are also open for community contributions, which can be done through our YouTube channel. You are free to send us your translation on the topic of your choosing – whether it is your research topic, your favorite RUVIVAL element, or information you think is useful to the people in your community. We look forward to your contributions!

The new discussion topics are Traditional Rainwater Harvesting, Decentralised Wastewater Treatment and World Soil Resources. Click on the elements below to read the literature reviews.

Today we launch the Writers Corner! 

We will start to discuss literature reviews on Soil Erosion and Rural Energy Systems. Click on an element below to read the literature review.

Find more about the RUVIVAL Community here. Stay tuned as we will publish another new literature review next week!

Dear RUVIVAL fans and followers, we are happy to announce that we developed a new project section dedicated only to you:

In order to further support you, our RUVIVAL Community, we offer a forum for knowledge exchange and networking. We will keep it short here, as you can find all information about the forum in our new website menu Community.

Even if you are new around here, you can also be part of our community! We are an e-learning project about sustainable rural development and offer several project sections and materials. Find more information about us in our project description. If you are interested in the development process of our material check our making of RUVIVAL. Have a look around our website and if you have any questions contact us.

Join the forum and be part of a community of knowledge production and sharing – we would love to see you online!

Last weekend we presented our project at the Day of Science at Hamburg University of Technology (Tag des Wissens). We want to thank all visitors for your active participation.

Ruth Schaldach let the audience look behind the scenes of the serious game and invited the audience of the talk to participate next year. The next game will start in May 2019 and you can already book your place.

It was a lot of fun playing the wheel of fortune quiz! The main price were bags with the RUVIVAL logo as a stencil handmade by the RUVIVAL Team.

Finally, we were highly honoured at the event as the Deputy Mayor of Hamburg and Senator for Science, Research and Equal Rights, Katharina Fegebank, as well as the President of Hamburg University of Technology, Prof. Dr. Ed Brinksma and Vice President for Teaching at Hamburg University of Technology, Prof. Dr. Sönke Knutzen visited us.

 

To give all our readers a small glimpse into the event we prepared a photo presentation below. Enjoy and stay tuned: next week we will publish a whole new project section!

To learn more about Hamburg Open Online University and our partners, have a look at the following webpages:

HOOU – Hamburg Open Online University

Kniffelix

MikiE

SciFiVisons

Centre of Teaching and Learning at the TUHH

This year’s Day of Science (Tag des Wissens) takes place at Hamburg University of Technology and the topic ‘Technology and the Digital World’ couldn’t fit better to our project!

We can’t wait to welcome you to experience RUVIVAL along with around 50 other interesting projects presented by different universities and research-based companies.

Interact with RUVIVAL and other Hamburg Open Online University Projects: The Wheel of Fortune

Together with two other Hamburg Open Online University projects, Kniffelix and MikiE, we would like to introduce you to the world of online learning!
We prepared a little game: The Wheel of Fortune will decide which questions have to be answered. Find the right answers by using our online content. For the ones who can find the most solutions, great prices are waiting!

Talk about Online Education: RUVIVAL Simulation Game

Furthermore, Ruth Schaldach, member of the RUVIVAL team, is going to take part in an event held by the ‘Centre of Teaching and Learning at the TUHH (ZLL)’ She is going to demonstrate the possibilities and advantages of innovative methods in online education on the example of our RUVIVAL Simulation Game .
To get to this event,you don’t even need to leave the building! It’s just around the corner in room H0.04 and will start at 14:00.
If there are already questions popping up into your mind, you can note them here and if they are matching the overall content, they will be included in the speech.

Further information and the program of the Day of Science can be found here (German):

Day of Science (Tag des Wissens)

Program of all Hamburg Open Online University Projects

To learn more about Hamburg Open Online University and our partners, have a look at the following webpages:

HOOU – Hamburg Open Online University

Kniffelix

MikiE

Centre of Teaching and Learning at the TUHH

Your comments and suggestions will be incorporeted by our authors, to ensure the best and most relevant content on these pressing topics. Contributors will of course be specially named and every input will be given due credit. Comments are welcome using our Contact Form.

Through this step, which is a glimpse into what is soon coming for RUVIVAL, we want to encourage our many diverse communities to share their unique perspective and be heard, as well as to learn about one another. We will be able to share important information to achieve our larger goal – reviving the rural!

Click on the links below to directly access the available working papers. This list will be duly updated, once the papers are online. We are looking forward to all your entries!

Another round of the RUVIVAL SimGame has officially come to an end. Over the course of one month, teams of students from Hamburg University of Technology in Germany and ICAM in France worked hard on planning 4 new Eco-Towns in a simulated world. They were supported by external participants, who assumed the role of Eco-Town inhabitants. From Wales to Ethiopia: the task was to find ways to incorporate different water and energy solutions with sustainable agricultural practices, while taking into consideration the specific challenges connected to the different geographic, political, economical and climatic conditions.

The planers got inspired from each other  and the virtual Travel Agency was particularly busy, with over 20 trips across the world being realised. With 7 travelers, Pembrokeshire in Wales was the most visited Ecotown. Above on the right you see one of the inhabitants pursing travel tickets.

Notice the Earth in the picture above? We wouldn’t do it justice if we didn’t mention the omnipresent role it played in the Game. All communication with the outside world, as well as the Travel Agency and the Newspaper were coordinated and supervised by Earth.

The closing mass online conference, with more than 50 speakers as delegates for their subgroups, took place last week. The participants were logged in mainly from Hamburg, Paris and Toulouse. Is it possible to build bicycles from bamboo grown in constructed wetlands used for greywater treatment? How can we encourage sustainable behaviour without an restrictive penalty system and non authoritarian approached ? Which water storage system is the most suitable one for the specific climate and geographical conditions? These questions and more were answered during the final presentations.

This article is also available in German.

Hamburg, 15th and 16th June

RUVIVAL is going on tour! We look forward to meeting you at the following events in May, so mark your calendars and let’s revive the rural! Stay tuned for further events in June.

OERcamp Süd

Bad Wildbad, 11th and 12th May

OERcamps (link in German)

OERcamp Süd Program (link in German)

IFAT

Munich, 14th to 18th May

Meet the HOOU

Hamburg, 31st May

Meet the HOOU (link in German)

Meet the HOOU Program (link in German)

This week we introduce you to another sustainable  rural development project which is implementing exactly those practices RUVIVAL is set to teach: meet newTree!

We have also partnered up to create learning materials about the practices they are implementing, so make sure to have a look at the newTree Semi-Circular Bunds example!

In Burkina Faso, a landlocked country in the African Sahel region, over 80 % of the population lives from subsistence farming. Population growth, deforestation and the effects of climate change accelerate the degradation and erosion of soils, thus threatening rural families’ livelihoods. Since 2003, newTree has been developing and implementing an effective approach that supports local communities in restoring ecosystems and soil fertility, improving living conditions and gaining new sources of income. The participatory newTree approach is based on the principle of knowledge transfer: through awareness building, instructions, coaching and provision of basic materials, newTree ensures that farmers and women’s groups can replicate methods autonomously and sustainably.

newTree Activities

newTree activities are centered on four pillars which together form a holistic, sustainable agroforestry system. First, the natural regeneration of ecosystems is achieved through the fencing of land, which offers protection from grazing and woodcutting. Gradually, the natural vegetation recovers, first through grasses, later through shrubs and trees, which build a critical basis through their root system and shade.

Finally, farmers and women’s groups receive training in activities to develop new, wood independent sources of income. Depending on local conditions and demand, these activities can range from beekeeping and honey production to hay, seedling or vegetable production, the transformation and commercialization of non- wood forest products or the raising of livestock such as sheep, goats or cattle.

To date, newTree has enabled the set-up of over 300 enclosures protecting 600,000 trees, the sustainable cultivation of close to 20,000 ha of degraded land and the construction of 65,000 improved cooking stoves. Together with its local partner tiipaalga, over 150,000 inhabitants have been reached, which amounts to 5 % of the population in the newTree project areas. These achievements motivate the local team of 53 employees even further to establish tiipaalga as a guiding light in the promotion of sustainable agriculture and improved living conditions of rural families in Burkina Faso.

For more information, please visit:

newTree Semi-Circular Bunds

Website of the newTree Project (available in German and French)

newTree YouTube Channel

Article about newTree in Frankfurter Allgemeine (Link in German)

As revealed last week, we are happy to announce that the Simulation Game applications are now open! The game will officially start on the 14th of May and we recommend that you join us from the beginning, as you will get to observe and participate in the entire planning process! Late applications will also be accepted, in case there are still free spots left.

So, how do you apply for to participate in the Simulation Game?

Go to registration

New year calls for a new publication: we have just released RUVIVAL Publication Series Volume 3! This Volume is concerned with the synergies between ecological sanitation and sustainable land management. It discusses different responses, methods and alternatives, as well as the corresponding difficulties and limitations to increase water efficiency in agricultural irrigation and to promote ecological sanitation practices. The synergies between these two fields are in this case realised through the usage of urine as a fertiliser for non-food uses or alternatively by recycling nutrients from excreta in a Terra Preta Sanitation system.

Read RUVIVAL Publication Series Volume 3 here. This volume is also available for free download via the Library of Hamburg University of Technology.

The previous issues can be reached here:

RUVIVAL Volume 1

RUVIVAL Volume 2

Find an overview about all published volumes here.

You have probably noticed that many of our RUVIVAL materials, such as the Examples of Agroforestry Systems, the Check Dams Handbook and even our first RUVIVAL Book, have close ties to Arba Minch in Ethiopia. For this we have to thank our diligent project partners from the Slope Farming Project! Through academic exchange and collaboration we ensure that their on-site knowledge and experience can be transferred worldwide.

What exactly is the Slope Farming Project?

Slope Farming is a research project aimed at developing a holistic land use management system for the productive restoration, conservation and improvement of land and water resources and the overall ecosystem. It primarily tackles issues of the degradation of soils and ecosystems, loss of biodiversity and shrinking forest areas, drought events and shortage of water, but also flooding and non-adapted agricultural techniques. This all leads to declining agricultural yields in quantity and quality for local farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The system approach is constantly being evaluated and further developed with the aim for upscaling.

The holistic approach of Slope Farming is developed within the interdisciplinary field of restoration engineering. A diverse set of measures and approaches from the fields of water and soil management, waste and wastewater management, organic farming, permaculture, energy systems and housing systems. All these approaches  are all integrated in one multi-layered system. The aim is to activate and utilise synergies and co-operative properties, as well as to close the loops of nutrient cycles.

Ideas for small scale business, innovative value chains and marketing are simultaneously developed, as well as new participatory systems, for the local creation of value. With local resources and especially local labor, local value can be created, benefiting both, the environment and the livelihood of people in rural areas. This is essential for the overall sustainable development of rural areas in the long term.

The Slope Farming Project was started 2015 in Arba Minch, Ethiopia by the Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH), in cooperation with the Arba Minch Town Municipality (AMTM), Arba Minch University (AMU) and the Catholic Church Arba Minch (CCAM). Arba Minch, with its tremendous development in recent years as part of the growing economy of Ethiopia, can become a role model for adapted, sustainable, very productive land use management systems of the 21^st century. Such systems can nourish an ever increasing number of world inhabitants, while not destroying but building up fertile soil.

M.Sc. Jan Wibbing, PhD Student and Slope Farming Project Coordinator about the project approach:

‘Maybe for the first time, a holistic system in this depth is put together in all its complexity in Ethiopia. We aim to create a feasible, very productive approach, able to restore soil while producing high quality food and protecting the climate. Therefore, we work practically on the project site in order to establish a role model, which can be experienced. Not by textbook, paper or pictures, but by getting our hands on the ground. By working in the field in Arba Minch, we have direct input by locals and can test our concept with the people that matter most  – local small-scale subsistence farmers in rural or semi-rural areas.

As a small-scale pilot project, our work is depending on donations. With little input, we can achieve many things in Ethiopia and aim to demonstrate our ideas in the field along with local people in order to inspire and motivate local multipliers. For any kind of support we would be very grateful.’

We are happy to announce that the preparations for the next Simulation Game are well underway and we will be bringing you many novelties in this, third round!

What is the Simulation Game?

The Simulation Game is an interactive learning tool for planning eco-villages, that was developed at the Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection at Hamburg University of Technology. This serious Game simulates complex challenges faced in real-world projects.  These challenges often extend beyond technical and there is rarely a chance to strictly apply textbook solutions. This is especially true for the challenges encountered in RUVIVAL topics.

Through the Simulation Game, we want to encourage the participants to act in a holistic and creative way,  while utilising the available resources in the best possible way. The Game can provide participants with engaging experiences in planning, problem solving, data management, crisis management, communication and collaboration. During the four weeks, students from different universities assume a role within a planning team in one of the four eco-villages, which are distributed across the globe. Each team is in charge of planning a specific aspect of the eco-village, such as land management, water utilisation, community impact, construction, transport, or waste management, to name a few. Depending on the location, they are faced with challenges related to different climatic zones, eco systems or socio-economic environments.

 

We started with students from the TUHH and HCU in Hamburg, last year students and researchers joined us from ICAM Paris and Toulouse.

Here are some of the impressions from the participants in the previous two Games:

“The idea of a major project was a nice change from the usual engineering courses, allowing students to think outside of the box and apply their previous knowledge, while learning new things through research and from others in the group work.”

“[I learned to] better coordinate with fellow members, do in depth research on a certain topic, manage time.”

Currently, we plan the next game and all former project partners will be part of it again and maybe ICAM Douala in Kamerun will join us with a group of students.

How can you take part?

The Game is also open for external participants, who can take on the role of village inhabitants. As the inhabitants, they can voice their opinions about the development of the village, or raise concerns in case they feel that their interests are not taken into consideration. In this way, even though they are not directly part of the planning teams, the inhabitants actively contribute to shaping local actions and policies. The level of engagement and amount of time spent in the Game is determined by the participant.

The next Simulation Game will take place in May 2018. We are happy that students from ICAM will join in again. You can apply to take part in the Game using our Contact Form and we will send you an e-mail with registration information and further explanations some weeks before the beginning. The beginning of the Game will also be announced on the website some weeks before. Stick around and join us in our simulated world to find out more!

More information:

ICAM

RUVIVAL Contact Form

RUVIVAL Publication Series Volume 2 is out now, featuring water related topics – aquifer recharge and rainwater harvesting!

Sufficient and quality water sources are an imperative for reviving degraded regions. However, all presented methods can and should be applied before a region is degraded as water conservation should go hand in hand with sustainable land usage. The methods introduced in this volume help to address these multiple objectives at once, such as improving source water quality, preventing land subsidence, combating soil erosion and flood hazards and achieving food security.

Read RUVIVAL Publication Series Volume 2 here. This volume is also available for free download via the library of Hamburg University of Technology.

Stay tuned for RUVIVAL Publication Series Volume 3, which is coming out in January 2018! Meanwhile, you can also renew your knowledge on the topics of RUVIVAL Publication Series Volume 1.

It has been a busy week for RUVIVAL! Just as we published our first RUVIVAL Book last week, we headed to the 2017 Campus Innovation Conference here in Hamburg. Together with our colleagues from the Library of Hamburg University of Technology and Hamburg Open Online University we discussed topics related to Open Access and the translation challenges by producing Open Educational Resources (OERs) in two workshops.  We discussed open access in relations to Open Educational Resources with Thomas Hapke from the Library. The communication and translation challenges were discussed in relation to flight and migration with the two HOOU Projects: Hop-On (link in German), providing information for educational opportunities to migrants and Project Management in Urban Design, an architecture project on building community houses with students, pupils and refugees.

These two topics are of particular importance for us because, as an Open Access e-learning project, we strive to help restoring degraded areas and creating new, not just inhabitable, but liveable spaces by producing knowledge to empower local communities all over the world to increase their living conditions.

Fresh with impressions from Campus Innovation, we were off to the OERcamp in Berlin. There we further discussed our Open Access strategy and presented how Master students, PhD students and researchers collaborate to create RUVIVAL Toolbox elements.

We would like to thank all participants for the interesting discussions and productive feedback. We cannot think of a better way to do so than to immediately start implementing what we learned and make RUVIVAL even better!

But that’s not all! More good news this week came from our partner project, the Slope Farming Project in Arba Minch Ethiopia , who won the first prize at the 5th Harburg Sustainability Awards! The prize money will go into further implementing the measures to make a long-lasting, sustainable change in Arba Minch. Congratulaitons!

More information:

Campus Innovation (link in German)

OERcamp (link in German)

5th Harburg Sustainability Awards (link in German)

Stefan: During my first stay in Ethiopia I realized how much all agricultural productivity is limited by the availability of water. Because of the rain and dry seasons, there is either too much or too little rain. Floods and droughts are alternating with serious consequences for the local farmers. Rainwater harvesting techniques have the potential to alleviate this problem. I read about the enormous biomass productivity of Azolla, a floating fern, so I wanted to combine rainwater storage ponds with floating plants as part of an integrated approach.

This book is about the combination of rainwater harvesting and aquaculture. By growing floating plants, such as Azolla and duckweed, on the surface of rainwater storage ponds, evaporation is reduced, the spreading of mosquitoes is reduced and the produced biomass can be used as animal fodder.

RUVIVAL: Are you doing further research in this field?

Stefan: Absolutely! I started my PhD in order to deepen my studies on the cultivation and usage of floating plants. I believe they will play a dominant role in the future of agriculture, as well as wastewater treatment and regenerative energy. Floating plants might play a key role in connecting those fields while maximizing synergies.

RUVIVAL: Tell us more about the field work in Ethiopia.

Stefan: I was actually surprised how well it went. The ponds that I constructed to analyze how much biomass I could grow with Azolla produced good amounts with little input of resources and time. A local farmer saw my ponds and asked me about them. After I explained everything to him and giving him some Azolla plants, he started to construct a pond on his farmland and fed the plants to his cows and chickens. It worked really well, so he is now building more ponds to grow more fodder for his animals, which saves him money.

RUVIVAL: What are the most important lessons learned you will take from this research and writing of the book?

Stefan: I learned that there is a lot of potential of improvement in conventional agriculture. New agricultural concepts can make a huge difference in the lives of many people by increasing the productivity, building up the soil and storing rainwater during the dry season. I also learned that it makes no sense to tell local farmers how to improve their ways of farming. They need to see actual proof to be convinced. That’s why it’s so important to put theoretical concepts into practice, so that others can replicate them and benefit from it!

To read this book, click here. For more RUVIVAL Readings, click here.

For more information on the Slope Farming Project, click here.

One year RUVIVAL – that means one year of open education for reviving the rural!

Exactly one year ago we set out on a digital mission to spread the knowledge necessary for restoring degraded areas and creating new, not just inhabitable, but liveable spaces. Since the beginning, we offer you new learning opportunities on a weekly basis and not so long ago we passed our first 100 post milestone!

So what has been going on at RUVIVAL in the last year? Our project has been developing through 5 different, but mutually supportive parts: Toolbox, Interactive Lectures, Reading, Simulation Game and Project Consultancy.

The Toolbox contains practical knowledge and methods to revive the land, use synergies and develop rural settings. It is developed through collaboration with Master students, doctoral students and researchers at the Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection (AWW) of Hamburg University of Technology.

Interactive Lectures are envisioned as a virtual classroom, where students “attend” the lectures given by guest lecturers. Lectures are usually concerned with broader and more interconnected topics and designed to provide you with comprehensive knowledge on various topics related to rural development and reviving the rural.

The Simulation Game takes place in a simulated world, where different groups of users plan New Towns in different climates. The groups exchange their knowledge, as they experience similar obstacles in the planning process, despite being in a different environment. The aim of the game is to plan a small New Town with an ecological design using system thinking and synergetic effects of resource cycles.

Project Consultancy connects students and non-commercial projects for knowledge exchange and practical experience. Existing projects can apply for project consultancy collaboration with RUVIVAL if they run an ecological sanitation system, use rainwater harvesting systems, decentralised wastewater treatment or other ecological systems, which could be interesting for further research within this project. This section is still under development and soon new exciting possibilities can be expected.

The Reading Section is the newest addition to RUVIVAL and it contains RUVIVAL Publication Series and RUVIVAL Books.

You, our audience, just as our production team, come from all corners of the world. This is an additional testament for the global presence and relevance of the sustainable rural development issues RUVIVAL is set to address. It is important to remember that these issues are not taking place somewhere else and to someone else, but here and now and are affecting all of us. Stick around, as we have many exciting plans for the upcoming year. Only together we can revive the rural!

Long Night of the Sciences took place last weekend and we had a lot of fun learning and discovering with our visitors! For those of you who couldn’t join us, we picked out some of the Night’s highlights.

Together with two other HOOU projects, Kniffelix and MikiE, we invited you to test your luck and knowledge related to all three projects at our wheel of fortune. What are the building blocks of proteins? What is the main cause of erosion? What is the name of the property that describes how ‘thick’ a fluid is? These are just some of the many questions we asked our visitors.

In order to solve the questions, visitors went to the stands of the three projects. Together with the project members they discovered and discussed the three educational websites. Once they found the right answer, they spun the wheel of fortune to win a prize – for example a tote bag that could be designed during the night.

We would like to thank everyone who participated in this event.

Find out more:

Previous News post about the Long Night of the Sciences

HOOU – Hamburg Open Online University

Kniffelix

MikiE

 

Hamburg’s Long Night of the Sciences is just around the corner and, as promised last week, today we provide you with further information about the event.

We have joined forces with two other HOOU projects, Kniffelix and MikiE, and will expect you on campus of the Hamburg University of Technology in building Q (Am Irrgarten 3-9, 21073 Hamburg) on Saturday, 4th of November, already from 5 pm to 9 pm.

What can you expect from the Long Night of the Sciences? More importantly, what are these prizes we mentioned last week? Pay us a visit and test both your luck and knowledge in our HOOU wheel of fortune! By correctly answering questions related to either RUVIVAL, MikiE or Kniffelix you can win a prize! (Psst, small hint: have a look here and we guarantee you will be well prepared!)

Kniffelix, an experiment blog of children scientists (Kinderforscher) is set on a mission to find out how to get ketchup out of the tube, without flooding the plate – a question all fans of fast food would like an answer to!

With MikiE and their virtual laboratory you will have a chance to learn about the world of extremophiles, organisms which thrive in  extreme conditions, physical or geochemical. These conditions are detrimental to most life on Earth.

Here you can find the programme of all projects presented in Building Q.

Today marks a special milestone – since starting our website almost a year ago, RUVIVAL has grown and has now published over 100 posts! Hooray!

To create RUVIVAL, we have joined forces with Master students, PhD Students and researchers, as well as pupils. We look forward to future collaborations and anyone interested in co-creating RUVIVAL can get in touch with us through our contact form.

Stay tuned, as we have many exciting things planned! The easiest way to do so is by subscribing to our newsletter or following us on social media.

Together we can revive the rural!

Last week, we introduced our new logo, and by now you must be wondering what HOOU.de stands for. Wonder no more, we are here to explain!

HOOU stands for Hamburg Open Online University and RUVIVAL is one of the projects being developed within it. The idea is to provide a digital space where students and lecturers, but also the interested public can meet and collaborate on interdisciplinary projects on an academic level. Learning with HOOU and RUVIVAL is open for all.

Here you can read more about the background story of HOOU. If you already know more than these two words in German you can find more information in this press release by the City of Hamburg.

Founder and editor in chief Ruth Schaldach about RUVIVAL Publication Series:

“We hope that via open access this publication series will reach a broad public and provide a deeper understanding of research fields important for a sustainable rural development and in areas in need of landscape restoration.”

Stay tuned for the publication of RUVIVAL Volume 2 and our first e-book!

Have you spotted the new RUVIVAL logo yet?

After a long decision making process we decided to use this logo designed by Johanna Mörke.

The three intertwined colours symbolise the symbiotic relationship between water, soil and vegetation. For regeneration of degraded regions and creation of vital landscapes it is crucial to look at all of these three. With RUVIVAL we aim to draw synergistic connections between these elements and to define measures which enable a sustainable future.

Revive the Rural!

RUVIVAL now has a news section!

Here we will post project announcements and important registration dates for the simulation game or project consultancy. You will also have a chance to get in this section peeks behind the scenes of RUVIVAL. The people behind the project, but also some making of posts are planned. To never miss new learning materials and important announcements, sign up for our free weekly newsletter!

We have recently joined social media. You can now engage with us on Facebook and Twitter, and if you haven’t already, here you can subscribe to our YouTube and Vimeo channels.

Where to find us:

Newsletter: https://www.ruvival.de/newsletter/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruvival @ruvival
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ruvival_project @ruvival_project
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruvival/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ruvival
Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/ruvival

If you love our material- sharing is caring. And we made sharing much easier for you: at the bottom of each page, just click on the icon of the platform where you would like to share RUVIVAL content. Spread the word and join us in creating new, not just inhabitable, but liveable spaces!