urban farming ecosystem: a nola case study

URBAN FARMING ECOSYSTEMa NOLA Case StudySERV 753 | Prof. Xenia Viladas

Team:

Michael Buquet

Yuanhao Lu

John Gray Parker

Monica Tisminesky

CONTENTS

PROJECT BRIEF

PROBLEM FRAMING

ECOSYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

IMPLEMENTATION PLAN

APPENDIX

3

8

21

32

45

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PROJECT INTROUrban Farming Ecosystem - A NOLA Case Study

SERV 753 | Prof. Xenia Viladas | Team: M. Buquet, Y. Lu, J.G. Parker, and M. Tisminesky

PROJECTBRIEF

4

Urban Farming Ecosystem - A NOLA Case Study

SERV 753 | Prof. Xenia Viladas | Team: M. Buquet, Y. Lu, J.G. Parker, and M. Tisminesky 4

INTRODUCTIONUrban Farming Ecosystem - A NOLA Case Study


This project was taken on as a part of the MFA Service Design program’s “Service, Innovation and Enterprise” course at the Savannah College of Art Design. During the beginning of the course, we read and reviewed Innovation Design, by Elke den Ouden. The purpose behind this was to learn the methodology and utilize it to design an ecosystem that would successfully provide value according to the Value Framework.

We began this project by exploring wicked problems where an ecosystem is a necessary solution. Our team

compiled a list of wicked problems and systematically went through the list with a decision matrix to select the best option for an ecosystem based solution. After rounds of research and analysis, urban farming was selected as the best option.

Urban farming provided us with a wicked problem that spanned across all segments within the Value Framework and included a level of complexity that would allow us to explore opportunities at the user, organization, ecosystem, and society level. As a part of the research and analysis

process, other service design tools have been utilized to complement the Value Flow Model and Value Framework from the Innovation Design book.The design process has included multiple iterations of our value proposition and scenarios of using value flow model. The end goal is to form a strategy to allow this concept to have the scalability to be implemented in many different, climates, economies, and cultures. As a starting point, we have selected New Orleans, Louisiana as a case study to base our design in a specific scenario.

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Economy

UserExperience

Value for Money

Profit

Core Social

Livabilityof theEnvironment

Stability

SharedDrivers

Reciprocity

Sustainability

Wealth

Wellbeing MeaningfulLife

Eco-Effectiveness

Eco-Footprint

Happiness Belonging

OrganizationDoing Well

EcosystemDoing Good

SocietyTransformation

Psychology

Ecology

Sociology

VALUE FRAMEWORK This tool was utilized as a scorecard for the scenarios we designed. It provides a wholistic combination of value perspectives from the relevant social sciences. The four levels also provides a comprehensive and integrated view on value.

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VALUE FLOW MODEL Professor Elke den Ouden’s Value Flow Model examines the flow of four types of value between actors and stakeholders in an ecosystem. This tool is useful to examine the balance of an ecosystem in addition to check for reciprocity among members.

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KEY TERMSUrban Farming Ecosystem - A NOLA Case Study


Aquaponics: The marriage of aquaculture (raising fish) and hydroponics (the soil-less growing of plants) that grows fish and plants together in one integrated system. The fish waste provides an organic food source for the growing plants and the plants provide a natural filter for the water the fish live in.

Aeroponics:The process of growing plants where roots are exposed to an air or mist environment without the use of soil or an aggregate medium.

Environmentally Controlled Agriculture:Controlled Environment Agriculture or CEA facilities can range from the very low-tech such as row covers and high/low plastic covered tunnels, to fully automated glass greenhouses with computer controls. There have even been some CEA facilities on the international space station where astronauts have grown leafy greens both to eat and to advance scientific knowledge.

Feedback Loop:A feedback loop is system structure that causes output from one node to eventually influence input to that node.

Grey Water:Any domestic wastewater produced, excluding sewage. The main difference between greywater and sewage (or blackwater) is the organic loading. Sewage has a much larger organic loading compared to greywater.

Hypoxic Zones:Hypoxic zones are areas in the ocean of such low oxygen concentration that animal life suffocates and dies, and as a result are sometimes called “dead zones.”

Reciprocity:Members of an ecosystem should have relationships where they all benefit and contribut to the health of the ecosystem. Not all relationships within the system meet to be directly reciprocal. An efficient ecosystem will have a karmatic system of reciprocity.

Vertical Farming:Is a closed growing system within a skyscraper greenhouse or on vertically stacked systems. It enables a farmer to achieve constant production of plants all year round without the influence of seasonal, regional or climatic influences. The modern idea of vertical farming uses techniques similar to glass houses, where natural sunlight can be augmented with artificial lighting and all environmental factors can be controlled by making use of CEA technology.

8SERV 753 | Prof. Xenia Viladas | Team: M. Buquet, Y. Lu, J.G. Parker, and M. Tisminesky

PROBLEMFRAMING

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INITIAL CONCEPTS

Concept

How might we create a service ecosystem... Points Concept

How might we create a service ecosystem... Points

Cruise ship Tourism

around cruise ship tourism in Savannah, that adds to the economic prosperity of the historic city, and already popular tourist destination, while preserving its rich cultural heritage and biological ecosystem?

62.8 Species Protection

that assign species a monetary value that can be traded with and be used for restitution damages from companies and individuals that harm them?

63.2

Property allocation

that makes exerting a verifying someone's property over an object easier so as to reduce the sale of stolen goods and enable return of lost property?

64 Rehab & society

protection

that reframes our treatment of criminals in order to work for their rehabilitation using advancements from brain and behavioral science?

53.8

Response to epidemics

that is responsible for handling epidemic and pandemic response protocols?

64.9 Urban Farming

that brings farming to urban centers and helps combat hypoxia in South Louisiana?

64.5

Cost effective higher

education

that better links company's needs and pensum and is less expensive?

56.2 Contract & Law Parsing

that simplifies two sides going into transparent contracts and relieves the load from the judicial system?

56.7

Remote people

protection

that enables private citizens to protect people in other nations from civil war and genocide?

59.1 Information Legacy

that permits the easy transference of digital information to the heirs of a deceased owner?

50.7

Sharing industry

that solves issues related to the sharing of digital products.

54.6 Public Sanitation

that transforms public sanitation into a more cost-effective service?

64.8

Net Neutrality that solves issues related to net neutrality?

53.8 Wearable devices

that agluttinates data from wearable devices

64.9

We collected and evaluated fourteen different ecosystem concepts before settling on a final. The process helped us learn about what issues lend themselves more to the creation of ecosystems. A large factor for us was passion about each idea. All of the ideas are shown below with the top 5 are highlighted and the selected problem is highlighted in white.


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THE PROBLEM WITH FARMINGFarming now

soil-depleting missing a nutrient feedback loop

When farmers continuously use the same land for generations, it goes from being fertile to being depleted in terms of nutrients. This makes them less and less arable and more dependent on external nutrients.

With current methods, nutrients that could be recycled back into the system are instead lost and run off to the sea, where they in turn cause devastation for the sea fauna.



toxic for planet and our seas for peopleThe prevalent methods used by agribusiness are toxic. From pesticides to nutrients, what current farming adds is dangerous for people and planet.

The pesticides used to kill the bugs that affect crops today end up being ingested by the final consumer. Furthermore, pesticides loose their effectiveness since pests adapt to them, and have to be made even stronger and more toxic in order for them to make an impact at all.

Both the nutrient and the pesticides sprayed on crops find their way into our natural ecosystems and destroys them.

Nutrients wash off crops, flow through the rivers and into the seas. There they impact life systems by creating an overgrowth of algae. When this happens the algae consumes more oxygen, leaving too little left for fish to live. This phenomenon of lack of oxygen is called Hypoxia and manifests in coasts throughout the world in what are called “Dead zones.”



Farming nowmarred by politics

The votes that are tied to the current farming business and the pressure that farming lobbyist exert on the US government creates some unintended consequences.

favors few crops negative influence

The different lobbies have their interests centered around a few crops that get quite a bit of the subsidies. This creates incentives to prioritize their production.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates the US food supply. The influence of lobbies can be felt in the changes to their regulations and specific nutritional recommendations, which in turn influences both consumers the public officials .


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THE PROBLEM WITH FARMING



13

THE PROBLEM WITH FARMING

Farming nownot local

In the first world produce travels from very far to densely populated cities. Very few produce is grown locally. Research shows that the average American meal travels about 1500 miles to get from farm to plate.

impacts climate lousy, non-local jobsTransporting food over long distance generates great quantities of carbon dioxide emissions, which contributes to climate change.

In the US, produce is frequently imported from other nations, creating a more expensive food supply. Furthermore, the regional farmers have a difficult time making ends meet because their lands have been rendered less fertile and thus require a large investment of money to make arable and fertile.



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expensive

Certain factors of current farming methods contribute to make it more expensive for the final user, which of course impacts his consumption of healthy produce.

if not local

As previously explained, transporting produce is expensive.

when subsidized

In order to keep the prices low for the final consumers, governments subsidize farmers. However, this costs are borne by the tax payer and impact their economy.

when organic

Farming done with organic methods creates smaller yields because they do not use pesticides.


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URBAN FARMINGUrban farming can range greatly in scope and scale from massive centers of agricultural growth, to community groups focussed on beautifying a neighborhood. However, there are a couple of tennants that all urban farming activities aim to achieve: a more sustainable future, affordable produce, & the production of vhealthy, organic and non-GMO foods.

Sky GreensFARM:Distributed Urban Farming Initiative

“The Distributed Urban Farming Initiative is a program that unites agriculture with community development, nutrition, and local economic development. The end goal of the project is not simply to build gardens around town, but rather use local agriculture to encourage healthy food choices, promote good health and spur economic growth through entrepreneurship and tourism.”

“FARM: design, build and operate sustainable urban farms and innovative growing systems. We believe in city grown food that is fresh, tasty, sustainable and grown with our customers helping hands.We cut carbon and reduce waste by using the latest agricultural innovations in aquaponics, hydroponics, vermiculture and greenhouse design. “

“World’s first low carbon hydraulic water-driven, tropical vegetable urban vertical farm, using green urban solutions to achieve enhanced green sustainable production of safe, fresh and delicious vegetables, using minimal land, water and energy resources.”

Examples

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FARMING, REFRAMED

Urban Farmingnon-toxic

hypoxia free

Urban Farming technologies make a different use of nutrients and, done carefully, do not cause run-off to our seas and other environments. Aquaponics, for example, supplies nutrients directly to the roots of the plants, which means less nutrients are needed and are contained to a small area. Urban Farming can take care to not disperse these nutrients in the environment.

Urban farming does not add to the current crisis of Dead Zones around our costs. If done carefully, urban farmers can keep nutrients from reaching the sea and killing the sea fauna.

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FARMING, REFRAMED

Urban Farminglocal by definition

Urban farming generates a much smaller Eco-footprint that traditional farming. The jobs it generates are also local. The activity becomes more economic for farmers, so the jobs are better paying.

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FARMING, REFRAMED

Urban Farmingcost effective

With current technological advancements, we are seeing these technologies are becoming more accessible. They do not need pesticides and make a more rational use of nutrients and have higher yields. The fact that it is done locally means that there is a much lower transporting cost. In the balance, urban farming can be much cheaper and make healthy produce much more accessible to consumers.

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FARMING, REFRAMED

Urban Farmingnutrient-wise

Urban Farming does not deplete nutrients in the soil, but uses them them in a more efficient way. For example, aquaphonics uses just 65% of the nutrients that traditional farming requires. Moreover, Urban Farming is more apt to recycle nutrients than traditional farms because of the containment and control of the agriculture.

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WHY NEW ORLEANS?Few cities in the Western world have the opportunity to begin anew. Cultural influences, complacency and content with the status quo stifle natural social development and prevent innovation. New Orleans is different. Following Hurricane Katrina in the summer of 2005, which tore the city apart and displaced its residents, New Orleans was given the opportunity to be reborn in the vision of its current residents as well as great thinkers from around the world.

For this reason, New Orleans is primed for paradigm shifting innovation. Education reform in the city provides a nice example of how open the city and its inhabitants are to change. This openness to change makes New Orleans the perfect location for the rebirth of agricultural development. The city has also gained national support and popularity due to its remarkable comeback.

Additional advantages to New Orleans as the epicenter of our project include population density and geographic location. Contemporary urban development studies and environmental sciences argue for urbanization as the way of the future if we continue to embrace the health of our planet. However, for this to work agrarian activities must move closer to urban centers to reduce the environmental costs of transportation.

From a geographic perspective, New Orleans’ tropical biological ecosystem is positioned to have the most naturally fertile ground in the United States. Historically, the Mississippi River would flood the marshlands and change direction every so often,

leaving behind nutrients it carried from its path through the center of the United States. After years of farming sugar cane and cotton, and due to the damming of the river to direct its path, these lands are no longer as fertile as they once were. However, the Mississippi River is contains more nutrients than ever as it carries the same nutrients it always has, but now with the addition of those from runoff for farming activities in the American Northwest. Let’s use the nutrients for farming activities and prevent them from entering the Gulf of Mexico watershed, where they cause hypoxia each summer, killing fish stocks and hampering recreational tourism.

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ECOSYSTEM DEVELOPMENT

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STAKEHOLDER MAP

Customer

Onstage

Backstage

Academic Institutions

Health and equality NGOs

Financing institutions

AVF Members

City Council

Green NGOs

Pro-farming NGOs

Insurance companies

Power companies

Governmental Environmental

bodies

Federal nutrition aid bodies

Water & Waste entities

UF Consumables Suppliers

UF Infrastructure Suppliers

Deparment of Commerce

Health & Equality NGOs

General Delivery Services

Residents Urban Farmers

U Farming platform

ECA farms

Non ECA farms

Low-income Residents

Restaurants

Farmer’s market

Grocery Stores

Hotels

Local Farmers

Mobile food vendors

Property owners

IT/engineering companies

A Stakeholder map divides the entities that participate in a specific experience into visible and invisible to the user at the center. Below are all of the major stakeholders we envisioned within the urban farming ecosystem.

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ECOSYSTEM ANALYSISOffering DeliveryOfferings

During the intial stages of development, we borrowed some metrics from den Ouden’s Design Parameters tool. This helped us begin to shape, on a high level, what the value proposition might look like for our end users.



MOTIVATION MATRIX We utilized a motivation matrix to perform a cross analysis of value flows to form a better understanding of which stakeholders were providing value to as well as the value that stakeholders were receiving and from whom.

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STATUS QUOBefore creating new scenarios, we analyze the existing Urban Farming situation in NOLA and generate this physical Value Flow Model, with four-color strings and actor cards. This process gives us a chance to establish the stakeholders and to examine the value flow in the ecosystem.

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VALUE FLOW MODELGoods & Services

Money & Credits

Information

Intangible Value

Transactions 7 central playersUrban Farming Ecosystem - A NOLA Case Study


Core Value Proposition

ComplementaryOfferings Supplying

and EnablingNetwork

Food Resellers + Prep

1

Residents2

U Farming platform

4

Urban Farm7

UF Suppliers and consulting services

8


9

Water & Waste Company

10


3

Promotion

Assistance

Strategic Partnership

Certification

Endorsement


SupportMeals

Deals/Vouchers

Deals/Vouchers

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

PaymentProduce

Produce

Deliveries

Deliveries

Deliveries

Produce

Produce & Classes

Infrastructure

Deliveries

Infrastructure

Produce

Produce

Waste Collection Service

Produce

ProduceProduce

ProduceDeliveries

Deliveries

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VALUE FLOW MODELGoods & Services

Money & Credits

Information

Intangible Value

Goods & ServicesUrban Farming Ecosystem - A NOLA Case Study




and EnablingNetwork

Food Resellers

1

Residents2

U Farming platform

4

Food Prep

5

Property owners

6

Urban Farm

7


8


9


10

Federal Nutrition Aid Bodies

11

UF-related NGOs

12

Governmental Environmental Bodies

13

City Council

14

Meals


3Produce

Produce

Deliveries

Deliveries

Deliveries

Produce

Produce & Classes

Infrastructure

DeliveriesInfra-

Produce

Produce

Waste Collection Service

Waste

Produce

ProduceProduce

ProduceDeliveries

Permits

Deliveries

Deliveries

Permits

Real Estate

Infrastructure


VALUE FLOW MODEL Money & Credit


Goods & Services

Money & Credits

Information

Intangible Value



and EnablingNetwork

Food Resellers

1

Residents2


3

U Farming platform

4

Food Prep Facilities

5

Property owners

6

Urban Farm

7


8


9

Water & Waste

10


11

UF-related NGOs

12


13

City Council

14

Payment

Deals/Vouchers

Deals/Vouchers

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Payment

Rent

Rent

Rent

Rent Rent

Payment

Payment

Payment


VALUE FLOW MODEL Information

29

Goods & Services

Money & Credits

Information

Intangible Value




and EnablingNetwork

Food Resellers

1

Residents2


3

U Farming platform

4


5

Property owners

6

Urban Farm7

UF Suppliers

8

General Delivery

9


10


11

UF-related NGOs

12


13

City Council

14

Statistic info

Statistic info

Statistic infoStatistic info

Statistic info

Reports

Statistic info

Statistic info

Statistic info

Statistic infoStatistic info

Statistic info, Case studies

Statistic info

Statistic info

Statistic info

Statistic info

Statistic info

Statistic info

Statistic info

Location for farming activities

Statistic info


VALUE FLOW MODEL Information

3030

Goods & Services

Money & Credits

Information

Intangible Value




and EnablingNetwork

Food Resellers

1

Residents2

Residents Urban

3

U Farming platform

4

Food Prep

5

Property owners

6

Urban Farm

7

UF Suppliers

8


9

Water & Waste

10


11

UF-related NGOs

12


13

City Council

14

Votes

Votes

Cooperation Opportunities





Votes

Promotion

Votes

Votes

Votes

Political support

Endorsement

Endorsement

Endorsement


Assistance



Certification

Endorsement

Endorsement


Support

Certification

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Economy

UserExperience

Value for Money

Profit

Core Values SocialResponsibility

Livabilityof theEnvironment

Stability

Shared Drivers Reciprocity

Sustainability

Wealth

Wellbeing MeaningfulLife

Eco-Effectiveness

Eco-Footprint

Happiness Belonging

OrganizationDoing Well

EcosystemDoing Good

SocietyTransformation

Psychology

Ecology

Sociology

VALUE FRAMEWORK CHECKScenario 2

Scenario 1

Final Ecosystem

Professor den Ouden’s Value Framework was used to check the value propositions of various ecosystem scenarios against the value perspectives of different social sciences and perceived value for four levels of agents. After establishing the status quo in a value flow model, two others were developed: Scenario 1 & 2.

Scenario 1 focuses on the establishment of massive environmental controlled agricultural (ECA’s) centers. It was found to be highly unstable and established non-reciprocal relationships between ecosystem members because of dominance established by ECA urban farms. Scenario 2 was also low in reciprocity and stability but the main negative factor was eco-effectiveness. Scenario 2 failed to address a main concern of the region: hypoxia in the gulf.

The final scenario focussed on establishing a balance between the two, establishing an ecosystem where actors of comperable size engage to create a longterm sustainable urban farming eco system with closed loop systems for key resources and flows of value.

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BUSINESS MODELCREATION



KEY ORGANIZATIONS During the process of mapping the ecosystem we identified four key organizations that were crucial to deliver value to our end user. These organizations were taken a step further by developing individual business to provide more detail for the value proposition.



and EnablingNetwork

Food Resellers

1

Residents2


3

U Farming platform

4


5

Property owners

6

Urban Farm

7


8


9

Water & Waste

10


11

UF-related NGOs

12


13

City Council

14


Community Activities Technology Financical Support Applicable to all

Platform Maintenance

Food Resellers

Membership

Networking

Food Prep FacilitiesResource Allocation

Marketing

UF Residents

Residents

Platform (website & app)

General Delivery Service

Running Events

UF Community Activities

Financing Institutions

Insurance Companies

Platform Maintenance

Network

IT/Engineering Companies

UF Training Session

Academic Institutions

Agreements

Taxes Advertising Revenue

License/Permit Fees

UF Community Activities (farmer ’s market)

UF Companies(ECA & non-ECA)

Assistance in Building New UFBusinesses (loans, etc)

Send Coupons/Discounts to the Residents

Promote Urban Farming Technology

Economic Incentivesto Participate UF Activities

Website & app

Membership Fees

BUSINESS MODEL CANVASUrban Farming Platform

As a digital social network, the urban farming platform is crucial in the ecosystem by building relationships between customers and service providers. In this business model canvas, the core value for the platform is to promote urban farming technology and to increase public participation, through community activities and economic assistance.


Key Partners

Revenue Streams

Key Activities Value Proposition Customer Relationships Customer Segments

Cost Structure


ProduceFarming Services Boxed Applicable to all

Final Customer

Resident Urban Farmers

Produce Wholesale

Customer Acquisition

Food re-sellers (Farmer ’s markets, grocery stores)

Produce Retail

Site picking and relationship maintenance

Real Estate

Rent or Properties

Landlords

Water

Water

Technology

Technology

Technology providers

Nutrients

Nutrients

General delivery provider

Local Governments

Water/Waste company

UF and health NGOs

Seeds

Seeds

Electric

Boxing automation

M&C

Salaries

Taxes

Affordable, sustainable, local and organic produce

Non ECA farming services

Vehicles for visits

Transportation to sites

Consultancy fees

Payment for Farming Service

Self Service Online

Dedicated farmers

UF platform

UF platform

Ordering Web site

Dedicated Corporate Salesfoce

Retail Self-Service

Pick up @ farm

Retail @ farm

Food prep facilities (Hotels, restaurants, etc)

Box preparation

Coordination with boxed-food companies

Farm-keeping

Boxed to-order produce

Processed food producers

Boxed food services

BUSINESS MODEL CANVASUrban Farming Company

Small urban farms already exist in NOLA. However in order to imagine a full-blown reframe to Urban Farming, we are creating an archetypical Urban Farming company. This does not mean there would be only one such company, but that the ones created and bore by the market would be likely to resemble the one we describe here. The Urban farming Business model we propose uses different technologies available where they are most advantageous and operates from the locations that make sense economically. It provides services to smaller scale farms and to food resellers.


Key Partners

Cost Structure Revenue Streams



Produce Compost Applicable to all

Deliveries

Delivery network management

Customer service

Local event participation

UF and health NGOs

UF platform

Food re-sellers (Farmer ’s markets, grocery stores)

Central distribution system

Central distribution system

Vehicle maintenance

Local brand

Delivery vehicles

Trained drivers/staff

Transportation cost

IT management/support

Salaries

Affordable, sustainable, local and organic produce delivery

Delivery vehicles

Delivery charges

Participation in the community

Online payment system

Food prep facilities (Hotels, restaurants, etc)

Local compost delivery

Urban Farms

Urban Farms



Waste Company


BUSINESS MODEL CANVASDelivery Service

The role of the delivery service in this ecosystem is to provide the capability to deliver local produce and compost to customers. In this business model canvas, the value proposition highlights sharing the core values of the entire ecosystem by stating that the produce is local, sustainable, and affordable. A key component will be the central distribution system to make this solution cost effective for a local market.


Key Partners

Revenue Streams


Cost Structure


Key Partners

Cost Structure Revenue Streams


ChannelsKey Resources

Nutrient Rich Water Phase II ServicesCompost Applicable to all

Urban Farms

Urban Farms

Volume Dependant Pricing

Water & Mineral MGMT

Physical location; Lab; Consumption measurement devices; Process patents; City official support; Financial capitol; Labor; Cans; Trucks; Pipeline & Pumps

Infrastructure

Nutrient rich river water

Facility & Machinery Maint.

Taxes

Waste (organic)

Employee Training

Nutrient Ready Water (Mississippi River)

Garbage Collection/Sorting

Waste (human/non-organic)

Subscription

Gov’t Expenditure from Taxes

Highly Automated Subscript.

Delivery/Pick-up Trucks

Mobile App

Constant Consumption

Website

Water Mane (Smart)


Price/Unit

Organic Matter Pick-up

Nutrient Heavy Water Redistribution Value from Waste

(Organic -> Compost)

Sewage Reclamation & Processing

Composting

Compost distribution

Garbage/Recycling/Organic Sorting

Pro-Farming NGOs

Federal Environmental Bodies

Policy Makers

Wildlife & Fisheries Dept.

Urban Farming Suppliers

Oil Companies

Fishermen

Delivery Services

Health & Equality NGOs

AVFs

Green NGOs

Academic Institutions (Lab)

Sewage & Levee Board

Street Cleaning Services

Utilities

Consultant Costs

Insurance

Bi-weekly Pick-ups

Weekly Drop-offs

Little Personal Interaction

High Vis & Contact w/ Infrastructure

Cans for Waste

Email

Face2face @ Brick & Mortar Location

Telephone

Residents


NOLA Businesses

Property Owners

Urban Farms

Residents


NOLA Businesses

Property Owners

BUSINESS MODEL CANVASWaste & Water

Waste & Water is a crudial part of the New Orleans Urban Farming Ecosystem. Waste & Water is actually more of an ecosystem within the ecosystem rather than one massive company. Businesses in this ecosystem work to close the nutrient and hydration systems required to sustain life within the city. They also closely monitor the city’s output in efforts to mitigate hypoxia in the Gulf of Mexico.


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IMPLEMENTATIONPLAN

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POTENTIAL FARMING LOCATIONSUrban Farming Ecosystem - A NOLA Case Study


Residential Urban FarmingECA Urban Farming Orleans Parish

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IMPLEMENTATION TIMELINEUrban Farming Ecosystem - A NOLA Case Study


now 1 year 5 years 10 years

UF Platform Waste & Water

Urban Farms Delivery Services

New Orleans chapter established

50 residential farms;One 10 story ECA

Delivering water by tank to urban farms

Central delivery established serving CBD, French Quarter & Warhouse District

Regional network established; 10 cities from Charlotte to Miami to Houston

Supplying 90% of required produce for New Orleans

Beginning to take over garbage/recycling/ org. waste collection for Orleans Parish

Supplying delivery services to all of Orleans Parish

National network connecting cities & advising congress on farming policy

Expanding nationally

New Orleans plumbed for grey water; Implementing systems in other cities

National franchising

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After running our NOLA Urban Farming Ecosystem through the Value Framework we found that it indeed creates value at all levels and perspectives. The obvious next question is: what are the hurdles in creating a mirroring ecosystem in urban centers not only in the US but the world?

Even though the proposed business models could work in many other locations, we have identified some factors that might work differently in other cultures, climates and technical aptitudes.We will examine these factors on the next pages.

SCALING URBAN FARMING

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SCALING URBAN FARMINGDesirability

local culture

Local eating habits

good neighbors

In some locations, locals might be less willing to participate directly in Urban Farming. In others, a grass-roots approach, where bigger scale companies are not as central, might be stronger because of a culture of participation.

Do locals tend to eat out or prepare food at home? Is there a trend for food trucks or farmer’s markets? Is there a big itinerant population that might want to try uban-farmed produce?

Every city will have different “sensible” areas where a urban farming development might or might not be welcome. It is essencial for the promoters of the ecosystem to create goodwill.

Feasibilitytechnology

political support

This ecosystem is heavily dependent on technology and know-how. There should be consideration to the value of the knowledge and how actors will transact with it.

An Urban Farming ecosystem requires a high level of acceptance at the city government level. The permanence of its support is essential to the success of the ecosystem.

Viabilityclimate

water

In certain climates, intense cold or high temperatures might make impede outdoor urban farming. In this case ECAs might be the solution. Resident urban farmers might not be able to participate, since ECA Urban Farms are more complex technologically.

One of the benefits for Urban Farming is its being local. If, however, water has to be brought from outside because it is not readily available, it might make the growing of plants too expensive. Within the city itself, it makes sense to verify that affordable real estate that is suitable for farms is available in proximity to water sources.

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SCALABILITY AND HYPOXIAOur ecosystem includes a business model for a company that will use the nutrient-rich water from the Mississippi river, and thus keep some nutrients from flowing into the Gulf of Mexico, where they would add to the hypoxia problem. However to further mitigate the issue, and considering that the current yearly average of nutrients flowing through the Mississippi and into the gulf is 1.6 million metric tons, a bigger plan of action is needed. Careful urban farming, one that recycles its own nutrients or partners with other players to prevent nutrient runoff, could potentially be prevalent enough that the tonnage of nutrients will decrease and with it the Dead Zones.

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CONCLUSIONThe urban farming ecosystem that was designed needed a way to showcase the entire concept in a simpler way. To achieve this, we illustrated key stakeholders and there actvities in context of New Orleans. While the sketch does include some complexity as well, it also provides a visual interpretation that can quickly explain the entire ecosystem.

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APPENDIX

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major customers

process management

challenges

Vertifarms

Community education systems, restaurants, schools, and some residents.

Design install and manage the system, including on-site check and maintenance support.

• guarantee the yields in extreme weathers.• teaching customers maintain the system individually. • create an intuitive environment• control the system to grow food in the urban area. • providing suppor to the small market of New Orleans and

growing competition pressure from other organizations.

Vertifarms is an urban farming company at New Orleans, which specializes in vertical aeroponic, hydroponic, and aquaponic systems. They help business, restaurant, school, home, or organization grow fresh food onsite using state of the art growing systems.

INTERVIEW WITH VERTIFARMS



discussion

major insights

We contacted Elke to gain her feedback on the use of her method as well as her professional feedback and guidance on our urban farming ecosystem. The feedback she provided gave us insights that helped shape the final direction of the project.

• Municipalities could be a major stakeholder that must be convinced to make changes to the status quo.

• Thicker arrows can be used to highlight level of value influence of transactions in the value flow model.

• Educating the public is an extremely important activity for the successful implementation of this ecosystem.

• Waste & water is complex enough to be considered another ecosystem.

INTERVIEW WITH AUTHORElke den Ouden

Elke den Ouden is the author of Innovation Design: Creating Value for People, Organizations and Society published by Springer Science+Business.

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RESOURCESIntro:

Glossary:Urban Farming Problems:

Why NOLA:

Ouden, Elke den. Innovation Design: Creating Value for People, Organizations and Society. Springer Science & Business Media, 2011.

US EPA, OW. “Northern Gulf of Mexico Hypoxic Zone.” Overviews & Factsheets. http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/named/msbasin/zone.cfm.

“What Is Aquaponics.” The Aquaponic Source. http://theaquaponicsource.com/what-is-aquaponics/.

“Hydroponics 101 - Aeroponics: What is it and How Does it Work?” Garden Greenhouse. http://teamdubuque.org/index.php/past-issues-mainmenu-18/37-2009-gg/march-2009/498-hydroponics-101.

“Cornell Controlled Environment Agriculture” Cornell University Biological and Environmental Engineering. http://www.cornellcea.com/

“Feedback Loop” Thwink.Org. http://www.thwink.org/sustain/glossary/FeedbackLoop.html

“Grey Water Treatment” Sustainable Earth Technologies. http://www.sustainable.com.au/greywater-treatment.html

US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “‘Dead Zone’ Is a More Common Term for Hypoxia, Which Refers to a Reduced Level of Oxygen in the Water.” http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/deadzone.html.

“Glossary for Vertical Farming.” Association for Vertical Farming. http://vertical-farming.net/vertical-farming/glossary-for-vertical-farming/.

Fred Magdoff topics “Global Resource Depletion: Is Population the Problem?” Monthly Review. http://monthlyreview.org/2013/01/01/global-resource-depletion/.

“Pesticide-Fueled Toxic Slugs Are a Nightmare for Farmers.” Motherboard. http://motherboard.vice.com/read/pesticide-fueled-toxic-slugs-are-farmers-nightmare.

“Closing the Nutrient Loop.” Center for Sustaining Agriculture and Natural Resources. Accessed March 11, 2015. http://csanr.wsu.edu/closing-the-nutrient-loop/.

“Pollution | Threats | WWF.” https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/pollution.

“The Problem with Pesticides” Toxics Action Center. http://csanr.wsu.edu/closing-the-nutrient-loop/.

“Dead Zone.” http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/dead-zone/.

“Five Charts on Food Industry Influence.” Sunlight Foundation. http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2014/06/16/five-charts-on-agribusiness-influence/.

Coley, David, Mark Howard, and Michael Winter. “Local Food, Food Miles and Carbon Emissions: A Comparison of Farm Shop and Mass Distribution Approaches.” Food Policy 34, no. 2 (April 2009): 150–55. doi:10.1016/j.foodpol.2008.11.001.

“Food Miles Are a Distraction. Local Food Is Not.” TreeHugger. http://www.treehugger.com/sustainable-agriculture/food-miles-are-distraction-local-food-not.html.

“How Farm Subsidies Harm Taxpayers, Consumers, and Farmers, Too.” The Heritage Foundation. http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/2007/06/how-farm-subsidies-harm-taxpayers-consumers-and-farmers-too.

“10 Reasons Organic Food Is so Expensive.” Text.Article. The Daily Meal, March 11, 2012. http://www.foxnews.com/leisure/2012/03/11/10-reasons-organic-food-is-so-expensive

Sharon Toscano. “Hurricane Katrina Anniversary Serves as Reminder of Need for Storm Protection | Restore the Mississippi River Delta.” http://www.mississippiriverdelta.org/blog/2014/08/28/hurricane-katrina-anniversary-serves-as-reminder-of-need-for-increased-storm-protection/.

“Find a Local CSA in New Orleans” Organic Ag Info. http://www.organicaginfo.org/louisiana/csas-new-orleans.

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“Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you want”. I believe this and I think it’s better for designers to experience more than others. A professional and perspicacious designer should have the capability to consider and solve the problem in a constantly changing environment. I enjoy collecting stories from different people, and then visualizing new scenarios and designing a better solutions that can help them live a better life.

My passion is the journey of creating actionable human centered designs that are born from the spirit of collaboration. The elements that make this possible are refreshing individuals, perceptive inspiration, systematic iteration, and old fashioned hard work. I am currently working to obtain my MFA in Service Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design to build a more holistic approach to problem solving and further my abilities as a designer.

I live for innovation. No, really, I do. I also care about taking innovation mainstream and centering it around the user by making it work for him/her. I do research, strategy and design. I aspire to be a sherpa for teams that bravely embark on innovation projects.

With an undergraduate background in economics from Rollins College, John Gray is currently pursuing an MA in Industrial Design and an MFA in Service Design at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He is a firm believer in stakeholder centered design and strives to maximize value for all individuals and entities that come into contact with his products and services. John Gray is putting this believe into practice through his newly formed design studio, ismDESIGN.

OUR TEAMURBAN farming NOLA ecosystem

Michael Buquet Monica Tisminesky John Gray Parker Yuanhao Lu
