Field trip: rain, muddy fields, cows and vegetation mapping!
- 06 October 2020
- Francien Horrevorts
- Knowledge Infrastructure
The 5th of October was a rainy day with quite a lot of showers. On this very day Vana Tsimopoulou, from HZ University of Applied Sciences, and her 4th year BSc students headed to the muddy fields and foreshores of the Hedwige-Prosperpolder for a field trip. No ideal circumstances for some good old field work, nevertheless it was a valuable experience.
Knowledge Infrastructure
Vana is one of our project crew working on Knowledge Infrastructure. She has organised the field trip. What the field trip entails? Vana: “The students have been assigned to make an environmental impact assessment of depoldering the Hedwige-Prosperpolder. Their goal is to assess changes in hydraulic conditions, impact on biodiversity and on safety of the area. As part of this exercise, they had to collect data in the field to make a vegetation map.” The assignment was not the only purpose of the field trip, explains Vana: “We were also bringing a film and photography crew and the trip served as a pilot for organising field trips under the strict Covid conditions. All in all, a valuable day full of learnings.”
Photo: HZ University Of Applied Sciences Audiovisual Team
Seminar on vegetation mapping
“I want the field trips to be as meaningful for both students and the Polder2C’s project. So, we included a special hands-on field instruction by INBO.” says Vana. INBO, the Research Institute Nature and Forest, from Brussels, was represented by Bart Vandevoorde and Frederic van Lierop. One of INBO’s expert skills is making vegetation maps. “Bart and Frederic guided our students in the field, showcasing what it takes to make a vegetation map. They explained in detail what to measure, what to do and how to take soil samples. This provides a great link with work carried out within Flood Defence, since the samples that the students have taken can be used for the survey that is being done at the moment.” Vana adds enthusiastically.
Photo: HZ University Of Applied Sciences Audiovisual Team
Challenging circumstances
The circumstances at the project site are not to be underestimated. Vana has learned it the hard way as she reveals the learnings of the day. Vana: “It cost quite a lot of time to get used to the muddy environment. We had not realised that getting from A to B in the fields would be so difficult and time consuming. We got stuck several times and it was quite stressful. Next time I would definitely give more leeway to our planning.”
“We had not realised that getting from A to B in the fields would be so difficult and time consuming. Next time I would definitely start earlier.”
Vana Tsimopoulou
What’s next?
The original planning included quite some more field trips for the students, for instance for the Risk Perception Study. When and if they can actually take place depends on the Covid regulations and how the pandemic evolves.
Behind the scenes video
Curious to know what went on behind the scenes? Luckily we had this great video made by Stephan Rikkert and Robert Lanzafame, from TU Delft. Watch the Polder2C’s update #1 now!