Abstract:

The importance of water for the subsistence purposes of organisms on the planet is vital. As a result of wrong patterns consumption, renewable and non-renewable natural resources overharvesting such large-scale food production , have generated a number of drawbacks in terms of water scarcity and landscape emporishmen. This , added to the increasing climate change impacts, represents an actual critical scenario and a crucial educational challenge for new generations.

It is important to remind that only 2.5% of the water of planet earth is freshwater. This percentage can be found concentrated in groundwater, glaciers and polar ice caps; leaving only 1,3% remaining on superficial sweetwater, this means in lakes, rivers and streams, those natural valius fontains ones that unfortunately are in a increasing and alarming scarcity (HOEKSTRA AND MESFIN, 2012). One of the areas with highest rate of demand for hydric resources is the agriculture sector. According to the World Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO, 2020), this sector will face an enormous challenge in order to feed an exponential number of people expected in the near future. For that uncertain scenario, food production should increase by approximately 70%. Unfortunately, this alarming situation is projected regardless of limited land availability and incremental freshwater scarcity.

The concept of Smart Farming represents an alternative that combines ancestral knowledge and new monitoring and control technologies in terms of food production with low environmental impact.Vertical gardens, hydroponics and aeroponics are techniques in food cultivation with a high level of innovation and a great possibility of adaptability to the different characteristics of the place. In this regard, aquaponic systems represent a more sustainable way of optimizing water resources. This due to the ability to combine in a more symbiotic relationship between aquatic species and plants. Bioma-LAB, is a project developed by the Design Research Laboratory of the University of Bio Bio. Chile, that proposes not just the implementation of spaces with controlled environment based on aquaponic systems, but also by having a transversal objective: the incorporation of teaching methods encouraging new generation with idea of "food sovereignty and appropriated water uses, specifically in educational sectors faraway from urban centers, such as Rapa Nui (Easter Island), Atacama Desert and Navarino Island in the extreme south of Chile.
Our research group considers school, undergraduate and postgraduate students supported by a number of experts from different types of knowledge. One of the most relevant project milestones for the redesign and implementation process of this modular and structurally resilient shelter lab, is the possibility to study biodiversity and new ways for food production, reinforcing quality parameters in educational teaching and learning design strategies.

This proposal is aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals declared by the UN, zero hunger (3), clean water and sanitation (6) and life in ecosystems (15). In 2019 Biome Smart Farm project was selected as one of the 100 ideas of the Local Project Challenge contest, organized by Columbia University and the UN

Keywords:

Learn strategies, Space Lab, Acuaponic system, Biodiversity, Water Save.