Expo 2020: Netherlands pavilion’s mushroom farm finds new home in Dubai

Expo 2020: Netherlands pavilion’s mushroom farm finds new home in Dubai

Local entrepreneur and educator, Dima Al Srouri, purchased the oyster mushroom farm and the system from the Dutch pavilion.

She said she has plans to open the farm by summer and supply to local restaurants and use it for educational purposes.

“The Netherlands pavilion was a perfect example of an ecosystem where oyster mushrooms produced Co2 and the plants consumed it. We have purchased the farm and will soon be transporting into a new location in Dubai,” said Srouri, who teaches Urban Planning at the Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi. The plants will go back to the local supplier and will be turned into compost there, serving as food for other plants.

During the six months of Expo, 'tonnes of mushrooms' were cultivated using circular climate system that linked water, energy and food within the biotope of the pavilion, said the organisers. A perfect prototype of the circular economy was created, inspiring visitors to think about integrated solutions for sustainable ways of living.

A chimney at the top of the cone absorbs air and water was produced using a condensation process powered by solar panels on the pavilion’s rooftop. A brainchild of Dutch company SunGlacier Technologies and designer Ap Verheggen, the system could produce