Ermi van Oers is a designer and founder of Nova Innova, a Rotterdam based creative studio which combines nature, science and design to create sustainable applications. In 2017, she graduated from Willem de Kooning Academy with the project Living Light, which is a lamp that works on photosynthesis of a plant as an energy source. She’s now working on the first floating network in the world which will harvest its energy from organic compounds in the water. This project was showcased at the Water Pavilion at the Dutch Design Week.

In The Growcast, biodesigner Emma van der Leest and program maker Barbara Vos, interview eight Rotterdam based pioneering biodesigners – our so called bioneers – about what the future will look like if we design with nature as our guideline. In 8 episodes we’ll take you on a journey through biodesign: if we designed the new economy with living organisms, could it be the change we need for today’s current and future environmental and ecological challenges?

The Growcast is made possible by BlueCity and BlueCity Lab with the support of Stimuleringsfonds Creatieve Industrie and the municipality of Rotterdam.