Page 125 - ITU-T Focus Group Digital Financial Services – Executive Summary

2 The Project(s)

2.1 Vision and content

GrowUp Urban Farms is an agricultural company that grows sustainable food for a local market. The aim is
to change the production and distribution of nutritious food that is consumed in cities and as a result to
reduce the environmental impact of agriculture and employ local people so cities can be more self-sustaining.
This company’s values are at the core of what they do and they steer the decisions they make for the
business. The main business principles adopted by GrowUp are as follows:
 We care about People, Profit and the Planet
 We believe we can Do Good and Make Money
 We search for the best environmental solution available at the time – and then revisit those
decisions regularly to see if a better option is available
 We think learning about and eating good food is something everyone should get the chance to do
 We should be producing food in cities at a commercial-scale in an ecologically sustainable way
 We can improve the level of food knowledge, education and enthusiasm in cities
 We should reduce the environmental impact of food production for cities
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 Our systems and processes can lead innovation in urban food production .

Figure 1  the GrowUp Box

2.2 Implementation
In 2013, GrowUp, a start-up supported by Climate-KIC UK, has set up a demonstration installation, the
GrowUp Box, on a playground off Union Street, not far from London’s financial centre. The project consists
of a second-hand shipping container, with a greenhouse on top. The installation demonstrates a unique and
ultra-sustainable form of aquaponics, which forms an efficient closed-loop system with just inputting fish
food and a small amount of electricity for the oxygen and the pumps into the system. The container-
greenhouse combo produces a range of fresh salads, tomatoes and herbs, as well as Tilapia fish. Unlike similar
aquaponics projects, GrowUp’s plants are stacked on top of each other using a revolutionary high-density
vertical growing system and saving precious urban space. The system was built by Kate Hofman and Tom
Webster with £16.500, contributed by over 300 supporters in early 2013. It is now located in Stratford,
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London.
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23 GrowUp Project

24 Case Study-Aquaponics. Climate-KIC.

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