23.4 Findings and Discussion
From the first study, the findings showed that visions of a new way of teaching with inclusion of the modern technology could be perceived as an advantage in influencing transformational processes at school. Nevertheless, this process requires some critical, practical, and theoretical considerations for implementation of the system to make it successful and sustainable in the long term. Some of the positive issues from the users’ perspectives included a wide range of application in the subjects of biology, mathematics, science, and more. Reduction pollution and efficient resource usage; flexibility of the system setup, e.g., on rooftops; and the production of (organic-like*) twin products (fish and plant foods). Potential limitations included time constraints, lack of financial resources, as well as the need for frequent care and maintenance. (* In the EU, current legislation provides that only vegetal produce grown in soil may be considered “organic.” This is not the case, e.g., in the USA, where aquaponic produce can be grown organically and legally sold as being organic.)
From the second study (b), the feasibility study, the experiences of the studyindicated that the learning concept, the overall idea, and the didactics fit well into the educational curricula and also with the projects that the school had already planned to undertake in the field of sustainability. The experience showed that such teaching needs to be carefully planned well ahead of time. Furthermore, the idea of a knowledge triangle approach, bringing service learning, university research, a small enterprise, and the learning staff into an informal project and innovation network, is a fruitful way of organizing the undertaking. In addition, the initiative enjoys the support of the municipality that sees entrepreneurship and innovative learning approaches as important objectives.
The third study (c), the eGBG study, showed that the school was supportive andalready had newly purchased sensors to measure pH, temperature, COsub2/sub, and dissolved oxygen (DO). Therefore, the data could be conducted with minimal new effort for training, as the teaching staff were already well prepared to collect data digitally. The school, at the point of project startup, was already planning to measure nitrate and ammonia using the sensors, since the basic concept of the teaching was to increase knowledge, skill, and competency in relation to the nitrogen cycle. The idea of creating aquaponic technology and applying it in the teaching was readily accepted by the school since the neighboring school already had that kind of an AP system up and running.
Acknowledgments Thanks to biology teachers Mette and Else at Blågård School in Copenhagen Municipality, to Lilja Gunnarsdottir and the teachers at Herstedlund school, and to Inge Christensen from the Nature Centre in Albertslund municipality. Thanks also to Viktor Toth, a student at Integrated Food Studies, Aalborg University, for providing data from the eGBG study. Thanks also to Tomasz Sikora and Kathrine Breidahl from the Integrated Food Studies that participated in the fieldwork. Thanks also to the owner and CEO Lasse Antoni Carlsen of Bioteket, Copenhagen, for providing components and guidance in developing the GBG program.