Vertical Farming Project (Open-Source, Student-Led, China)

Summary

This entry records a "Vertical Farming Project" described in the vault's source list as an open-source, student-led initiative replicated across Chinese institutions. After targeted searching (English and Chinese web, GitHub, academic conference literature), no single verifiable primary source — a program page, repository, or official document matching that exact description — could be located, so the identifying fields are marked unknown per the vault's flag-don't-fabricate rule.

The closest verified analogue is the outdoor vertical farm built at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) Design School in 2024: an edible-plant farm designed and constructed with volunteer students and staff, built largely from reclaimed materials (bamboo, wire, pallets, and non-recyclable aluminium-lined takeaway delivery bags) to demonstrate circular reuse, and tied into sustainability modules of the design curriculum. Other adjacent evidence includes a feasibility study of campus-scale vertical farming at Huazhong University of Science and Technology and widespread student vertical-farming builds in Chinese maker education. These suggest the described project is plausible and consistent with a real pattern of student-led vertical farms on Chinese campuses, but the specific named program, its repository, and its replication network remain unverified.

Guiding Principles

• STEM Integration — vertical farming fuses biology, engineering, environmental control, and data monitoring into one build.
• Youth Empowerment — the project is described as student-led, putting design and operation decisions in learners' hands.
• Circular Economy — the verified XJTLU analogue is constructed primarily from campus waste streams, modelling material reuse.

Learning Outcomes & Transferable Skills

If implemented as described, learners would gain Systems Thinking (feedback loops between light, water, nutrients, and growth), Food Production skills, Project Management experience from running a living installation, and Sustainability Literacy. Because no curriculum or build guide was verified, specific outcome claims should be treated as provisional until the primary source is found.

How to Replicate or Build On It

No verified download or build guide exists for the named project. Practical entry points while the gap is open:

1. Review the XJTLU vertical farm project description (linked below) for a low-cost, waste-material campus build pattern.
2. Search GitHub/Gitee for Chinese-language "垂直农场" (vertical farm) and "鱼菜共生" (aquaponics) repositories before adopting any design.
3. Pair any build with the open-source aquaponics unit in the tsinghua-it-textbook-aquaponics for a classroom-ready control-systems framing.

Considerations & Constraints

• Cost: unknown for the named project; the XJTLU analogue deliberately minimizes cost by building from reclaimed materials.
• Skill Level: Intermediate assumed for a working vertical farm (structure, irrigation, lighting).
• Space/Climate: Indoor or rooftop with artificial lighting makes climate largely irrelevant (Versatile).
• Tools Required: unknown; typical builds need pumps, LED grow lights, framing material, and basic hand tools.
• Ongoing Maintenance: unknown; living systems normally need daily monitoring.
• Access Barriers: Primary source not found — the program's name, host institution, license, and replication claims are all unverified. Do not cite this entry as an active program until the gap is closed.

Prerequisites

None identified. See tsinghua-it-textbook-aquaponics for a verified adjacent resource.

Primary Source

unknown — no verifiable primary source (program page, repository, or official document) was located after reasonable searching on 2026-09-12. Closest verified analogue (not the same program): XJTLU Design School vertical farm project page, https://www.xjtlu.edu.cn/en/news/2024/05/vertical-farm-a-sustainable-solution-for-the-futures-of-campus (live as of 2026-09-12). Logged for the gaps file.