The organizers of 'Besiktas flower festival' in Istanbul suggested EKBICYEIC to participate in the festival in may 2016. 

When we went to check the optional sites, this one was love at first site, a 60m3 public park fountain looking very ordinary and lifeless. We took one side of it to keep the comparison and made a 30m3 Aquaponics system, with 12 grow beds potentially growing more then 150 plants and 40kg of fish together on cycling water.  We tried to demonstrate a sustainable and very productive way to maintain public spaces.

 

Aquaponics is a system that grows fish and plants in a symbiosis. with out soil as a grow media. the fish waste is converted by a certain bacteria that occurs naturally, from toxic ammonia to nitrates that are healthy for the plants which then cleans the water before it cycles back to the fish pond. 

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The system in 'Baris parki' (peace park) received very positive feedback from many visitors and other participants from the festival.

Unfortunately some mischievous kids, pets and adults tried their luck catching the fish, pulling plants and cutting the nets while visiting the park on the weekends.

Hiring security was not in our intentions and putting stronger nets around the fishpond was not in our budget, so until the next festival, we're still fantasizing on other public spaces and conventional fountains as 'green pearls' in this concrete jungle.