Creating open-source urban-focused agriculture solutions that support the environment while feeding our communities.

​​Rooted LABs is dedicated to tackling the urgent issues of food insecurity and climate change, advocating for innovative and inclusive solutions that unite technology and communities, break down resource barriers, and promote open-source principles to enhance global agriculture.

The problem:

The world’s population has more than doubled over the past 50 years. This alone has caused immense stress on the natural environment and as a result, we are experiencing soil degradation, depletions of groundwater, pollution, ocean acidification, accelerated rates of extinction, global warming, droughts, diseases, high concentrations of CO 2 and mass deforestation. In a time of increasing population growth, climate change and environmental degradation, we need agricultural systems that come with a more balanced portfolio of sustainability benefits.

A path forward :

Urban agriculture has been defined as “reconnecting with the community through food, jobs and economic development” and is a sustainable solution.

We’re testing technology, creating and maintaining urban farms starting in Ottawa, Canada's capital city, donating fresh produce to community centers, and reshaping the way we approach environmentally friendly food production while also mentoring the next generation of leaders.

The project would be entirely open-sourced, and start a workforce who could move on and create their own advanced agricultural businesses in other cities globally.

What does this look like? Our Vision and Objectives:

Develop a Sustainable and Technologically Advanced Urban Farm:

• Action: Acquire a disused shipping container in downtown Ottawa and partner with The Growcer (https://www.thegrowcer.ca) to repurpose it as a smart urban farm.

• Action: Collaborate with technology and agriculture companies specializing in urban farming, automation, and renewable energy solutions to equip the shipping container with the latest sustainable farming technologies, such as hydroponics, LED lighting, and efficient climate control systems.

• Action: Create a rooftop garden in the downtown core. This not only produces fresh food but can reduce greenhouse gas emissions and support our city in hitting its climate action goals.

• Outcome: The repurposed shipping container in downtown Ottawa becomes a state-of-the-art urban farm, producing a variety of fresh produce year-round and serving as a model for sustainable urban agriculture.

Who we are:

Our project lead is Amanda Goore, who has a background in horticulture, community gardens and agriculture-focused AI and innovative tech and she’s bringing those skills and resources into Rooted LABs.

With deep connections in Canada's Capital, we will use our funding to build out ways to improve access to safe and healthy food in urban settings. Our goal is to experiment and document how using emerging technology can assist us in doing this. We will then opensource our findings to help other communities globally repeat the process in their local area.

Here is a brief history of Amanda’s past work:

• developed protocol for scouting with drone multispectral mapping
• experience developing multispectral imagery of agricultural fields with different vegetative indexes
• developed algorithms for AI weed detection
• currently collaborating on disease detection and plant counting algorithms
• greenhouse and greenwall experience, hydroponics, biological control and pesticide management
• experience in autonomous robotics and vehicles
• volunteer at a local community garden
• did a project in 2019 on food security in Ottawa, gave Free Vegetable gardening workshops at the community center in Vanier, free plants and seeds for attendees.

Our other team members include:

• Olga Koppel, A PhD Candidate in Biology at the University of Ottawa is experienced in Statistical analysis and spatial modeling. You can learn more about some of her work here - ​​https://ehub-uottawa.medium.com/founder-feature-ecosafesense-412d7afe7487

• Michael Seer, who has a background in creative design and Geospatial AI technologies

• Lana Dingwall who is a social impact entrepreneur and member of GreenPill

This started out as a project idea within the Ottawa GreenPill chapter (we met at a web3 education workshop hosted by GPN Ottawa).

This project falls under the umbrella of Ottawa GreenPill, however, we've chosen the name Rooted LABs to help us work closer with our local municipality and provincial government, as well as Tech companies in our community.

In the last few months, we at Rooted LABs have...

• donated to Ecology Ottawa, a local tree-planting organization.

• Hosted 2 climate-focused regenerative workshops.

• Researched and built out the following Roof Top/urban garden roadmap - https://bafybeielssaoda27edlmvilepur4j3bti5xiv3ixtkkvrwlq5e44ag567i.ipfs.nftstorage.link/

• We have set up meetings with local tech and AI businesses, including Growcer(www.thegrowcer.ca) to explore collaborating on this project.

• Built out a small core team of volunteers to help grow this project.

We are seeking funding support to help take our project from a small start-up idea, into a fast-moving open-source agricultural project.