Nova Innova: in collaboration with mother nature

Walk through a beautiful park, and your senses catch only a fraction of what is truly happening around you. If you were a bee or butterfly, you’d see ultraviolet patterns on petals, hidden signals, entire worlds we humans rarely perceive. Designer and founder of the bio-tech studio Nova Innova, Ermi van Oers, has made it her mission to bring those stories to light. Stories we cannot see at first glance, yet bring us closer to the intelligence of nature. By blending science with design, she creates work that allows nature to speak about its state of mind. Her studio shows what happens when an ecosystem meets technology in ways that are both poetic and respectful of the natural world.

Reconnecting humans with the brilliance of nature.

For years, Ermi van Oers has built a living lab where biological processes become sources of light, energy, and expression. Her breakthrough project, a lamp powered by a plant’s photosynthesis, proved that nature could power our world without harm or external energy sources. No external power source like batteries or cables, just the natural release of electrons captured through Microbial Fuel Cell Technology. This collaboration with the biotechnology company Plant-e later led to the world’s first public park lit entirely by the energy of plants: a magical space in Rotterdam-Zuid where, after sunset, the ground glows like a field of fireflies.

Now, through Nova Innova, Ermi van Oers is exploring a new frontier: extracting clean energy from water. Because water is a living organism too. It contains bacteria that break down organic matter, releasing electrons in the process. By embracing the constraints of natural systems, rather than forcing them, Nova Innova turns this microbial activity into electricity that can power sensors, lights, and artworks, all without disturbing the ecosystem itself.

When water tells us how it’s doing

The latest innovation, called POND (Power of Nature-Based Design), once again makes the invisible visible. Developed over four years with the University of Southampton, POND is the world’s first floating network powered entirely by the microbes within the water it monitors. Floating domes drift gently on the surface, glowing in colours that reflect the water’s well-being. It functions autonomously, translating real-time water quality into a visual language that people can understand at a glance. Blue, green, pink; each hue a message. Through POND’s digital twin app, users can learn what each colour means. A green glow, for example, translates as: ‘My health is in balance. Fish and plants feel at home here’. It can even predict the likelihood of blue-green algae. For the first time in the world, water can ‘speak’ to us! Allowing us to know what it needs and how to care for it.

Ermi van Oers working in the studio with maquettes and showmodels.

The POND floating installation near Deltares.

Already tested at Blijdorp Rotterdam Zoo, POND is now part of a growing consortium including Waternet, Waterschap Amstel, Gooi en Vecht, the municipalities of Utrecht and Voorne aan Zee, Fieldlab Green Economy Westvoorne and others. An installation is also operating at a fourth location on the Deltares campus, further strengthening the project’s scientific foundation.

Globally, polluted water threatens both ecosystems and public health. Nova Innova approaches this challenge from a different perspective: what if nature could communicate its own needs, and we simply learned how to listen? Projects like POND show how this might work in practice, translating the health of water into signals people can understand and respond to.

Weaving design, technology, and science with the intelligence of nature

The studio’s work stands out because it is not speculative; it is scalable. By combining science, engineering, ecosystems, and design, Nova Innova creates solutions that can already be applied today. As founder Ermi van Oers puts it: we must treat water not as disposable, but as a living organism. Her hope is that future generations will see it as entirely normal that light can come from plants, electricity from bacteria, and that we build with nature rather than against it. By merging science, technology, and design, Nova Innova opens up a future where we form closer connections with the ecosystems around us. A future where humans and nature work in balance. Not just tomorrow, but for the generations that follow. And that’s what makes it truly New Dutch.