Recently our international school in Bangkok’s Y6 children visited the Chulalongkorn University Centenary Park, the ‘amphibious’ park of Bangkok that can hold a million gallons of rainwater, and meets its designer, esteemed landscape artist, Khun Kotchakorn Voraakhom, at ELC.

Through our inquiry-based learning approach, the children had the opportunity to learn about Khun Kotch’s research on nature-based solutions for cities to help fight recurrent and worsening floods. With 8 million inhabitants and only 1.5 metres above sea-level, the children have an immediate and tangible sense of the infrastructure problems facing Bangkok.

he children undertook their own field work at the Centenary Park, examining the landscape and how it works to retain water, and had the opportunity to ask Khun Kotch questions about her design and her hopes and vision for the future, as well as present their own flood solutions receiving expert feedback.

Their questions ranged from inquiries into details of design to the practical and emotive: ‘Are there any measures to prevent overflowing at the park?’ ‘Do you still think living with floods is the solution or do we need to take more drastic action to prevent flooding?’ And ‘How did the 2011 floods in Thailand change your life?’

The children’s flood solutions below involved exploration of a range of concepts and disciplines, ranging from mathematics and finance to design and engineering. Exercising their critical thinking skills, the children carefully considered the pros and cons of their designs.