School garden in the neighbourhood - experiencing diversity together

How can school gardens blossom into places of encounter and participation in the neighbourhood as year-round green oases of diversity and as tangible learning and open spaces in the sense of education for sustainable development? These are the questions that the city of Münster is exploring with the project "School gardens in the neighbourhood - trying out diversity together". New collaborative ways of developing and maintaining school gardens and integrating them into everyday school life are being tested, as is the opening up of the projects for voluntary work in the neighbourhood.

The project has been implemented in three selected schools since summer 2019. In the schools, the very different school gardens are upgraded as a habitat for fauna and flora and made tangible as a space for encounter and participation. The neighbourhood is also explicitly integrated into the school garden.

The project "School Garden in the Neighbourhood" is financed by the prize money of the German Sustainability Award from the Allianz Environmental Foundation. The project is supported by the ESD Regional Centre of the City of Münster, which was founded two years ago in cooperation with NABU Münsterland.

Eichendorff School in Angelmodde

The Eichendorff School in the Angelmodde district has an atrium garden of approximately 420 square metres with various perennial beds, a potato field, a wild bee hotel and flower meadows. A willow tunnel and a small mud pit invite children to hide and play. The school garden is firmly integrated into the daily school routine. All pupils go to the garden in small groups every week during the school year and thus learn about gardening and biodiversity. Apart from the regular lessons, the pupils also have a learning situation there in which other skills are challenged and promoted.

Through the project, interested actors from the neighbourhood were sought. In the meantime, a pensioner has become involved in the school garden, for example, she assisted with the autumn gardening campaign. In addition, a cooperation with the neighbouring Alexian carpentry workshop has been established. In joint cooperation between pupils and people with disabilities, the old garden house is being demolished and rebuilt.

The garden of the Eichendorff School in the district of Angelmodde
© Stadt Münster

Steingymnasium in Gievenbeck

The Steingymnasium in the district of Gievenbeck has a 2400 square metre garden with a high level of biological diversity. A special feature here is a large extensively used meadow with varying degrees of dryness and species composition. There is also a honey bee stand with several bee colonies. The Greenkeeper Conservation Group is mainly responsible for the garden. In addition, the garden is used in biology lessons and by the fifth classes.

As part of the project, a chicken coop was designed and built by pupils and two families from the neighbourhood. In summer, chickens will move in and then be looked after by the families, the school and a Muslim children's and youth association based in the neighbourhood. In addition, raised beds were built in the school garden, which will be planted with vegetables and herbs from different cultures.

The garden of the Steingymnasium in the district of Gievenbeck
© Stadt Münster

Bodelschwingh School in the inner city

The Bodelschwingh School has a 280 square metre school garden in the middle of an inner-city residential area. In addition to a small garden pond, there are fruit bushes, vegetable beds and many small highlights such as a wooden-edged, unmown meadow where natural succession can be observed. The garden is mainly used by the open all-day school and the gardening group. They are now regularly supported in their gardening work by two pensioners from the school neighbourhood.

In addition, two families are involved in the garden outside of school hours and water and harvest there. A cooperation with the neighbouring Anna Krückmann Family Education Centre has been established for a holiday gardening camp. And soon, with the help of the Westfalenfleiß workshop for the handicapped, a "green classroom" will be built in the garden.

The garden of the Bodelschwingh School in Münster's city centre
© Stadt Münster

Further engagement of pupils

More green instead of grey in the schoolyards

Under the title "Münster has a fever - More green instead of grey on the schoolyards - For a better city climate", pupils are demanding greener schoolyards with the help of a petition. In this way, schools could also adapt to the consequences of climate change and at the same time create more habitats for animals. The petition can be found here.

Form your Future - Shape your future sustainably

Furthermore, within the project "Form Your Future - Nachhaltig deine Zukunft gestalten! - a project in the field of sustainable development of the student laboratory of the University of Münster - an insect hotel was built. The project aims to motivate pupils to act sustainably through authentic, research-based learning and participation and to train them to become multipliers for sustainability-related topics. More information is available here.

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