On a rainy February morning, the cold of the Lower Rhine swept through the streets of Kleve, but anyone entering the Tropical House at Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences immediately left winter behind. A different climate prevailed here: moist, warm air settled on the skin, while the earthy scent of plants and damp leaves filled the room. Over two days, three seventh-grade classes from Willibrord High School - ninety pupils in total - curiously wandered through the dense greenery, between towering banana trees and lush cocoa trees, to listen to the words of horticulturalist Doris Winkels. Their school trip was an expedition into a living classroom, an encounter with an ecosystem that lies thousands of kilometers away and yet is of crucial importance in the reality of their lives. Read more.
