It is a cold January day in the Kleve Galleries, but the atmosphere is anything but frosty. Students from the Faculty of Life Sciences are enthusiastically picking up spades and planting young trees alongside professors and staff from Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences. The occasion: the launch of the “Alleen 3” pilot project, which was initiated by the Agroforestry Real-World Laboratory team of the university’s TransRegINT project (Transformation of the Lower Rhine Region – Innovation, Sustainability, Participation) in collaboration with the City of Kleve and Haus Riswick.
"Agroforestry" is a term that is becoming increasingly important in an era of climate change and declining biodiversity. The idea behind it is to combine trees and agricultural crops in a smart way. This creates diverse habitats for plants and animals, improves soil quality and sequesters CO₂. The Agroforestry Real-World Laboratory project focuses on researching and establishing agroforestry systems in the Lower Rhine region. A total of 349 trees and shrubs were planted in seven strips across a 3.3-hectare site. This demonstration site, in which Bachelor’s students studying ‘Sustainable Agriculture’ and ‘Agribusiness’ as well as Master’s students studying ‘Biological Resources’ were also involved, serves as a real-world laboratory for innovative and sustainable agriculture.
With ‘Alleen 3’, the Agroforestry Real-World Laboratory team offers students at the Faculty of Life Sciences a unique opportunity to put their theoretical knowledge into practice. The planting campaign was just the start: over the coming years, the students will actively monitor the development of the agroforestry site and investigate its ecological, economic and social impacts. These include, for example, the effects on biodiversity and the management of arable land.
The agroforestry demonstration site in the Klever Galleien will not only serve research and teaching purposes, but will also form part of the 2029 State Garden Show. In the long term, the agroforestry system in the Klever Galleien is also to be made accessible to the public. Excursions and information events are planned to raise public awareness of agroforestry. The planting initiative in Kleve is an encouraging example of how science and practice can go hand in hand to shape a more sustainable future. It is to be hoped that “Alleen 3” will inspire many others to follow suit – not only in the Lower Rhine region.
