The Johanna Sebus Primary School in Rindern came second in the local sustainability competition ‘Klever Birne 2023’. As part of their prize for the school garden project ‘Sustainable Education in the Fields’, the Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences (HSRW) invited the Year 4 pupils to its lecture theatre on 14 September 2023. In addition to the cash prize, the winners had requested an interactive lecture so they could explore the topic of sustainable agriculture in greater depth.
For the fourth year running, the pupils, accompanied by their teachers, have been organically growing a wide variety of vegetables on the 130 m² school plot. This commitment to sustainability and environmental protection was recognised with the ‘Klever Birne 2023’ award. The sustainability competition is a collaborative project between Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences and the City of Kleve.
The lecture for the winners took place at HSRW. In an interactive session, Anna-Lea Ortmann, a PhD student at the Agroforestry Real-World Laboratory of the TransRegINT project (Transformation of the Lower Rhine Region – Innovation, Sustainability, Participation), skilfully explained the basics of sustainable agriculture to her young audience. For example, she explained the concept of agroforestry using the orchard meadows typical of the Lower Rhine region as an illustration. Agroforestry involves combining various agricultural land types, such as pastureland, fruit tree meadows and livestock farming. In this way, ecological diversity and economic viability can be combined within a single area.
Britta Peters, headteacher of the Johanna Sebus Primary School, has observed just how much the school project has already raised the children’s awareness of sustainability: ‘I recently witnessed the following in the supermarket: a child said to his grandmother, “No, we can’t buy that – it comes from too far away! It’s not the banana’s fault that it doesn’t grow here, but we shouldn’t buy it.’ When I turned round, I realised it was one of our pupils. This example shows how our school project makes the topic of sustainability a real and tangible experience for the children.”
The ‘Klever Birne’ sustainability competition will take place again this year. Further information on the launch event and the start of the application period is available at www.kleverbirne.de.
Background
TransRegINT stands for ‘Transformation of the Lower Rhine Region – Innovation, Sustainability and Participation’. Through this project, Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences has set itself the aim of helping to shape the future of the Lower Rhine region in a sustainable and science-based manner. The project is receiving just under 10 million euros in funding as part of the ‘Innovative University’ funding initiative by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, running from January 2023 to December 2027. The funding initiative supports universities in translating research findings even more effectively into creative solutions for the pressing challenges of our time. In doing so, Rhein-Waal University of Applied Sciences (HSRW) is guided by the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals.
The ‘Agroforestry Real-World Laboratory’ transformation project aims to create demonstration sites for various agroforestry systems in the Lower Rhine region in cooperation with local farms, and to provide scientific support for these sites. This will enable smart agroforestry that paves the way for a sustainable future.
Contact
Christina Martens
, Coordinator, Interaction Hub, TransRegINT
Centre for Research, Innovation and Transfer
Tel.: +49 2821 80673 9637
Email: christina.martens@hochschule-rhein-waal.de
