What began 11 months ago with a last-minute application for the Klever Birne sustainability competition reached its climax in May 2025. In September 2024, the youth workshop of Berufsbildungszentrum Kreis Kleve e.V. and its project partner Agrobusiness Niederrhein e. V. were awarded first prize in the Klever Birne 2024 sustainability competition for the idea of building 17 raised beds from waste wood from the Kässbohrer company, designed in line with the 17 global sustainability goals. The completed, painted and planted raised beds are now on the campus in Kleve.
The result of many months of work was presented on May 13, 2025: The 22 raised beds were placed, planted and presented on the campus of Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences in Kleve. Since midday, there has been a hive of activity next to the knowledge repository, with soil, shovels and plants being distributed and watering cans being filled. Many of the participating building groups, including a large number of schools and kindergartens, took the opportunity to plant their raised beds together with the young people and employees of the Jugendwerkstatt (JuWe) from the Berufsbildungszentrum Kreis Kleve e.V. (BBZ). In the afternoon, the beds were presented in a cheerful and festive setting in the presence of Kleve’s mayor Wolfgang Gebing. “A great event: the excellent implementation of the 22 raised beds with Kleve citizens, schools, kindergartens, clubs and groups is inspiring,” said Wolfgang Gebing.
“I am particularly pleased that the BBZ has succeeded in bringing the Klever Birne award to life. I hope that the ideas competition, which is being held for the third time this year in cooperation with Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences, will become a tradition in Kleve. The colorful raised beds will certainly play their part in this.”
Looking back
“Winning first prize was amazing for us,” say the JuWe participants looking back. The only thing greater than the joy was probably the effort involved in preparing the construction phase of the raised beds down to the smallest detail. “It took us nine weeks to remove the plastic film from 260 raw boards with our young people, remove the staples, cut the wood to the required lengths, mill and sand it, round the edges and prepare the drill holes,” they list. “It took a further six weeks to glaze and dry the 704 pieces of board required.” The figures for the other consumables are also impressive: 20 liters of wood stain, 2,904 screws and 13.5 liters of acrylic paint. The JuWe team, consisting of Anke Altenstädter, Annika Artz, Katharina Hübbers, Frank Gerritzen, Moritz Roenspieß and Martin Winkler, supported by Marcus Trappe from Agrobusiness Niederrhein e.V., were involved in the project.
The response to the call for participation was overwhelming. The planned 17 raised beds turned into a total of 22, which are now on display on campus until June 1, 2025. They were built in the JuWe workshop on Ackerstraße in Kleve, but also often on site at the participating groups.
Local-regional perspectives on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals for the world
The color and content design was then implemented by the 22 groups. Anyone visiting the exhibition between the library and the tropical house will come across 17 very creative and individually interpreted sustainability goals. Some of the raised beds were not only painted, but also decorated with additional design elements. The AWO Kita Kinderburg-Kranenburg has colorful fish swimming to illustrate life under water. Homemade butterflies and bees fly in the planted bed at Karl-Leisner-Schule. While waves move the raised bed of the Kneipp Verein Kleverland e.V. on the subject of clean water and sanitary facilities, small round wooden discs with the peace sign were placed by the Familienkreis der Gemeinde zur Heiligen Familie in Materborn . For the community elementary school An den Linden Kleve, ‘pooping cows’ are also part of affordable and clean energy. Not without good reason, if you think of the many biogas plants on the Lower Rhine.
What remains?
The raised beds will be delivered to the respective construction teams at the beginning of June. The JuWe team wished everyone involved “green fingers and lots of fun caring for the plants and harvesting the herbs.” They look back with gratitude: “The project has resulted in many new contacts.” For example, with the NRW Chamber of Agriculture in Straelen, which not only built a raised bed itself, but also provided active support, including a workshop with tips and tricks for planting raised beds. The construction teams praised the uncomplicated and cordial cooperation with JuWe.
Nadja Brauer, educational director of the BBZ, noted that the positive response to winning the Klever Birne and the implementation were a gift for the JuWe, which otherwise does valuable work in secret. “Our young people at JuWe have grown with the raised beds. For them, it was more than just a meaningful activity; the numerous encounters and affirming feedback are a priceless experience for them.”
What’s next?
The application phase for the Klever Birne 2025 started at the beginning of May. Citizens, private groups, students, educational institutions, companies, associations, start-ups and institutions have until June 30, 2025 to submit their ideas. This year’s competition focuses on the sharing economy – sharing, swapping, borrowing, renting, donating and thus reusing resources. “Sharing not only means the conscious use of objects and space, but also strengthening social ties and reducing waste,” explains Christina Martens, Interaction Hub Coordinator in the TransRegINT project and jointly responsible for the implementation of the Klever Birne on behalf of the university. The competition proposals should be feasible in Kleve, follow the principle of the sharing economy and address at least one of the 17 sustainability goals. In addition to three prizes of between €1,000 and €2,000, coaching and a certificate, there is also an audience prize to be won.
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