Young winners of the Klever Birne 2023 as guests in the HSRW lecture theatre

On 18 March 2024, the fourth-graders from Johanna Sebus Primary School in Rindern visited Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences. Their school garden project “Sustainable education in the field” was honoured in 2023 as part of the Klever Birne sustainability competition. As part of their prize, the primary school children wanted to visit the university and take part in a lecture.

For four years, pupils at Johanna Sebus Primary School in Rindern have been campaigning for sustainability and environmental protection at their own school. Under the guidance of their teachers, they grow various regional vegetables organically on a 130 m² school field. This impressive commitment was rewarded last year with second place in the Klever Birne competition, a cooperation project between TransRegINT and the city of Kleve.

Interactive lecture on agroforestry systems

The interactive lecture was led by Anna-Lea Ortmann, doctoral student in the agroforestry living laboratory of the TransRegINT project. She vividly explained the basics of sustainable agriculture to the young audience, focussing in particular on the innovative concept of agroforestry. This is a combination of different agricultural areas such as pastureland, orchards and livestock farming. In this way, ecological diversity and profitability can be combined on one area.

The visit was not only an opportunity for the students to learn more about sustainable agriculture, but an inspiring experience for everyone involved. The visit emphasized the importance of environmental education and cooperation between schools and universities for the sustainable development of the region.

Britta Peters, head teacher of Johanna Sebus Primary School, reported enthusiastically on how the school project had raised the children’s awareness of sustainability: “I had a particularly touching experience in the supermarket recently when a child said to his grandma: ‘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 around, I realized that it was one of our students. This example shows how our school project makes the topic of sustainability tangible for the children.”

The Klever Birne enters the second round

The Klever Birne sustainability competition will take place again this year. Further information on the kick-off evening and the start of the application phase will be shared here shortly.