Project overview
This project offers you a welcoming and inspiring space (site) provided by the Kirchberg Fund to help you reconnect with nature. The arboretum, curated by the Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle, is home to European tree species that grow in harmony with mosses, lichens, flowers, pollinators and other creatures. NaturED is a peer group project within the framework of the Certificate in Sustainable Development and Social Innovation at the University of Luxembourg and has taken on an interdisciplinary character through annually changing participants.
Take a break from everyday urban life under cherry blossoms in spring, ripe fruit in summer, golden leaves in autumn or on a walk across the dormant winter landscape. Take a seat on the tree trunks we have procured for you.
You can use this lively place for school or kindergarten classes, creative workshops, musical evenings, meditation or yoga courses and much more. You can book the space via our calendar or check what's currently on.
Our aim is to highlight the importance of green spaces in cities, reduced land sealing, the need for biodiversity for our survival and emotional and psychological wellbeing. We achieve this by allowing workshop participants to experience the benefits of the site.
We would like to thank our project mentors Jennifer Feschuk and Magdalena Rodzinka for their constant support.
History and future
The first cohort developed the plans for this outdoor learning space and researched learning materials. The second group received the first tree trunks from our partner Administration de Nature et Forêts and began offering workshops. To protect the tree trunks from the weather, the current group is organising a mosaic workshop in spring 2024 with tiles received from our partner Mosaic Line SA/Maroldt. Have you already chosen your favourite?
We have also set up a calendar system in which you can enter your activities and created advertising and information material. After about 10 workshops in the first half of the year, we have been able to refine the workshop materials and activities that you can find under Resources.
Now we hope to reach even more different interest groups and participants to utilise the space even more. There are also plans to add two additional "classrooms" to the currently usable tree trunk circle, which will provide a more frontal arrangement for traditional teaching or lectures. However, there will still be enough space to walk around and explore the arboretum without it becoming too crowded.
Vision
The scale of biodiversity loss is illustrated by the sheer number of extinctions on our planet. The extensive and rapid urbanisation of Luxembourg puts this planetary boundary at the centre of discussions on social innovation and sustainable development.
This peer group has developed a project to co-design a piece of parkland in Kirchberg to improve biodiversity and human well-being. In line with their personal beliefs and professional backgrounds, the group members have agreed to give the project a strong educational character, with a first direct link to the pupils of the European School Luxembourg I (EEL), which is located near the site.
Schools, camps, teams and groups from the community will have access to the site to carry out biodiversity lessons, didactic activities and leisure activities. The aim is to familiarise local people with the environment and biodiversity and encourage them to engage further with it. The educational toolkit invites learners of all ages to connect with nature through experiential learning, emphasising the importance of biodiversity and pollinators.
The project location
Park Central in Kirchberg is a well-used park by many community members. Thanks to the hard work and attention of the community and Thierry Helminger, a biologist at the Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle, many hardy trees and shrubs from Europe and neighbouring regions have been integrated into the park to create as complete a collection of trees and shrubs from Europe as possible. This collection forms a so-called arboretum, which we like to include in our workshops. Find out more in this explanatory YouTube video in Luxembourgish.
The exact coordinates of the current classroom are 49.626381, 6.156175. Feel free to leave us a review in our Googlemaps entry.
Have you become curious? Try it out!
We have put together a range of activities as well as school and workshop materials for you to use on your own, with family and friends, with your school classes or with clients. Click on Resources to find them!
Contact Us
If you have any questions or comments, please send an e-mail to natured.biodiversity[at]gmail.com. You can book an event directly by clicking on the calendar.
