KulmUNIty Garden: Basis for scientific experiments

UBTaktuell: How did the idea of the community garden come about?

Prof. Dr. Tina Bartelmeß: The former Kaufplatz site in the centre of Kulmbach was released for interim use in 2022. It was to be redesigned in such a way that it would be as attractive as possible for the entire population. Therefore, numerous initiatives and also we at the Kulmbach campus were able to contribute ideas to the planning process. Our idea was to build a community garden there. This enables us to supplement our teaching in the area of health promotion and prevention as well as in the area of sustainable nutrition with practical components and also to link the social commitment of our students with professional content in the sense of service learning.

The community garden is now in its second year. What has changed?

In the first year, 2022, we were very busy with organisational aspects. We had to build the garden from scratch and purchase equipment such as soil, beds and tools. We applied for funding from the Adalbert Raps Foundation, which supported us financially. Our first cohort of Bachelor students in Food and Health Sciences then took over the control as part of the module "Health Behaviour and Prevention". The students independently contacted suppliers who supplied us with soil and deliberately chose suppliers from the region. They bought and built the raised beds and used spades to spread countless litres of soil into the beds in midsummer temperatures. In addition, in smaller project groups, they each planted beds on specific topics, such as heart-healthy herbs or vegetables that are very popular with the target group of children. Since we were still very busy with the construction and organisation in the summer semester of 2022, we unfortunately only got around to sowing and planting the plants very late.

In 2023, we were able to start sowing and planting with the new cohort of Bachelor students directly with the start of the summer semester. We joined forces with our colleagues Prof. Dr. Corina Vlot-Schuster (Crop Plant Genetics), Prof. Dr. Janin Henkel-Oberländer (Biochemistry of Nutrition) and Prof. Dr. Susanne Baldermann (Food Metabolome), as we found strong synergies in the reflection of the cultivation in 2022. The colleagues cultivate plants in the laboratories anyway and the students also take seminars with the colleagues parallel to the module with me, in which they microscope plant parts and determine constituents against the background of certain questions. In addition, the colleagues' working groups are interested in certain cultivation conditions and factors and their effects on plant growth and quality. The KulmUNIty Garden is therefore ideally suited for observing and investigating such experiments in the practice of a community garden. For example, broccoli plants were grown with and without spring onions in order to find out whether the scents released by the onions into the air can protect the broccoli plants from insect damage. Tomatoes were also planted with and without rosemary and examined by students in the practical course for the induced defence properties against plant diseases.

What happens to the harvested fruit and vegetables?

Since not all fruits are ripe at the same time, they are harvested gradually. We inform on Instagram when fruits are ripe for harvesting. In addition, herbs can be harvested on a permanent basis, which is already being used by the population. We would be very happy if the harvesting of vegetables were also done more by the population. Especially in view of the rising costs for fruit and vegetables, we would also like to see more vulnerable groups of the population making use of the offer.

What do the students get out of it?

In the module "Health Behaviour and Prevention", the students also go through the cycle of project management and develop their own health promotion projects around the KulmUNIty Garden. In doing so, they independently select target groups and develop a concept, which they then also put into practice and evaluate. This allows them to transfer the theoretical content from the lecture into practice, to get in touch with the target groups and to try out principles of health promotion such as participation, engagement and empowerment.

The students have already carried out eight health promotion projects with different target groups: kindergarten and primary school children, refugees from Ukraine, secondary school students and international students. The projects have always focused on a particular topic, such as healthy, regional or seasonal food, as well as aspects of integration and acculturation through joint gardening.

Why is this an important project for you?

Through the KulmUNIty Garden, we are helping to create health-promoting living environments in the middle of Kulmbach. The former Kaufplatz site is perfectly suited for the garden, as different generations come together there through the playground and various events organised by the city. So far, we have only received positive feedback, there have been no cases of vandalism and we are also actively supported by the city of Kulmbach, for example by providing water. It is fun to get in touch with the population through the garden and also to communicate our concerns about sustainable nutrition in a practical way. Both children and adults stroll through the garden and pick a blueberry or strawberry. Promoting awareness and appreciation for food in this way and making it tangible makes the KulmUNIty Garden an important project for us.