Since 2016 at the Bonnekamphöhe in Essen Katernberg, students of biology under the guidance of Dr. André Matena has begun to develop a garden which will develop into an ecological cycle system in the long term.
In the summer semester, the basics are laid out, which are necessary to create an own school garden. Here, once a week, distributed over the summer months, different topics are dealt with. From seeding to planting and harvesting, the teachers get taught everything they need to produce their own fruits and vegetables from an ecological point of view. Chemical and artificial additives are completely forbidden, biological fertilizers from stinging nettle and comfrey are used instead. Even the "waste" is recycled in a self-built biogas digester. Pest control is also tackled biologically. The building of nesting boxes and insect hotels are additionally part of the internship and are supported by the NABU.
Topic 3 of the European Green Capital: Urban Green Space
It is the aim of this seminar to evaluate specific city spaces with regard to their quality of life and amenity values based on justifiable and verifiable criteria and indicators. The focus is on evaluating and comparing specific urban public spaces with different social structures, different use and building structures by means of video recordings, photos and independent inspections. Finally strategies and measures to improve the quality of life should be drafted and presented. Work will be done in small groups of 4 students. Inputs and presentations are main components of the seminar.
Topics 1,2,3,9 & 11 of the European Green Capital
In 70 years of development cooperation, there has been a wide variety of theories to explain and battle underdevelopment. Especially after the expiration of the Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), the focus increasingly shifted to a holistic approach, which incorporates the value of sustainable development via the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
The seminar reviews classical approaches of development cooperation and questions, whether sustainable development is sufficient to regard planetary boundaries and resources and to provide future generations with the means to live a good life. In this respect, the seminar will also review debates about degrowth and post-development.
The lecture refers to topic 1 of the European Green Capital: Climate Change
With keywords such as "sustainable mobility" or "green logistics", environmentally relevant approaches have been increasingly included in traffic and logistics planning since the millennium turn. Ideas, concepts, and implementation possibilities of sustainable traffic will be presented and discussed in the lecture. The lecture presents a traffic geographic spatial perspective. The transport of goods as well as the passenger transport in relation to their environmental and sustainable dimensions are included in the thematic focus. Concrete questions from transport of persons and goods are considered from the view of traffic geography, based on basic knowledge of transport science, environmental research and the sustainability debate. Approaches, concepts, and instruments for the design of sustainable transport structures are discussed and evaluated.
Topic 2 of the European Green Capital: Local Traffic
All events listed above take place in context of the "European Green Capital" and its 12 topics (climate change, local traffic, urban green space, biodiversity, air quality, acoustic ambience, waste management, water economy, sewage management, eco-innovation, power efficiency, environmental management).
