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We celebrated a beautiful finale to this year’s Green Student Bootcamp Challenge , where students first went into our organic garden to investigate our resident insects.

Led by Dr. Cor Zonnveld, an ecologist at Amsterdam University College, students learned about the classification, anatomy, and habitats of insects. It was clear that some did not like the idea of insects at all, however, after spending time with Cor in the garden and looking at insects closely with curiosity and wonder, they learned to appreciate our insect friends and their important place in our ecosystem.

Students then harvested from our garden and dived into the kitchen to made delicious vegan food to celebrate their graduation. As a special graduation gift, students were presented with pots of soil from our garden, symbols of fertility and of our care for the living ecosystem of The Green Living Lab location. Our graduating students learned through the course of the programme that life begins in the soil, and that looking after our soils by building fertility is essential for a sustainable world.

We hope this class of 2018 will now go forth to help make a healthier greener world in harmony with nature. In fact, we are pretty sure they will. ?

The Green Student Bootcamp Challenge 2018 has begun!

Week 1 saw us welcome students from the Vrije Universiteit AmsterdamAmsterdam University CollegeUniversity of Amsterdam / Universiteit van AmsterdamAMC AmsterdamUtrecht UniversityTU Delft & HvA – Hogeschool van Amsterdam

Students learned all about seeds, including the intelligent design of seeds & ingenious seed strategies for survival & dispersal. They learned how seed balls can brighten up urban environments with native flowers, as well as offer food to pollinators, & made seed balls for their new careers as guerrilla gardeners!

Then it was time to get busy sowing seeds for our nursery. Students have been challenged to take some seed pots home, germinate the seeds, nurse them into healthy baby plants, and bring them back to grow in The Green Living Lab ‘s organic garden. We are looking forward to hearing how they get on with their prospective plant parenthood!

At the end of our 10 week programme, the participants will make a vegan feast using the plants they have grown in our garden.

A big, enormous thank you to Sameena & Amanda for contributing such wonderful wisdom & passion for seeds to this first session!

Thank you to all of the GLL team including Sarah, Fae, Arthur, Sheila and Luke, who were behind the scenes making sure everyone had a great initiation to learning in nature !

#gsbc2018 #greenhealthystudents #healthyurbanliving