"The urban gardening trend has reached Passau and Lower Bavaria. It contributes to the sustainability of food production throughout the world and has considerable future potential as an alternative to large-scale industrial agriculture", says Professor Werner Gamerith, the University Executive's Commissioner for the Cross-Functional Task of Sustainability. You can find out more details about the new demo garden in the press release [German content].
![[Translate to Englisch:] Eröffung des Urban-Gardening-Projekts an der Universität Passau im Jahre 2021 durch Robert Schnellhammer (AELF Passau), Jürgen Eppel (LWG Veitshöchheim), Andreas Rother (2. Bürgermeister Stadt Passau), Dr. Achim Dilling (Universität Passau), Prof. Dr. Werner Gamerith (Universität Passau)](/fileadmin/_processed_/6/f/csm_UrbanGardeningEr%C3%B6ffnung_3f021d5475.jpg)
The Urban Gardening demo project at the University of Passau shows how growing your own vegetables can work in an urban context. Since its opening in 2021, the garden has produced rich harvests every year. The garden offers interested students a creative platform to try out and create. In 2022, for example, vertical gardening will be explored in more detail. Here, a cylinder made of metal and coconut fibres acts as a planting framework. This tactic can be particularly useful for urban gardens to increase the surface area with efficient cultivation in a small space. The plant scaffold will be recycled as an arched trellis for beans in 2023 and reused as a support for tomatoes in 2024. This example also illustrates the sustainable ideal of the University of Passau's urban gardening project. Its potential lies in the combination of a biodiversity-promoting and regenerative circular economy.
The urban gardening project at the University of Passau was initiated with the help of the Bavarian State Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Forestry on the University of Passau campus as part of the Urban Gardening - Demonstration Gardens for Bavaria project. With the transition of the urban gardening demonstration garden to the University of Passau's student garden in 2023, the garden will be expanded to include three more raised beds. These will provide space for planting various mixed crops, such as the milpa culture.
![[Translate to Englisch:] Hochbeet mit Gemüsepflanzen](/fileadmin/dokumente/beschaeftigte/Qualitaetsmanagement/Nachhaltigkeit/Urban_Gardening/Urban_Gardening_2023_01.jpg)
The garden consists of five raised beds and is located in the centre of the campus between the Economics building and the Central Library.
The urban gardening demo garden can be visited as part of educational excursions by schools and other educational organisations. If you are interested, please contact Professor Werner Gamerith.
The Bavarian State Institute for Viticulture and Horticulture has compiled valuable tips for the implementation of your urban gardening project in numerous leaflets [German content] on its website.
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Do you have sustainability-related questions or suggestions? Send us an email at nachhaltigkeit@uni-passau.de.
