Students and employees of the UW/H work for fresh vegetables in the university cafeteria

The ongoing loss of biodiversity and the consequences of the climate crisis make it urgently necessary to fundamentally rethink food supply and production. This is only possible if consumers, suppliers and educational institutions tackle the food transition together. This is precisely where the pioneering "Field Trial" project comes in: Witten/Herdecke University (UW/H), the Hochschulwerk (HSW) and the Entwicklungsgesellschaft für ganzheitliche Bildung e. V. (EG) are setting up an innovative experimental field in the middle of the Pferdebachtal valley in Witten, which combines organic regional agriculture with targeted health promotion and sustainable community catering. The project is sponsored by the Software AG Foundation.

A field near the campus teaches the principles of sustainable agriculture

Close cooperation between the development company and the UW/H's Hochschulwerk is intended to ensure that the university cafeteria is permanently supplied with fresh, locally produced organic food from the neighbourhood. A field adjacent to the campus provides fresh vegetables and offers students, staff and lecturers the opportunity to participate directly in the value creation of food. At "Ackerzeit", they can help out during their lunch break and find out about seeds, biodiversity, biotopes, compost, sheep farming and vegetable growing. University members who help out in the field also receive fresh vegetables to take home.

"We want to create a place where people can directly experience and help shape the social and ecological transformation in urban areas. In the gardens for the community, we show how organic regional vegetable cultivation and a biotope landscape can form the basis for sustainable coexistence and keep our ecosystem healthy," explains Benjamin Greulich from the EG Board of Directors.

In addition to field-grown vegetables, HSW is increasingly focussing on sourcing food from the region: "Our aim is not only to offer healthy and delicious meals, but also to build close relationships with the producers," explains HSW Managing Director Sophie Große-Wöhrmann. "In this way, we promote socially and ecologically compatible communal catering that teaches students about sustainable management in everyday life."

Researchers determine how nutritional awareness is changing

The project consists of other sub-projects that come together at the UW/H's Sustainability Networking Centre. Accompanying teaching formats and scientific studies are helping to create a new awareness of nutrition:

• The Department of Integrated Accompanying Studies in Anthroposophic Medicine (IBAM) is conducting a study to determine the educational and further training needs of students and employees at UW/H on the subject of nutrition. In addition, a scientific study is being conducted to analyse how students' awareness of sustainability changes during their studies in Witten.
• The WittenLab. Zukunftslabor Studium fundamentale of Witten/Herdecke University is designing an educational module with which students will critically question their eating habits from the winter semester 2024/25. Participants will use participatory formats to learn how they can change their dietary behaviour and drive social change.
• From summer semester 2024, the Institute for Integrative Healthcare and Health Promotion (IGVF) at UW/H will analyse the nutritional behaviour and level of knowledge regarding sustainable nutrition of patients in primary care. Based on these findings, a health promotion course will be further developed to enable and motivate healthy and sustainable nutrition.

"Lighthouse project for a sustainable nutrition culture in urban areas"

"The 'Feldversuch' project offers us the opportunity to provide impetus for a more conscious diet. Together with our partners, we can make a contribution to improving the health of people and the planet," says Jan Peter Nonnenkamp, Chancellor of UW/H. "We are convinced that 'Feldversuch' can serve as a beacon project for a contemporary and sustainable food culture in urban areas."

"All interested parties are welcome to contribute their own ideas and wishes," adds project manager Stella Bünger from the university's Sustainability Networking Centre: "The project will only come to life with the participation of students, staff, patients and people from Witten."

The "Field Trial Forum" offers a good opportunity for participation, where interested parties can find out about healthy eating, organic regional agriculture, sustainable communal catering and participatory teaching formats and engage in dialogue with each other on a quarterly basis. The first forum will start on 28 May 2024 at 4 pm with a tour of the field at the end of Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße and input on regional nutrition and biodiversity.

Further information and an overview of upcoming events can be found at www.uni-wh.de/feldversuch