Since the very beginning, UWC Robert Bosch College has always had a focus on environmental sustainability, which is reflected on projects and short courses, as well as on the life at the college itself. The construction of a polytunnel by the students graduating in 2017 is just one recent example! During their orientation week last year, all of the over 100 new students spent several hours digging foundations, building plant boxes or assembling metal loops.

Tobi Kellner, Teacher & Sustainability coordinator at #UWCRBC, said: “Land use and agriculture play an important role here. Our school has a wonderful, large garden where our students are actively involved, and the polytunnel allows us to extend our growing season in the winter term time, giving students more opportunities to get ‘hands on’ experience with topics such as organic agriculture, seed saving or soil ecology – and get some fresh greens in the process!”

The polytunnel is also a test-bed for the use of modern technology in sustainable agriculture. Tobi explained: “The students have installed an Arduino open-source microcontroller in the polytunnel, powered by a solar panel, which monitors parameters such as temperature, humidity or soil moisture. The system uploads values to the internet, making it easier for students to use the data for academic projects. And we want to build a fully automated drip-irrigation system – when the sensors notice that the soil is dry, the computer turns on the water supply”.

Last but not least, the college polytunnel intends to be a place for everyone at the college to build a closer relationship with the living world around us. Tobi added: “Last March, each student planted a seed during our spring day. Now that they have returned to campus, they can see the wonderful jungle of beans and pumpkins these seeds have grown into – and perhaps eat a plant they have grown from seed. This is what experiential education for sustainability is all about”.