The IB Mannheim's ecological educational garden

Over the next few months, we will be accompanying Andreas Niemöller in the IB Mannheim's ecological teaching garden and talking to him about many exciting topics. We are really looking forward to the next articles and would like to thank Andreas for his inspiring work, which is making this world a better place.

In the Mannheim-Mallau industrial area, just under 670 meters as the crow flies separate what is probably the biggest CO₂ emitter from what is perhaps the city's most likeable CO₂ guzzler. In the shadow of the coal-fired power plant, Andreas Niemöller was enriching the soil of his vegetable patches with terra preta he had produced himself when we visited him in June 2023. The black soil is particularly good at storing nutrients, he explains, which ensures high yields in fruit and vegetable cultivation without over-fertilizing the soil. At the same time, the black soil binds climate-damaging carbon dioxide in the soil. “That's good for the vegetables and good for the environment.”

Andreas knows, of course, that his 2,500 square meters can never swallow the 5,000,000,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide that the large power plant in Mannheim blows into the atmosphere every year. But that's not what his garden is about. After all, it's not just plants that should thrive here, but people too. “We want to help young people here who haven't always had it easy in life,” he explains.

The IB's ecological educational garden: educational center, garden, insect oasis

Andreas has been leading the ecological teaching garden of the International Bund (IB) in Mannheim since 2010. Over the past 13 years, he has helped more than 200 people with mental disabilities to find their footing in life. The participants, aged 17 to 25, are often referred by the Employment Agency and have experienced difficult life situations, which is why they sometimes feel ill-equipped for the challenges of the job market. At Andreas' garden, they are taught practical skills like pruning shrubs, but also life skills and key competencies. "However, gardening is not the main focus here," he explains to us amidst his wildflower meadow. Rather, the goal is to provide participants with a protected space to test their abilities and discover their own talents. "But that doesn't mean there's no hard work," he says, becoming serious. "This is not meant to be a feel-good oasis."

Green oasis in the midst of gray

Although the ecological teaching garden is not meant to be a feel-good oasis during working hours, it feels quite paradisiacal when you step through the large wooden gate into the green space. For in the midst of the grey industrial area of Mannheim-Mallau, the ecological teaching garden appears like the Palatinate's Garden of Eden: carefree chickens cluck as they scurry between the legs of visitors. In the vegetable beds, green beans, plump tomatoes, and juicy heads of lettuce are growing from the earth. And around the lavender, so many earth bumblebees swarm that you almost worry the poor plant won't be able to keep up with nectar production.

When Andreas first set foot on the site 13 years ago, it looked very different. The former wasteland is now home to mud huts, a pizza oven, chicken coop, insect hotel, wildflower meadow, vegetable patches and much more. The trained vegetable farmer and work educator has built everything himself with his participants over the years. The materials for this come exclusively from the region or even from the garden. “Instead of buying bricks from the DIY store, we used clay from the garden to build our huts.” This approach saves money, resources and CO2. “We work here with what nature provides us with,” Andreas explains.

“I don't want to force nature conservation”

Even though sustainability, biodiversity and nature conservation are practiced on a daily basis in the ecological educational garden, Andreas does not want to push nature conservation on his participants. “Anyone who has gone through such life crises at such a young age has completely different topics than sustainability on their mind,” he explains. Instead, he takes a different approach, but ultimately with the same goal in mind: “Our participants feel at home here in the green environment and have a good time when they work here. You automatically build up a closer relationship with nature.” The ecological aspect is of course an important factor that drives Andreas, he tells us. “But I'm actually doing the whole thing here because of the people.”