co-labor

The Project

For some time, we have been hosting two groups of young children (daycare and kindergarten) at our garden in Beggen. Due to the high demand from other institutions and the positive feedback we’ve received, we decided to expand our activities. However, our Beggen location lacked the infrastructure and space to accommodate additional groups.

We also noticed that young people's connection to nature is becoming increasingly weak, and we want to address this. Thus, the idea was born to create an interactive educational garden at our headquarters in Bertrange.

Together with groups of children (school and extracurricular), we grow vegetables: we sow seeds, plant young shoots, water them, and harvest ripe fruits and vegetables to prepare a delicious meal from our yield.

Beyond the garden beds, there’s plenty of space for other activities: children can run around, play, or simply relax in the shade while snacking on freshly picked strawberries.

In Greek mythology, Gaia represents the personification of Earth, the mother who nurtures all living beings. We liked this name because it’s easy to remember and aligns perfectly with our project. We even have a mascot named Gaia: a woman holding the Earth in her arms who guides children through the garden.

Implementation

We have been hosting groups since April 2022. Before the season began, we built the basic structure of the garden, installed the first beds, and planted hedges and trees. However, working with the clay-heavy soil proved challenging—machines struggled, and winter rains turned the ground into a muddy mess.

Despite these challenges, seeing the first patches of land being cultivated was incredibly rewarding. Each step of the project brought its own joy, from designing flyers for institutions to receiving our first activity bookings and watching the garden evolve from its inception. One of the key moments was assembling the pergola at the garden entrance as a team.

To date, we have received a lot of positive feedback and congratulations for launching this project. Institutions are highly interested in our activities, and two groups visit every two weeks or monthly. Even private individuals have volunteered to help out in the garden.

Objectives

We are passionate about giving children the opportunity to spend time outdoors and engage in meaningful activities in nature. Gardening helps them develop a connection with nature and fosters an emotional attachment to it.

By involving children in the garden's creation, we encourage them to take responsibility and work collaboratively. At the same time, they learn the basics of vegetable cultivation, healthy eating, and gain a better understanding of ecological relationships in nature.

Our goal is to raise awareness among children about organic farming and sustainable practices from an early age. We want them to have fond memories of their time in the garden and realize that homegrown vegetables are the best. Additionally, spending time outdoors and being active benefits them, even when the weather isn’t perfect.

Through the positive experiences the children gain from our gardening project, we hope to counteract the negative effects the pandemic has had on their mental and physical health.

Furthermore, we aim to make the educational garden an integral part of co-labor by continuing to develop and strengthen it in the coming years. We also plan to contribute to the establishment of a network to support similar projects in Luxembourg and beyond.