The old depot is located in the centre of the Botanical Garden Oldenburg. The former workshop building and the inclusion of the surrounding area are very well suited to setting up a "green school" for on-site lessons for all school levels, youth groups and for teacher training, which has long been desired by the botanists at the university and the biology didactics department. The go-ahead has now been given for the establishment of a "Green School". The "Ilex" support association and the Botanical Garden have collected donations for the first construction phase. The first construction work will begin in spring 2008. The Friends are seeking further sponsors for the further expansion into a centre for teaching, research and education of the population. At the same time, the university is providing central funding/study fees for a doctoral student in biology didactics to develop and evaluate teaching units and experiments that are suitable for kindergarten children as well as for pupils from all types of schools and for biology subject and teacher trainees, enabling them to carry out research/discovery in nature at an extracurricular learning centre. The Botanical Garden is an ideal place for nature and environmental education, as much of what has been covered in theory at school can be observed and understood here on a living object. The following teaching topics could be developed in the Green School:

• From the desert to the rainforest
• Focus on tropical crops
• Early bloomers (March to May)
• Leaves, fruits, seeds in autumn (September to October)
• Native trees in the park and forest
• Exotic trees
• Climate and vegetation zones of the earth
• Tropical rainforest
• Tropical useful plants
• Adaptation of plants to the Earth's climate and vegetation zones
• Adaptation (evolution) of plants to tropical locations
• Flower ecology/co-evolution (insect, bird and bat pollination)
• Tropical rainforest with a focus on ecology

For further information, please contact Prof Dr Peter Janiesch, or the office. Guided tours/events can already be organised as part of the "Green School" . Contact Ulrike Geers or the office.