The Idea Team

Sophie Lokatis is doing her doctorate with Jonathan Jeschke (AG Ecological Novelty) at the Institute of Biology at Freie Universität Berlin. She coordinates the initiative Blühender Campus FU and is part of the collective of Berlin National Park City|Wildnisstadt Berlin.

Simon Mösch is also a doctoral student and is supervised by Jonathan Jeschke (FU), Dagmar Haase (HU) and Stephanie Kramer-Schadt (IZW). In his dissertation, he is investigating attitudes towards wildlife and management ideas that can promote conflict-free coexistence between humans and wildlife in large cities.

Lina von Wedel is studying biology at the Free University of Berlin. In her bachelor's thesis, she is investigating how urban biodiversity can be promoted by enhancing green spaces.

About the Idea

Alongside squirrels and foxes, hedgehogs are one of Berliners' favorite wild animals. At first glance, the many adjoining gardens of the university institutes and residents in Dahlem appear to be an ideal habitat for hedgehogs. But if you take a closer look, the FU campus harbors a number of dangers for the animals. The plots are often surrounded by fences or even concrete plinths, which the hedgehogs cannot overcome with their short legs. This can lead to them having to cross busy roads in search of food and mates.

This is where our project idea comes in: Following the example of the British "Hedgehog Highway" initiative, we would like to connect suitable FU properties in Dahlem and thus make them accessible to hedgehogs. For this purpose, the plots will be equipped with tunnels or openings in the fences. In spring, we will identify suitable sites for garden networking and set up the first signposted hedgehog tunnels. These are created in such a way that the hedgehogs leave small footprints as they pass through. In the summer, we want to use camera traps and citizen science projects to investigate both the success of the tunnels and the occurrence of hedgehogs in general. Participating institutes, working groups, employees or residents will be provided with material and a recording sheet. As part of the project, we also offer workshops on hedgehog and wildlife-friendly gardening.

Conlusion

We had an exciting summer to make the campus hedgehog-ready and to awaken enthusiasm for the little spiny animal among campus visitors, as well as to show how important urban nature and urban wilderness are for sustainable urban and campus development. For example, our hedgehog workshop took place on June 19. Impressions of the workshop can be found here and in the Blooming Campus channels. In August, we also attended the environmental festival at Spreepark Berlin: It's going blue.green.wild! We have started to connect the institute and residents' gardens with small, hedgehog-friendly openings in fences and walls, following the example of the British "Hedgehog Highway" project. We are continuing these activities as part of the Blooming Campus.

Contact

Sophie Lokatis