Multispecies Campus - A Living Lab for Biodiversity, Creativity and Health • Sustainability • Freie Universität Berlin

Multispecies Campus - A Living Lab for Biodiversity, Creativity and Health

The aim of our Living Lab is to understand and creatively promote the diverse relationships between humans and non-human living beings on campus, while also supporting the well-being and mental health of students.

In this Living Lab, we are expanding the activities of the Blooming Campus at the FU Berlin into a Multispecies Campus.

The aim is to create a campus that actively considers non-human living beings and promotes a positive relationship between humans and nature. In doing so, we are guided by the principles of Animal Aided Design (AAD). We want to increase acceptance of biodiversity and corresponding measures through art projects and targeted public relations work. We are also investigating the interactions between biodiversity, mental health and the well-being of students in a research project. Our Living Lab combines activities from research, teaching and campus life.

The poster from the Teaching Day on 18.11.2024 summarizes our project, which was submitted also to the FEdA conference in 2024.

News:

Save-the-Date: Vernissage from Wed July 02 - Sun August 03, 2025 in the Blätterlaube on Campus Dahlem as part of module two “Improving the acceptance and visibility of biodiversity”
Save-the-Date: Summer study with students of the FU Berlin in module three “Exploring the connection between biodiversity, mental health and well-being”. A questionnaire will soon be available for participation.
Animals, plants, people - living well together on campus: Workshop on September 8th with Rebecca Rongstock and Jonas Schramm.

What has happened so far:

Target species workshop in module one “Recording and promoting biodiversity” held on March 17, 2025.

Winter study in module three “Researching the connection between biodiversity, mental health and well-being” successfully completed. The spring study also took place from 22.04. to 15.05.
Work of the campus nature ranger in module one “Recording and promoting biodiversity” started.

Contact:

Prof. Tanja Straka

Jonas Schramm

We are a team of 9 people. Our Living Lab is based on three modules that complement each other. The contact persons for the respective modules can be found in the descriptions

This project is funded by the Living Lab program of Freie Universität Berlin.

CampusYoga
Image Credit: Dr. Sophie Lokatis

Capturing and promoting biodiversity

In this module, we are working with Studio Animal Aided Design (AAD) to develop a potential analysis for the campus grounds. This is supported by the monitoring and mapping of biodiversity on the campus grounds and the implementation of pilot measures to promote biodiversity.

Image Credit: Bernd Wannenmacher

Improving the acceptance and visibility of biodiversity

This module uses various art projects to draw attention to biodiversity on campus and improve the acceptance and visibility of biodiversity. Another aim of the module is to train multipliers in teaching.

Image Credit: Bernd Wannenmacher

Exploring the connection between biodiversity, mental health and well-being

This module is a research project investigating the interactions between humans and biodiversity with a focus on urban wildlife and their impact on students' mental health and well-being.

Image Credit: Dr. Sophie Lokatis