Interdisciplinary Education through a Schoolgarden with Social Benefits
„SzínesKert” in the schoolyard is a beautiful garden with magical plants for making colourful dyes. Join our community to discover an ancient knowledge, the wonderful harmony with nature. Throw your thoughts of consumption and comfort into the composte bin, let it be recycled and enjoy your new strength while working. Plant seeds. Recharge in the sun near birds, then head into the workshop. Others inspire your creativity. You’ll be amazed at things that are born. „NATURE RECOLOURS the FUTURE!”
Regional
Hungary
Bács-Kiskun County
It addresses urban-rural linkages
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): SzínesKert Foundation Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Ilona Last name of representative: Szelesné Kása Gender: Female Nationality: Hungary Function: member of the board Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: Kiss János utca 2. Town: Lakitelek Postal code: 6065 Country: Hungary Direct Tel:+36 20 209 7027 E-mail:szelesnekasailona@gmail.com
Our innovation, „SzínesKert” is a garden where "nature recolours future". A beautiful place created by children for everyone. A permaculture garden planted with dyeing and other plants affecting all your senses. It inspires you for further creation. A meeting point for different people and generations. An educational programme that you enjoy. Traditional and modern solutions to global challenges. Join our positive attitude, let "nature recolour future".
„Nature recolours Future” – SzínesKert (ColourfulGarden- Garden of dyeing plants)
a place – given back consciuos for nature in the most modern permacultural way – teaching environmental awareness and sustainibility
a place which can provide an aesthetic experience, emerge in beauty
a place of learning (outside classroom) for lessons
a place of physical work and creation
a place of meeting – for participating students, teachers, parents, families, guests– where everyone is important, useful and has the same chance
a method which can be learnt
which helps experiental learning
which can help you in self-study
which can be used to social inclusion
which helps to recover traditions
which teaches how to react flexible on modern challenges and using the modern technics in appropriete and responsible way
A group of people
who are bounded together through „Színeskert”. They have common that they are engaged for environment, for aesthetic values and for humanity in the best sense: a group is happy if each member feels itself good and respected.
A junior achievement, student enterprise.
We have a 10 years old way behind us, where we learnt a lot, and tried to spread our experiences. We have achieved success and are known in the whole country.
We would like to see more oases like this in the country to achieve our goal: „Nature recolours future”.
Complex education
Permaculture
Flexible adaptation of tradition
Meeting point
Aesthetics value creation
Economic sustainability
The garden is based on the principals of permaculture. In designing and maintaining our project, we put emphasis on a small budget: the added value by the locals and the participants is more prominent than the financial input. The materials used in the construction of the garden were not purchased, but collected from the families of the pupils and from local people and organizations. E.g. demolished bricks for the raised bed, materials for the ornamental gate, bird and insect feeders, nests for birds, insect shelters and seating. We sow own-collected and inherited seeds. The topsoil is created by self-composting. Mulching is used to protect the soil with green waste produced by the gardeners themselves or collected from the locals. We collect rainwater, since we live in a drought-prone area, it is important to retain water and irrigate professionally. Thanks to permaculture agriculture, biodiversity can be observed. Rare animals have appeared in our garden: Agile frog (rana dalmatina), praying mantis (mantis religiosa).
Educational sustainability
We make plant ink and dyeing from plants we grow together in the garden. We use these for crafts, art and household activities in formal and informal circumstances. With the support of Junior Achievement Hungary, students set up a student business under the guidance of a mentor teacher. They learn about the circular economy within the framework of the enterprise. They produce and sell products using their own grown plants, without a carbon footprint.
Social sustainability
The program is sustained thanks to the teacher of the primary school and volunteers. Therefore, it is not requiring high labor cost. We are unique compared to other school garden, since our pupils volunteer to maintain the garden during the summer break.
The complexity of the above-mentioned issues makes our project exemplary. Locals started to use our practices like using mulch, uses our seeds of landscape species etc.
The SzínesKert programme leader defines herself as an eco-art teacher. She is a nationally recognized artist in the field of folk art. Creating aesthetic quality in the garden is a central objective of the programme.
The corner of the schoolyard was an unused wasteland. The SzínesKert has brought it to life, and the barren corner has become a colourful spot in the school. The best example of this is that in 2022 it won the award for the Most Beautiful School Kitchen Garden in Hungary. In addition to the beautiful colourful plants, the garden has been enriched with various decorations during arts and crafts classes and activities. We try to use natural and recycled materials to decorate the garden. The use of these materials develops the children's creativity. For example, we have made plant marker boards from recycled materials, a gate with small burrows, bird feeders and plant protection balls from wild grape stems. Thus, the aesthetic beauty of the garden was complemented by innovative cultural and craft activities. Through the use of natural materials, children are taught about possible colour fading, as the dyes obtained from plants change and evolve over time. So they are also used with this in mind.
Local, regional and national artisans are visited and come to visit us, so children can learn from renowned masters and learn about the roots of certain arts and crafts. They make medicinal herbal ointment with knowledgeable professionals.
PARTICIPATION IN THE PROGRAMME IS OPEN: For families living in poverty or for wealthy classes who have moved to rural areas due to suburbanisation - everything is free of charge. There is no age limit, the timetable is flexible: sessions on weekdays, at weekends, open workshops are also available. DIFFERENCES ARE REDUCED: We wear work clothes, like a "uniform". In physical work - we struggle as equals while gardening. Language communication is less important, we include children of guest workers. There are no gender differences. In the garden we educate participants not for consumption but for self-sustainability, which distracts attention from material differences. Our programme is popular among students with learning difficulties. They work in small groups, the trained teacher can solve current problems such as bullying. MANAGEMENT : The garden is managed by different persons whose responsibilities are laid down in a contract (parent-child-mentor-teacher) each year. They are taught to responsibility and to ask for help. The positions in the student enterprise are modelled like in a real company: e.g. there is a managing director, a HR manager. Preparing for the Spring Fair, we estimated how many times we would need to prepare, assessed our resources, defined the products, developed the marketing, tested the prototype, and then evaluated the work. INTERGENERATIONAL INTERACTION: students ask grandparents for their gardening knowledge and children help them with the plant recognition app. Everyone can be valuable. Garden maintenance is vital in the summer, when most of the work is done, so joint grandparent-parent-child time management and work is essential. The garden produce is used to make gifts for the residents of the local retirement club and care centre. RESULTS. Positive reinforcement reflects on behaviour and role in school, thanks to our successes, colleagues are incorporating pedagogical elements that we have adopted into their methodology.
In its work, the ’SzínesKert’ seeks to involve many layers and groups of society.
The open days, workshops, gardening and camps are open to school staff (teachers and technical staff), children's family members, the local community, local elderly, pensioners, members of the Lakitelek Youth Club, other educational institutions (from kindergarten to higher education), participants of innovation themed short courses, other school gardens, organisations (like Aranyhomok Kistérségi Egyesület), art groups, participants of community service programmes and community service students.
It has also been used as a venue for training of colleagues. The garden had a therapeutic effect on the participants. It is ideal place for community experiences, strengthening relationships and making new connections.
The project is part of the ’Nyitott műhely program’ (national open workshop programme), which provides an opportunity for people from all over the country to actively get to know us.
The programme also provides opportunities for knowledge sharing, networking and community building through visits to seed fairs, markets and events. Volunteer participation of local people in the garden design and gardening activities provided physical refreshment and a sense of belonging.
Participants in the programs are enriched with eco-mindedness. And they gain an aesthetic experience through the garden's vibrancy.
In spite of the garden's fixed location, the programme also reaches out to communities further afield through invited speakers, exhibitors and session leaders, who deliver sessions, workshops and presentations.
Our aim is to create a ’SzínesKert’ network.
Local: Participating pupils are essentials from the beginning since they designed the garden, they form the classes. As their interest is changing the teacher tries to adapt to them and widen their view.
The parents and the volunteer are also influential as they help in designing and maintaining the project
The location of the garden has been provided by the local municipality in a long-term contract. The school's administration has given its support. The project is beneficial for both parts, since they apply a unique method. With the growing awareness of the project comes the reputation of the school and the village
Locals buy products created by the pupils in the local market, they attend the open days or events of the organization. Local newspaper reports regularly about this program.
Regional: As a mentor garden we help regional school gardens in professional development.
We gave a presentation for regional mayors, who can adapt the project in their town.
The Duna-Tisza Folk Art Association supports our activity, therefore we upholding our folk art.
National: Vice-President of the Parliament also recognises our work.
The National Institute of Culture has provided funding to get us started.
The School Garden Network ensures a professional background and inspiring applications to help us develop. In addition, in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and ModernHome, it has covered the cost of our outdoor classroom and tool shed.
Junior Achivement Hungary also provides the framework of the student enterprise. Since we are its partner we bring them closer to achieve their goals.
Partner educational institutions, who are open to adapting methodologies, and ideas and later join the SzínesKert network.
The Hungarian Academy of Art's Master and Eagle programme gives two local young people the opportunity to learn the techniques of dye plants in the Színeskert.
European: We hosted an international meeting where foreigners were able to learn about us.
„SzínesKert” is a place where people from a wide range of disciplines and practical skills can flourish, building on each other's work. The practical, theoretical, social, emotional, aesthetic fields are united in a common product. Our success is also due to the fact that we build from many places and in many ways. We are flexible and constantly innovating. We are able to respond to the most modern challenges with our knowledge of tradition.
And this complex work only works in a community based on trust.
We can integrate it into all subjects: in Chemistry class we make vegetable ink, in Visual Culture class we use ink to paint a kite made in technology class. In Physics we learn about aerodynamics, in PE we fly the kite, in Social Class we develop self-awareness by articulating our fears and " dragons ", which we then release while flying. Members of the student enterprise make kites to sell, and we share the proceeds. In Literature class, we practice writing poetry about colours, expanding students' vocabulary while they can name shades of colour. The possibilities are endless... In addition, we involve a wide variety of professionals in the practical care of the garden: an agricultural specialist e.g. for composting, a forester for tree planting, a design engineer, a woodworker, a carpenter, a mason for building of a the tree house, a biochemist, a textile designer e.g. for ecoprinting, an economist for developing a student business, a mental health professional, a developmental educator for fostering peer relationships through trust games, a social worker when visiting a home for the elderly.We have a close professional relationship with the Kiskunság National Park and the arboretums in the area, from which we exchange plants and make reciprocal visits.
We have been innovative from the start. The local school and community could not understand the importance of the forgotten dyeing plants, even less understood what a garden could have to do with physics lessons, social interaction or enterprise building. We were discovered much earlier by national programmes. We are reaching back to tradition, able to adapt ancient knowledge to new uses, e.g. we have made Barbie doll clothes, friendship bracelets or even mobile phone cases from plant-dyed wool. “Nature recolours future” we are connecting to green transition, responding to the latest global challenges by creating a supportive learning environment for sustainability, enabling hands-on, interdisciplinary teaching. We can respond quickly to challenges. This is made possible by our receptiveness to the work of others and our willingness to collaborate with them. This collaborative, reciprocal approach is also instilled in the children involved and they see the practical benefits, which reinforces these social skills. A current example of this is the use of the latest methods of drought and flood management, the 'rain garden' or 'forest garden', which we are communicating to the local community through demonstrations, practical examples and advice. During the Covid children grew plants, then brought them home, later planted them in the garden. 200 insect hotels were built in the village. Complex education in practice is a novelty in public education in Hungary. It is a refreshing experience for children in a very theoretical, routinised environment, and leaves a lasting impression on them as we go from physical work with the land to brand building. It not only imparts knowledge but also skills, shapes their world view and helps them find their career path. We tackle social and environmental problems at the same time, for example, reducing waste production, working with recycled materials that need well-functioning human networks to collect them.
The adaptation of a dyeing plant garden is recommended where environmental pollution makes it unsuitable for growing food crops. An outdoor classroom is an energy-saving solution due to its minimal need for external resources. SzínesKert can also work well as a community garden for anyone. Artistic content is at the heart of SzínesKert: possibilities for using plants are endless e.g. colour therapy or eco-art approaches. Good examples for creating an aesthetically pleasing environment within a garden, e.g. by placing colourful tools, plant name plates, bird boxes, benches. In the artistic creation of objects (e.g. felting, painting of eggs) we carry on traditions. We can provide our partners with complex good practices (ink making, energy-saving ecoprinting). We offer the opportunity to take on the experience of creating a garden: step-by-step permaculture, shading, installing a woodland garden, a rain garden, how contracting the person responsible. Our model programme has been included as an accredited 60 hours training of the National Institute for Cultural Affairs. We are an active member of the School Garden Network: regular contributors to books, magazines and trainings for garden leaders. Our methods are taught at the Széchenyi University of Győr in teacher training. We are a recommended method for folk high schools. We are included in textbooks for the 5th and 7th grades of technology. We have been involved in the Erasmus Programme on several occasions, e.g. in the framework of the”School Garden Goes Europe” project of the University of Győr. We are continuously gaining practical knowledge about the use of plants. Traditional methods areexplored and experimented with modern uses of plants, e.g. sustainable fashion camp. We have a sample collection of finished products from jewellery to packaging bags, available to anyone at any time. Our aim with this grant is to transfer all this knowledge through the „SzínesKert” Network.
The SzínesKert educational programme is present in the school formally in class: Visual Culture, Crafts, Graphics, Social Skills and Talent Management, and informally in the form of a studio and student enterprise. It is nterdisciplinary: it has been occasionally introduced in other classes, and we aim to integrate it in more subjects. In addition to the regular activities, we have many occasional activities: open workshops, seed fairs, participation in competitions, fairs, selling at the market. We host and visit masters and professionals for knowledge transfer.
It is a special merit of ours that this complex programme, based on folk traditions but using the most modern teaching methods, is run within the framework of a state school, the Eötvös School in Lakitelek. Everyone is welcome: talent management and catching up are both part of the programme.
It provides experiential learning for the students involved. It develops skills. Blended learning and outdoor learning make students inclusive.
We use gamification methods, e.g. points system in assessment, playful colouring.
There is also a therapeutic element, for example, students who have difficulties with verbal skills can succeed here using their other senses.
When we make dyes from plants, we investigate how the same plant gives colour on different materials and with different additives - an experimental method of learning.
Social learning is also achieved by working with students from different backgrounds, whether disadvantaged or well-situated
A beautiful, aesthetic environment educates children and teaches respect. The garden is not vandalised despite its openness. Applications are always an opportunity to stop, take stock and try new things. The current challenge in writing applications is to use English. This encourages contact with foreigners and the organisation of English language programmes such as camps in the garden
As a mentor garden we work in professional training for fellow teachers
For 8 from the 17 sustainable development goals of the United Nations we provide local solutions through SzínesKert education programme
2. ZERO HUNGER: Our students learn the basics of self-care, many of them also garden at home with their families or even on their own. They harvest ripened seeds to reproduce plants. At seed fairs, seeds are donated to interested local citizens.
3. GOOD HEALTH AND WELLBEING: Participants can practice healthy food production in a permaculture environment, exercise their bodies while doing physical work.
4. QUALITY EDUCATION: They receive future-oriented, complex training, while career orientation is also facilitated.
11 SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND COMMUNITIES: In our community, learning from each other helps to make sustainability a natural part of everyday life, working together to find sustainable solutions. We share our experiences with the villagers through the most popular local communication channel (Facebook) and in person, through presentations and actions
12 RESPONSIBLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION: They respect the plants they grow by themselves, and are happy to eat them even if they have a few imperfections. Through the practice of student entrepreneurship, they will be able to produce a product without a carbon footprint, using the plants of the garden, while respecting our traditions.
"There is no such little thing which cannot be given" - we teach them that it is a pleasure to share.
They prefer to eat local fruit and vegetables.
13. CLIMATE ACTION:Our educational principles are respecting water, soil, growing landscape species. Collect rainwater
15. LIFE ON LAND: permaculture farming is increasing biodiversity in and around the ColourGarden.
17 PARTNERSHIP FOR GOALS: During the common work students become inclusive, open-hearted. They learn to respect the community, build community and help each other. They accept the expertise of a mentor teacher, plan together, experience shared success or even failure.
In the 10 years since the programme started, 900 students have participated, as well as many parents and other professional and layman.
Participating in competitions and contests is a great opportunity for us. Not only does it provide the promotion of prizes and a continuous economic opportunity for development, but it is also very inspiring and not least, the children's individual and social development is positively influenced by the work invested and the results.
2017 SzínesKert was the venue for the 3rd National School Garden Network Meeting, where we presented our programme to 80 participants, including many international visitors. As a result, several school gardens were planted with dyeing plants. We have been consulted for advice on our innovative methods. We publish our methods in national school garden publications.
We won the Ozone Green Award for Sustainability from Ozone TV in 2017
2018 we were declared a local value and pride and featured in a book about the municipality.
Our students take part in the national student enterprise competition every year: winning the Innovation Special Award in 2020, the Outstanding Collaboration Award in 2021 and the Best Student Enterprise Award in 2022
We were awarded the Best School Kitchen Garden in Hungary in 2022
Our plans in case of a successful application:
1 person will have a full-time job, which will allow us to do our current work more efficiently and intensively, and will also give us the opportunity to implement the following improvements:
Create a National Colour Garden Network, with a strong emphasis on transferring complex thinking
Produce a summary publication of our methodology and good practices for wider dissemination
Organise open days for those interested
Expand the garden area with Bible plants
Expand the area of the garden with the creation of a wetland near the garden
Install a modern drip irrigation system
Provide a beautiful garden with a modern garden furniture system
Goals of SzínesKert educational programme fully cover the aims of the European Comission’s called „green education” for "green transition".
In the focus of the „SzínesKert” educational programme is a real garden which is permacultural, that means an up to date realisation of sustainibility. We make every steps (reducing waste, composting, recycling, prefer local species, boosting biodiversity)environmental conscious. Students see it first in the practise then we talk about it theoretical. The programme is present in the formal and informal learning and spread the idea of green transition for teachers, pupils, families and locals. Pupils make their own gardens at home in the similar way like in the school and make their surroundings aware of the actual environmental problems and solutions. In our days we try to solve the problem of drought and irrigating through the innovative „rain garden” method. We organize a civil inniciative to bring people this idea nearer. In the introduction above you can read detailed about our efforts, practises in this aspect.
