Model school garden PED MUNI joins the weekend of open gardens

The model school garden of the MU Faculty of Education is located in close proximity to the Masaryk University campus. The form and especially the care of the garden is based on the concept of natural climate gardens. Since the summer of 2023, it has been a certified Natural Demonstration Garden.

The main principle of the natural gardens is the prohibition of the use of pesticides, artificial fertilizers and peat, and instead the use of various biological principles that promote sustainability and species diversity. For example, two garden ponds, elements such as a lizard tree, a creeper, an insect hotel, an herb spiral, as well as biological material left in piles in the peripheral parts of the garden, are used to increase the biodiversity of the garden. The principles of sustainability are then represented by various irrigation technologies or bio-waste management.

The garden is used for regular and extraordinary teaching of students of the Faculty of Education focused on the issue of science education in the school garden (garden-based learning). The students are mainly introduced to the principles of activity-based and experiential learning in connection with topics such as environmental sensitization, learning about living organisms, cultivation of cultivated plants, nature conservation, principles of sustainability at the individual and community level, as well as flower arranging and floristry.

The garden is regularly opened to pupils from the surrounding primary schools, who are taught by student teachers as part of their extra-curricular activities.