Stories
on ecology, partnerships and impact
Growing Knowledge: The Blooming Gardens of Anderson County Library
01/04/2025
What began as an "unutilized, overgrown green space" in the children's section of Anderson County Library has blossomed into something extraordinary. In 2018, Dodie Clark, a certified SC Master Gardener, SC Native Plant Society member, and Upstate SC...
From Tin Can Lids to QR Codes: A Legacy of Natural Connection
18/03/2025
In the forests of West Virginia, a young Boy Scout named Rick Brown carefully painted tree names on tin can lids, nailing them to trees to create a nature trail for his fellow scouts. This early passion would grow into a lifelong commitment to connec...
From PlantsMap to Plantsoon: A Digital Conservation Journey
12/03/2025
In the tranquil woodlands of Tidewater Virginia, along the Bassett Trace Nature Trail, QR codes affixed to remarkable trees tell stories spanning centuries. Behind these digital gateways stands Rick Brown, whose dedication to connecting people with n...
Draves Arboretum’s Digital Evolution
01/03/2025
Nestled in Darien, New York, Draves Arboretum is a sanctuary for tree enthusiasts and visitors. As an ArbNet Level III* accredited arboretum, it boasts a diverse collection of rare and valuable trees. Efficient management and engaging visitor ...
Virtual Exchange with Green Projects in Europe
01/10/2024
Eveline Seghers is the coordinator of the Futures through Design Research Center (KASK) at HOGENT. As part of an Erasmus+ project, the college aims to develop and put into practice more circular ways of thinking through various activities, from works...
Parents and Plantsoon join forces
30/08/2024
LAB Driven Education is independent, recognized, and subsidized. The first school opened in Sint-Amands in 2016, followed by a second one in Sint-Niklaas six years later. LAB aims to blur the boundaries of the classroom because there is a need for an...
Laakdal Invests in Local Greenery
14/07/2024
Laakdal, a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp with a population of over 16,000 people, is taking bold steps towards its climate goals by creating more natural spaces in the area. Two former football fields have been reimagined as...
Personalize a Tree
03/05/2024
In Brakel, Belgium, elementary school students have planted more than 1,500 trees in the Sporenbos Forest. The forest, along with the adjacent piece of land, consists of four parts: a Nesting Forest for children with and without disabilities, ...
Nurturing Ecology, Education and Engagement in Higher Education
19/04/2024
John Carroll University (JCU) in University Heights, Ohio is making significant strides in sustainability, being recognized as a USA Tree Campus, launching an on-campus arboretum, and pledging to become a Laudato Si' Campus in alignment with Pope Fra...
Digitizing the Oedelem Agricultural and Horticultural School Garden
15/03/2024
Kimara Goethals has been working at the Agriculture and Horticulture School in Oedelem for 10 years, first as a science teacher and now as the director for the past three years. Transferring from a general to a vocational secondary education school, ...
Where food forest and community garden come together
24/11/2023
The old soccer field next to the Vogelzang day center and a private plot of land will be transformed together into a small natural paradise. There will be a food forest with fruit trees, a food forest border and a community garden. It will be a place...
Tree health app - healthy city trees
19/10/2023
Flanders is becoming increasingly paved. Especially in cities, concrete creates “heat islands” in the summer. City trees then play an important role. They provide cooling and improve urban livability. But are our trees still healthy? With the Tre...
Buzzwatch – a golden opportunity for our bees
19/10/2023
Bee populations experienced distressingly high mortality rates once again this past winter. Our honeybees are the proverbial "canary in the coal mine," signaling threats to the broader population health of all pollinator species, including critical p...
Fruit trees with a story
16/05/2023
Stadsbomerij is a tree nursery in Almere (NL) where old and new fruit tree varieties and berry bushes are grown without the use of artificial fertilizers or pesticides. To give pests less of a chance to wreak havoc, everything is planted together in ...
Sint-Pietersinstituut Turnhout
16/02/2023
A few years ago, the Sint-Pietersinstituut had typical gray monotonous plain as a playground where it quickly became too hot in the summer. Since then, the area around the school buildings was transformed into a climate-friendly playground where spor...
All trees have a passport at the Sint-Paulus School in Kortrijk
08/12/2022
On the playground of the Sint-Paulus school in Kortrijk, the children come into contact with nature again. Playing and learning are paramount. Due to a goal oriented and sustainable process, the city school has successfully transformed its concrete f...
Plantsoon is committed to our next generation
15/11/2022
Several municipalities and cities in Belgium gift newborns with a birth tree. You can plant this tree in your own garden or a 'birth forest' created by the municipality or city, where each parent can plant their personal birth tree. Plantsoon provid...
Den Boogerd is creating a cooperative food forest
26/09/2022
During the winter of '22-'23, Den Boogerd created a food forest of 0.7 ha in Zelem. They added berry, flower and herb beds and other types of fruit in shrubs, low and semi-standard varieties to its collection of apple trees. Together with the adjacen...
The 'crooked birch' is the first identifiable tree of the HOGENT
21/07/2022
The 'crooked birch' is a concept on this college campus in Ghent and an important part of the Ecoshelter XL project. All employees can scan a QR code that gives them more information about the tree. HOGENT also wants to turn the 'crooked birch' into ...