Living lab: Greening the UBB square

Saar teamed up with students Thijs de Rooij, Stijn Kant and Rebecca Hanke to talk with key stakeholders, setting the criteria and requirements for the new square. Each student deployed their own expertise. Thijs researched possibilities for increasing biodiversity on the square, Stijn occupied himself with the spatial planning, and Rebecca looked at the educational function of the square and made the design sketch. 

The plan is to create outdoor study spaces surrounded by plants and small trees in pots. There will also be a learning path, where visitors are informed about the plants in the garden and the history of the building. Raised beds will offer space for gardening experiments from the minor Environmental Humanities. The square will offer space for outside lectures or shows of local cultural communities.  

The advisory report and the preliminary design were submitted in February 2024. Campus & Facilities, Saar and external engineers are looking into which ideas can be realised. 

The expectation is that the first trees and bushes will be planted after the summer holidays of 2024.  

Students and staff of the university will be involved in the greening of the square throughout the entire process. In the future, the square will provide space for experiments and innovations in the fields of sustainability, culture and nature. Based on user experiences, the design will be fine-tuned continuously.