Ceremonial opening of the "CampusBenches" at Hubland North

The project was initiated and carried out by students from the Ecology department, in particular by the head of the department Julian Müller, who also acted as principal investigator of the transformation experiment. It was supported and coordinated by Viola Leisner from WueLAB.

The CampusBenches are located on both sides of Emil-Fischer-Straße: on the left near WueLAB between buildings 22 and 31 and diagonally opposite at the "Emil-Fischer-Straße" bus stop near buildings 40 and 41.

A third bench has been set up in the CampusGarten (at the end of Emil-Fischer-Straße, near the new StuvHub): This is also where signs in the shape of arrows on the benches point, because the students around the Ecology Department were keen to draw attention to the location of the CampusGarden at the end of the Hubland North Campus.

Popular seating - and more

They have already been in use for some time; now all the signs and the biotope elements around the CampusBenches are complete: signposts to the CampusGarden, explanatory information boards about the biotope elements on the respective bench, the biotope elements themselves and small boards with exercises for relaxation by the Healthy University have been added in recent months. At the first bench near Building 31, there are nesting boxes for birds and roosts for bats on the trees around the bench. At the second location, a pile of dead wood has been erected as an ecological spot or habitat.

These small biotopes follow the principle of stepping stone biotopes. These are small, isolated habitats that - like stepping stones - are distributed across a landscape and serve as a link between larger habitats for animals and plants, allowing them to migrate, spread and exchange. The Living Campus initiative and the "L(i)ebenswerter Campus" transformation experiment have set themselves the goal of increasing the number of stepping stone biotopes on the Hubland campus.

Both groups and the people behind them were involved in the student transformation experiment "CampusBank" and supported the project with ecological expertise.

Project insights

After a site inspection at the start of the project, during which suitable locations were selected and the design agreed, the next step was to select the bench models and order them. The biotope elements were planned and the design of the signs and information boards was created in collaboration with Elisabeth Suchan, who was studying design. This was followed by the more practical phases. The benches were assembled and installed with a great deal of dedication and craftsmanship by members of the ecology department. The breeding and nesting boxes were also installed and hung up, and the deadwood pile and the stand constructions for the information boards and signposts were erected.

Invitation to take a seat, linger and observe

The benches offer space to switch off, serve as an opportunity for an outdoor lunch break, as a place to learn in the countryside, to pause and take a deep breath with the exercises of the Healthy University or as a place for birdwatching and studying the existing fauna.

We are therefore delighted with a successful, highly visible transformation experiment on the campus, in which a variety of aspects have been incorporated and brought together in a harmonious way.

Thanks go to everyone involved: the RefÖko team, the Healthy University and the WueLAB, the Living Campus initiative as well as the area management, construction planning and technical operations for their advisory support in advance.