The climate garden in Rapperswil is open for two months starting on 1st April. Several schools have already registered. “And the students are fire and flame,” says Viola Thiel, who oversees the climate garden at the HSR. She also brings the view of landscape architecture.
The interactive experiment invites the public to experience climate scenarios for themselves and to learn more about the effects of climate change on plants, landscapes and cities in Switzerland. The climate garden consists of two greenhouses. One is heated to 28 degrees, which according to current research corresponds to the average summer temperature in 2085, when the emission of CO2 is greatly reduced. So three degrees more than today. The other greenhouse is heated to 31 degrees. That would be the scenario if Switzerland continued as it has been until now. In addition, one half of each greenhouse receives 30 percent less water. The same plants are grown in both greenhouses. For example, grain, potatoes or soya. Visitors to the public exhibition can observe for more than two months what is growing in the hot climate and what is not. “This is how visitors can see which plants are the climate losers and which are the climate winners,” says Schläpfer. The latter includes, for example, soya, which could become a more widely used plant in Switzerland in the future.
Various guided tours take place within the framework of the climate garden. There are also offers for school classes and children. Experience, for example, a tour of the Climate Garden 2085 together with Dr. Juanita Schläpfer from the Zurich-Basel Plant Science Center. The full program can be found here.
Image: Dr. Juanita Schläpfer (PSC) and Viola Thiel (HSR), by Adriana Ortiz Cardozo
