The Hochschule Niederrhein invites you to its ‘Open Society Day’ on Saturday 20 June, from 11 am to 4 pm, in the campus garden at Frankenring 20 in Krefeld. Students from the Faculties of Design and Applied Social Sciences are jointly organising a varied programme under the themes of encounter, sustainability and democratic participation.
Residents from the surrounding neighbourhoods are particularly welcome. Through the campus garden, the university aims to consciously open itself up to the urban environment and strengthen the exchange between the university and the wider community. “We are a university that draws its projects from real life and designs them for society. That is why we look forward to engaging with our neighbours,” says Prof. Nicolas Beucker, Professor of Public & Social Design, who launched the Campus Garden in early 2025 together with students.
The campus garden stems from an initiative by ESSBARES KreFELD. With a wildflower meadow, a vegetable patch and herb garden, as well as a strip of deadwood, the garden offers plenty of space for biodiversity. In addition, the university has planted three fruit trees on the West Campus. Next to the garden, a boules court has been created, featuring benches designed by Prof. Beucker as part of a collaboration with a Swiss street furniture manufacturer.
The campus garden is now also being used in a variety of ways in teaching education. Lecturers from different disciplines are incorporating it into their projects, thereby strengthening interdisciplinary collaboration at the Hochschule Niederrhein. The collaboration between Social Design and Social Work also gave rise to the idea of using the garden specifically to promote diversity and democracy.
On Open Society Day, a day when people are invited to meet in person in public spaces, the students are organising a celebration of diversity in the campus garden. For this event, students from both faculties have developed a programme in collaboration with Prof. Beucker and Prof. Dr Heike Niemeyer from the Faculty of Applied Social Sciences.
Activities on offer include planting sessions in the herb beds, building a herb sandpit with the team from ESSBARES KreFELD, information on food rescue and food sharing, discovery trails through the garden, games for children, stories about democracy for young and old, and a “free shop” for clothes, toys and everyday items. The programme is complemented by a garden café serving homemade lemonade and guided boules sessions.
“We look forward to inspiring encounters with everyone from the university community,” says Prof. Dr Heike Niemeyer, emphasising the open nature of the event. The aim, she explains, is to forge even closer links between the university and the wider community on this day.
In addition to the activities at Frankenring 20, on the opposite side of the ring, in Lewerentzstraße, design students will be presenting objects they have designed for public spaces. These objects are specifically intended for temporary use and demonstrate how this unique space could be utilised. The Faculty of Design is also regularly involved in this “foyer” of the university on Lewerentzstraße.
