How can gardens become true biodiversity hotspots? And what role do gardeners’ everyday decisions, experiences, and gardening traditions play? This is where G/ArtenLeben unfolds: it connects local gardening knowledge with ecological research and engages gardeners and school students as active co-researchers.
© G/ArtenLeben
Gardens are far more than private retreats: they are valuable habitats for plants, insects, birds, and many other species. Especially in densely populated and intensively farmed regions, they make an important contribution to preserving and connecting biodiversity. At the same time, they promote health, well-being, and social interaction.
However, despite their importance, many questions remain unanswered:
- Which gardening practices are particularly effective in supporting biodiversity?
- How do personal experiences, traditions, and values influence gardening, and the gardening practices people use?
- And how can scientific knowledge and everyday experience work together more effectively?
The project addresses these gaps through an integrated approach that combines ecological data, local knowledge and cultural perspectives, and education.
Three Building Blocks – One Shared Goal
1. G/ArtenGeschichten: Making Local Knowledge Visible
In interactive workshops called G/ArtenCafés, gardeners share their experiences, methods, and perspectives. Together, they reflect on how different gardening practices influence nature. These workshops will not only create a valuable exchange but also help to co-design a survey “from gardeners for gardeners” to systematically collect and share knowledge. In this way, the project highlights how strongly cultural traditions and personal beliefs can shape ecological outcomes.
The G/ArtenCafés take place in September and October 2026 at three selected locations.
2. G/ArtenVielfalt: Documenting Biodiversity and Exploring the Impact of Gardening Practices
The second step becomes hands-on: gardeners observe plants and animals directly in their gardens — for example during collaborative BioBlitz activities or through simple monitoring methods. They document their observations and share information about their gardens.
The collected data helps answer questions such as:
- Which species are present and how common are they?
- How do specific gardening practices influence species presence and abundance?
- And what can be done to support biodiversity even more effectively?
The observations made by participating gardeners are scientifically analyzed and compared with reference data. This creates, for the first time, a well-founded understanding of which measures are particularly effective under which conditions.
G/ArtenVielfalt activities start in January 2027 and continue throughout the 2027 and 2028 gardening seasons.
3. G/ArtenNeugier: Inspiring the Next Generation
A special focus of the project is also placed on children and young people: in schools, gardening and scientific work are combined through practical activities.
Through workshops, small experiments, and nature observations, students learn:
- to understand local biodiversity,
- to collect data themselves,
- and to take responsibility for their environment.
In this way, they grow into a new generation of “G/ArtenForscher:innen.”
The project is run jointly by the IIASA Novel Data Ecosystem for Sustainability (NODES) and Biodiversity, Ecology, and Concervation (BEC) research groups, leading G/ArtenGeschichten and G/ArtenVielfalt respectively. Project partner Nanu, an association for environmental education, is responsible for school engagement and G/ArtenNeugier activities.
With friendly support from: Natur im Garten, ÖKOLOG-Netzwerk, Marktgemeinde Laxenburg, Biosphärenpark Wienerwald, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Arche Noah und Die Garten Tulln.