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Welcome to my blog - here’s an introduction

My name is Stine Glem, and I am doing my last internship of Global Nutrition and Health at Metropol University in Copenhagen.

The place I’m at is Københavns Skolehaver or ‘Copenhagen School Gardens’, which is an organization with 6 school gardens around Copenhagen that teaches courses to kids about the holistic process of growing food with financial support from Copenhagen Commune (Københavns Kommunes Børne-ungdomsforvaltning). Every year, many kids from Copenhagen schools and pre-schools come here and receive their own little piece, and actively learn about gardening, growing their own food in harmony with nature, making food and much more. They participate together to get a sense of the deeper connection of everything, and how we can embrace mother earth to the fullest. There are many volunteers on sight as well as some full time employees.

I am very excited to be a part of this team, helping kids connect with nature and give them an opportunity to actively learn about so many important yet neglected things in life that many schools don’t provide.

During these 12 weeks, I will be gaining a lot of knowledge about how everything actually works, since I don’t have any experience with gardening. I will also be following teachers, so I can learn how they structure and teach the courses. Through discussing pedagogical tools frequently with my colleges (which they make an effort to do regularly here), I will learn a lot about how to communicate key messages to different target groups, which I then will be able to try out myself when I start leading classes/workshops. Through weekly meetings with Gorm, my host supervisor, I will have the opportunity to discuss and reflect on my experiences and get some great input, since he is very experienced.

I would like to explore how I can communicate health messages in an effective way to the different target groups on sight - kids ranging from about 3 - 13 years old.

Lastly, I aim to also gather data for my bachelor thesis by investigating and analyzing the effect and importance of including gardening and outdoor activities/teachings in Danish schools and kindergarten. Right now I’m not fixed on any specific ideas regarding the thesis, but I intend to get more clear each week on my topic and keep developing ideas for the first 6 weeks, and then begin data collection in the second half.

Stay tuned to see what I’m up to and follow some of the fun adventures!

#GNH #Globalnutritionandhealth #københavnsskolehaver #nature #schoolgarden #kids #motherearth #food #metropol #copenhagen #internship #gnhinternship

The seeds are planted, and now it’s time to be patient and wait for what is to come. I am very excited for Spring already, and for future work at Copenhagen School Gardens!

If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to contact me - I will gladly share anything I can with you! I hope you have been inspired by my blog or that it at least has sparked something new inside of you, leading you to do what you dream of. Take care!

Peace <3

#globalnutritionandhealth #gnh #gnhinternship #internship #copenhagenschoolsgarden

Here are some pictures form the past weeks of some of the things we have been doing.

#gnh #gnhinternship #globalnutritionandhealth #internship #copenhagenschoolsgarden

Reflections as the weeks go

A few more weeks have gone by with the new groups of kids, and I have experienced and tried many new things.

First off, I am amazed at how fast kids can learn and grow in the right environment and with positive adults. The teachers from the school who are coming with the kids are really great. There are some main teachers always coming, and then sometimes some new teachers joining on different days. What I think is very important is that the teachers are patient, sensitive, caring, yet strict when it is needed. I have noticed these traits in many of the teachers, and I can tell they are very sensitive to the kids’ needs yet have an authority that they respect. One day, a girl got very angry for no big reason, and she left the group and went pretty far away, hiding from us all. But the teacher told us that it’s okay and to leave her, because she needs her time to cool off alone, and that’s how she works. They didn’t need to go running after her, making a huge scene, and I admired that they knew what she needed in this moment and gave her space instead of trying to make her fit into a certain way of acting. And just as they knew, she came back after about 10 minutes feeling better.

The kids’ attitudes are very mixed, and especially in the beginning, they needed to learn the rules and norms of Copenhagen School Gardens (CSG). They tested some limits to see how far they could go, and then after a few weeks, I think they realized that they are quite free here to have fun and explore, so they could relax more and enjoy.They just have to listen and participate when we have our gatherings and talks, as well as do the activities we planned. Afterwards they get to run around and play as well. One boy the first week was saying things like ‘Why do we have to be here? This is boring..’ and after 3 weeks, I heard him yell at the end of the day, ‘Whaaat, is it already time to go?! But I want to stay here!’. And the teacher said with a smile, ‘Oh, so you enjoy it here afterall?’ as he reminded the boy of his attitude in the beginning. This was great to observe.

Some of the activities we have done include making a fire (every time), cutting wood, making sticks with knives, cooking different things over the fire like popcorn, soups and bread. We even made one of the rabbits one day for lunch over the fire (Gorm prepared in beforehand).

I noticed that especially in the beginning, the kids couldn’t seem to get enough attention, and would do and say anything to get eyes and ears tuned into them - which I guess there can be many reasons for.. But later on, as they gained more confidence, they seemed more at peace and were shouting out less, able to do the activites with more tranqulity and ease.

Each time we met, we focused on language, asking them questions about what we did and repeating many useful terms. This way they get to be more engaged, and I really noticed the Gorm always asked many questions out in the group. This is a great way for them to be more attentive, and they really wanted to be the one to have the right answer.

It’s great to see their progress, but I can also tell that it’s very energy demanding, even though we are a lot of adults with the kids. Some days I feel more exhausted than others, but then it’s always nice to have a good chat with Gorm afterwards about the day.

#gnh #gnhinternship #internship #globalnutritionandhealth #copenhagenschoolsgarden

Preparing the soil for next year

It was definitely not the kids’ favorite thing to be ‘spreading poop’ during the last 2 weeks. But after they wrapped their head around why it is necessary and gained a better understanding of nature’s cycle, the work they did began to make more sense and their attitude really changed. It was very interesting for me to notice how second week was different from the first one, where they were doing it. They also began asking more questions and getting curious - something that I doubt would have happened if they weren’t in the field, but just learning about it in theory.