A group of students from our EUROPEA partner Aeres Hogeschool Wageningen (NL) went to Tuscany (IT) last week, together with their lecturer Jan-Willem Noom to study the landscape, architecture and vegetation. Each student had a specific task in the program, in cooperation with local experts.
Interested? Read on!! Short diary of this wonderful experience follows:
The first day: on our way from Pisa Airport to Montecatini Terme in Tuscany where we will start our unique study program around landscape design and analysis, architecture, the genius loci of places and regional agriculture. Together with motivated students from Aeres Hogeschool Wageningen.
The second day of the study course in Tuscany: analysing the green structures and genius loci in Montecatini Terme and Lucca. What a wonderful day together with students from Aeres Hogeschool Wageningen!
The third day of the study course together with my students in Tuscany: we made a study of Medici-villa La Magia and Parco Celle, an open-air gallery of contemporary environmental art. Inspiring introduction by Karen Bergman from the New York University and our floristry-student Elisa from Aeres Hogeschool Wageningen.
The fourth day of the study course in Tuscany together with my students from Aeres Hogeschool Wageningen. We made classic floral compositions at the domain of Villa la Massa near Florence and we studied the sustainable production process of the famous Impruneta terracotta pottery at Poggi Ugo.
The fifth day of the study course in Tuscany together with my students. Visit Vannucci Piante nursery in Pistoia. One of the greatest tree nurseries in Europe. 430 hectares, export to 51 countries. Quality in everything. In the pic above you see one of our landscape students from Aeres Hogeschool Wageningen enjoying a spontaneous pruning training on cypresses.
The final day of the program in Tuscany together with my students from Aeres Hogeschool Wageningen: how to raise awareness of the Genius Loci of a landscape? Students discovered elements from the land, they wrote stories, they draw, and they contacted locals to find the soul of the land, the character of the place.
Acknowledgements: many-many thanks to Jan-Willem 🙂
Photos: Jan-Willem
