Niklas and his fellow students from the Energy Seminar were looking to make a practical contribution to creating a sustainable university. What they came up with at the end of summer semester 2023 was an "Insect Inn." This is a box measuring 74 x 26 x 16 centimeters and weighing around 12 kilograms that provides the ideal home for butterflies, lacewings, ladybugs and earwigs. The construction and filling materials for this "hotel", such as boards, wood, wool, branches or pine cones, were either found by the students on campus or obtained as leftover materials from TU Berlin's workshops. The grass area near the herb beds between the TEM Building, the TU Daycare Center and the plant pyramid diagonally behind the Mathematics Building serves as the location of the insect hotel.
🔎🦋 Calling staff and students to help run Insect Inn
The students are now looking for volunteers to take care of the insect hotel after the end of summer semester 2023 to ensure that the insects continue to have a special place on the TU Berlin campus for as long as possible. Tasks include:
- Regular inspections - ideally every few weeks to make sure everything is in good condition
- Tidying: remove dead plant debris or other organic materials that have accumulated in the insect hotel
- Cleaning: if necessary, carefully clean with a soft broom or brush
- Adding materials: add new materials such as pieces of wood, straws or reeds as required
- Water supply: provide a water source such as a shallow dish or small bird bath
If you would like to help, please contact the Energy Seminar by email: energieseminar(at)tu-berlin.de
ℹ️ The Energy Seminar and the Insect Inn project
The Energy Seminar is a working group at TU Berlin that offers several project seminars every semester, but also builds theoretical competence in interdisciplinary teaching. Students from different degree programs work independently on topics from the field of energy-environment-society. The Insect Inn project is a group of 14 students studying Sustainable Management and Industrial Engineering and Management with a specialization in Energy and Resources, as well as Art Studies and Computer Science. During this summer semester, they worked on the topic of a sustainable university. The students received support for their self-organized and practical project work from two tutors.