From soil to stewardship: Regenerative learning classes

In conservation and restoration projects, long-term outcomes depend on more than maps and models. They depend on people having the tools, confidence, and routines to keep protecting the landscape year after year. That is why we started Kaliwirinae, our school garden initiative at the Rubiales Educational Institution: a practical way to connect climate, soils, food, and forest stewardship through hands-on learning.

From greenspace to outdoor classroom

The green space at the school was turned into a school garden where the pupils will get interactive classes on a regular basis guided by our technical team. We named it Kaliawirinae, an indigenous term for Tree of life. The idea is that students move their classrooms to the soil and participate in sustainable agronomic classes, from soil preparation and planting to harvesting their yield.

Kaliawirinae is an indigenous myth from the Sikuani people about a food tree. The myth tells the story of how fruits and food were obtained and how cultivation began. Fruit was discovered by the Cuchicuchi monkey and the indigenous people found out by sending an agouti to follow the monkey, Other versions of the myth go even further and see Kaliawirinae as the tree of life: food sprouted, but also the clans, farms, teamwork and entire community.

Growing stewardship

Our technical team is also giving extra classes/workshops and supporting the students with notebooks. In one class, students learned about the basics of climate change and its effect in the world. Another class was given on soil characteristics and different management practices. Students learnt quickly when lessons are tied to some practical exercises in the garden.

They planted pineapple, cassava, plantains, tomatoes and bell peppers. Some plastic bottles were reused as mini-greenhouses and Bocashi was prepared and added to the seedlings, this is a fertilizer sourced from local materials.