A mapping exercise provided a clear picture to the allotment gardeners from Eberswalde’s Schwärze Valley: The total area of the allotment covers an area of about 1.3 ha, although the area used by the gardeners is much smaller. In the summer term 2013, students of the study programme “IFEM-International Forest Ecosystem” surveyed the allotment gardens of KGV Schwärze Tal e.V.

The mapping exercises was part of their interdiction to Geographic Information Systems at HNEE. The university equipped them with alignment poles, GPS devices, notepads and cameras, to map the garden boundaries in small groups.The allotment gardeners from Eberswalde’s Schwärze Valley have a clear picture: The total area of the allotment covers an area of about 1.3 ha, although the area used by the gardeners is much smaller. In the summer term 2013, students of the study programme “IFEM-International Forest Ecosystem” surveyed the allotment gardens of KGV Schwärze Tal e.V.

The mapping exercises was part of their interdiction to Geographic Information Systems at HNEE. The university equipped them withalignment poles, GPS devices, notepads and cameras, to map the garden boundaries in small groups.

GIS and Urban Green – IFEMm students map allotment gardens in Eberswalde’s Schwärze valley

The students produced sketches that, when combined, resulted in a new digital map of the allotment garden. The cadastral office of the city of Eberswalde provided aerial photographs from 1992 for this purpose, which served the students as a spatial input for their sketches.

The technical understanding of geoinformation systems is one of the methodological and professional foundations for producing maps and analysing spatial data as envisioned by the  IFEM course..

“Using the example of the Schwärze Tal allotment, students learnt how to record spatial data with a GPS device, categorize it and visualize it in, for example, a digital map. This is a great example of service learning befitting our the direct neighbours of the University. “Jan-Peter Mund

For the allotment garden association, the HNE’s GIS exercise came at just the right time. The lease agreement with the municipality was up for renewal. The previous sketch of the site dates back to 1974. Although all 158 plots are noted on the sketch, the paths or biotopes such as meadows or ponds were not recorded in 1974. Also, some tenants have built new arbors or sheds in the past decades. Such construction measures were applied for and approved, but the sketch has not been updated since 1974.