GESUND

The GESUND study investigates the impact of the GemüseAckerdemie school gardening program on healthy and sustainable behaviors among elementary school children. Specifically, the study aims to assess whether the program increases sustainable dietary practices and environmental awareness among children, as well as whether the garden promotes beneficial ecological services in the garden environment. The study will include a process evaluation to evaluate the factors that contribute to the program’s success, and how it can lead to systemic changes toward sustainability in schools and their local communities. GemüseAckerdemie is a year-round, theory- and practice-oriented educational program for schools that has been developed and implemented by the German non-profit organization Acker e. V. since 2014. The program runs throughout the year and involves children and their teachers growing up to 30 different types of vegetables using ecological practices. The GESUND project’s concept development phase aims to design the concept for the larger study during the realization phase. The sub-objectives of this phase are to develop the study protocol, conduct literature research, and develop the methods and instruments that will be used in the realization phase.

The primary objective of the project is to assess the impact of the GemüseAckerdemie program on participating students’ diets, particularly their consumption of vegetables and meat. The project also aims to evaluate the direct and indirect impacts of the program on the environmental sustainability of children’s diets and the local garden environment.

The concept development phase is being carried out by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK), Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Heidelberg University, and Acker e.V. The consortium has extensive expertise in epidemiology, public health, nutrition, environmental education, and the evaluation of complex interventions. The consortium is led by the PIK working group "Climate Change and Health". The core tasks of the PIK team include the development of the study design for the randomized controlled trial, the development of quantitative instruments, and the preparation of the review of the project by an ethics committee. The PIK team is also responsible for preparing the full proposal and its submission to the funding agency.