On the 22nd of April  UN International Mother Earth Day was celebrated in many countries. As in previous years, RCN joined in with events and we used the opportunity to look at  environmental topics in classroom subjects on that day. The ‘headline’ event was held on the weekend of 24th-26th April. On Friday we held a World Today session about eco-villages presented by Magnar Eide, the leader of the Eide Eco-village. After this session 10 students and 3 teachers had the chance to see the eco-village and try out the life there during a two-day trip. Students and staff participated in activities like planting potatoes, building a fence and combing cashmere goats.

Students, staff and residents of the eco-villageAt the College we then hosted 9 friends from the Sogn Jord og Hagebruksskule on the same weekend (their article about the program can be read here) and, with them an enthusiastic group of organizers, we offered a great variety of programmes for those who stayed on-campus: despite the cold, rainy weather we built a herb garden , made organic cosmetics and perfume, and organized a raw-food cafe with live acoustic music. Then, at the end of the weekend, some new College residents arrived – two beehives with honey bees which students and staff will be looking after.