“The gardeners of the XXI century,

have realised that they can no longer work alone. They know too many things and know too well what they don’t know. They have understood that the XXI century will be the century of collective intelligence. They are aware of the potentiality of the garden as part of the humans’ ecosystem and that it must be accessible to everyone in many forms; but they know it will only be possible if its complexity is understood as a common endeavour, as a never-ending shared journey towards wisdom.”

"The gardener of the twenty-first century" by Teresa Galí-Izard, CCCB, Barcelona (2021)

The Chair of Being Alive invited students of ETH Zurich to spend a week in the garden of the XXI century in the fall of 2021. As mentioned in the quote above, the question of who are the gardeners of the XXI century guided us through these days. Who are they? What tools do they have? What goals are they striving for? The seminar week was dedicated to field research and students learned from local practitioners and scientists how to document and observe the environment around us.