The sustainability center in Assen has been around for ten years. This is celebrated with ten days full of activities in the middle of the Asserbos. There are, among other things, performances and workshops. Children can watch out for their eyes and playfully discover everything about nature and sustainability.
One of the highlights is the theater performance To the bottom. Visitors crawl under a large rug and learn, together with an actor, more about everything that happens underground. “There we are celebrating a party to appreciate the soil animals,” says Maurice Hummel of the Sustainability Center. “Those critters are super important, even though many people find them a bit exciting.”
The Sustainability Center has been doing, learning and experiencing for ten years. Visitors can not only watch, but also think along. In the large, orange, ‘ideas machine’, children and adults can make a plan step by step for a more sustainable world. “Children often have the best ideas,” says Hummel. He runs past a few cards, where the plans are written down, and reads them: “More apple trees in the garden, beautiful cycle paths or even robots that help with sustainability.”
There are also wish flags everywhere. On one state: ‘fewer people, more peace’. On another: ‘Leave unhealthy things’. Every flag shows what visitors, and especially children, find important for the future.
According to Dialla Akop-van den Berg, there is always something to experience in the sustainability center. “We organize activities where children get to know nature. We do this work not alone, but together with residents and partners.”
The center has achieved a lot in the past ten years. It shows how you can save energy at home, how you can reuse waste and how to make your garden attractive for animals.
In the coming years, more attention will be paid to a healthy lifestyle. “We would like to do more with healthy food and lessons about it,” says Akop-van den Berg. “It would be nice if our work was ever necessary, but we are not that far yet.”
Children play an important role in the work of the sustainability center. “They often know exactly what can be greener and smarter,” says Hummel. “We have to listen carefully to their ideas. That helps us all ahead.”