Botanica - Movement

NOV DEC

2017

BOTANICA

the roots and branches of sustainable ideas

MOVEMENT

botanicalnu

This publication is made possible by Linnaeus University

Thanks to Greta Mabilia (founder and graphic designer) Julius Hamilton (editor) Magdalena Schwarzenlander (editor) Clara Bara Palma (editor) Luisa Leroy (editor) Maria Pasqualini (editor) for their contribution to this issue of BOTANICA

Nov/Dec 2017 N.2

MOVEMENT

Every issue of "BOTANICA" follows a different theme.

Students of LNU are free to interpret it in their own, creative way: diversity of opinion is celebrated.

INDEX How do we move at LNU? (p. 1-6) Moving out of the comfort zone (p. 7-10) The new way of living (p. 11-16) Activewear: where is the movement? (p. 17-20) The now (p. 21-24) Birds flying high (p. 25-26) The Transition Movement at LNU (p. 27-30) How to keep moving (p. 31-34) Reflections on Vipassana (p. 35-40)

HOW DO WE MOVE AT LNU?

author

Greta Mabilia I am a student of the program "Design + Change" at LNU. I work with design and sustainability, focusing most of my energy on the social aspects of it.

I am also the founder and curator for "Botanica".

FACE TO FACE

I interviewed the Sustainability Coordinators of LNU, BjĂśrn Idlinge and Johan Ă„lvgren, who discussed with me how students and staff move on campus. How does LNU address the topic of transportation from a sustainable point of view?

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Q: When talking about movement, we can make a connection to the topic of transportation . How does LNU deal with this aspect on campus? Are there any issues and goals related to it?

A: One out of eight sustainability goals regards travel and transport. The aim for the current goal period (2016-2018) is to bend the curves and to decrease its total carbon dioxide emissions from travels compared to 2015. Further it is stated that the university should: - facilitate and stimulate travel-free meetings; - draw attention to and implement the university's meeting and travel policy; - make it easier to ride a bicycle to and from the workplace; - in collaboration with the landlord, develop a system for charging electric cars; - in dialogue with the train companies, work to reduce operational disturbances in the train traffic.

Q: What ways of commuting are preferred by students and staff in VäxjÜ (from/to/on campus)?

A: According to a survey amoung the staff carried out in autumn 2017, 36% of the employees uses cars as their main transportation to and from the university.

The same amount (36%) uses bicycle while bus only stands for 6%.

According to a small survey (104 respondents) among students carried out in spring 2017 46% walk, 13% ride by bike and 25% use car as their main way of commuting.

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Q: Is it common for students and staff to own a car?

If yes, what are the reasons behind it? Is it considered to be an issue by LNU? A: A large majority, 80-90%, of the staff owns a car.

The reason for this is of course not only related to the transports to and from the university but a much wider issue related to modern culture/lifestyle, family situation and so on.

For students we do not know the numbers but according to the survey mentioned above, a quite large number of students seems to own a car.

Q: What are considered to be possible sustainable means of transportation for people on campus?

A: Bicycle (including electric ones), bus (biogas), walking, electric cars or biogas cars.

Q: What are the social, economical and environmental advantages of using sustainable transportation?

A: Less co2-emissions limiting the effects on the climate, less pollutants/healthier environment, reduction in the amount of waste products, a more efficient use of resources. Healthier people (at least this goes for bike and walking). It can also be economical advantages (cheaper than to own a car).

Less problems with traffic jams and therefore more attractive cities.

Q: What level of influence does LNU have when it comes to how students and staff move around and travel?

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A: There is a difference between travels to and from campus and travels on duty (staff or students trips).

When it comes to staff trips we have a meeting and travel policy which encourages the use of sustainable transport when possible or the use of digital meeting.

When it comes to travels to and from campus the university cannot force or tell anyone how they should do, but it can promote sustainable transport by making it easier, for example to park your bike, to offer showers and so on.

Q: Knowing that LNU is growing very quickly and that there are plans to build a campus area in Kalmar as well, what is the vision when it comes to transportation and sustainability for such a big project?

A: Kalmar municipality scares LNU's vision of sustainable transport. Bike is a priority in the new campus in Kalmar with a bicycle garage, plans for accessible bike lanes leading to campus. This is partly due to that the number of parking spaces for cars will be limited. The new campus will be located close to the train station which makes transportation by train easier.

Q: Shifting the focus to another approach to this month’s theme, “movement�, what are the reasons that make you keep moving ? What are you inspired by and what is your final aim - your master plan when it comes to sustainability at LNU? A: The potential that the university has in influencing thousands of students, staff and the surrounding

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society is what keeps us moving. Imagine the huge impact LNU could give on how today's students are the leaders and opinion-formers of tomorrow. We are inspired by people who are engaged and who take initiatives. This can be both students and colleagues but also from outside the university of course (the non-academic sector). It would be great to see LNU take a leading role when it comes to deal with the sustainability challenges we face!

If you want to propose a sustainable project for LNU but do not know where to start, you will find great support from Bjรถrn, Johan and Manaswita. Do not be afraid to book a meeting and ask!

LNU needs and seeks for student participation to develop into a more influencial and sustainable institution.

You can contact them at: johan.alvgren@lnu.se

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Illustration by Greta Mabilia

Moving in harmony

Change of habits

Sustainable thinking

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MOVING OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE

author

Clara Bara Palma I am an exchange student at Linnaeus University, from sunny and warm Barcelona.

Fighting the rain with fika and trying to explain the exchange experience, as beautiful and real as it is. Discovering the joy of overcoming difficulties.

Moving and growing.

FROM THE SOURCE

How does it feel when you move out of your comfort zone?

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You feel transplanted. It’s going to be a long process until your roots manage to feel at home in their new pot, and they struggle to adapt themselves.

You miss the sun, and it rains so much that some of your leaves are turning yellow. But you keep resisting, even when the cold weather hits you.

You make the new soil your own, and you start growing stronger, much more than you had ever expected.

“What’s your name? Where do you come from? What are you studying? Do you live on campus?

The weather here is horrible! Prices are so high.

The lakes and forests are beautiful.”

You have finally finished the introduction days and you feel so overwhelmed.

Your head is making a huge effort to remember some of the names of all the people you have talked to. But you are happy to have retained some names, as you reflect on the anxiety you felt during the first day when you didn’t know where to sit during lunch.

You are having dinner alone and you wonder if other people are having crazy parties.

The next morning, you are late to class because you couldn’t find the room. It is so hard to take notes in English, but you survive. The next challenge is going through the aisles of the supermarket. Why don’t they sell individual yogurts? Swedish is even harder than English.

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You buy some curry sauce thinking it’s a soup. You take the wrong bus, and it starts raining. Of course, you don’t have your umbrella.

You normally don’t feel homesick, but you wonder how everything is back home. It’s not always easy to find people to connect with. The washing machine is finished and you open it, wishing you haven’t destroyed all your clothes.

You take a deep breath. You embrace it all. You made it out of your comfort zone for a whole month, and it has been great. You are discovering new people, cultures and landscapes every day. It’s also a relief to get rid of all your hometown responsibilities.

You are already addicted to fika and in love with Swedish forests during autumn. But you wished someone had told you before that going abroad isn’t only about having fun and that it’s okay to struggle the first weeks.

Everyone says it’s the best experience of their life.

And you feel all that pressure on your shoulders. But that’s exactly what you came here for: a challenge. So you keep focusing on growing, charming and strong as ever.

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Illustration by Clara Bara Palma

Expectations

New

Challenge

Adventure

Home

Comfort zone Family and friends

Struggle

Routine

THE NEW WAY OF LIVING

author

Luisa Leroy I am a designer and artist focused on conscious and creative lifestyle practices. I believe in the magic that is created when combining creativity and sustainability. I use design as a platform to initiate change and bring mindful holistic approaches to this planet.

FROM THE SOURCE

From a time of having no private space to an episode where massive houses were built, to a new futuristic chapter where smart and small living become the new “it�, in architecture, life and around.

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Many people are moving, more and more, to the urban area, the “promise land” where dreams may become reality. Therefore, governments need to offer solutions to catch up this immense number of newinhabitants. Land is becoming rarer and the need to start building in a vertical way becomes necessary, but is not always possible for every city.

Therefore, every square meter has to be used wisely.

This results in an immense increase in rent which becomes a struggle for the younger generation who most of the time cannot afford it, because living in a vibrant district also goes hand in hand with the newest technologies and trends into a bigger price card.

In the swinging ’60s, architects started to realize that an impact of living is necessary to add comfort to daily life, for all. Most of the architecture were formed with straight lines and cubes (except for Art Deco) which was progressive for that time. Later on, cubes started to infuse. The need of dividing spaces with walls became unnecessary due to the allowances of new building techniques, materials and compositions.

In the ’90, the discovery raised that architecture can be healing. Massive studies followed on how form, colour and light can improve the way of living.

Nowadays, it resulted into a smart way of living with the mind-set “We built architecture and afterwards architecture will form us – NeuroArchitecture -”.

This new movement of living and working embraces architecture and technology to a higher level of

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sophistication whereby the whole experience will become ambient and completely designed for an individual’s body, brain and mind. The architecture is not seen any more as a skeleton that offers a warm “shelter” that protects us from the cold, the mysteries from outside and where we can hide when we desire.

The buildings of the future will be able to understand the needs of the end-user, will learn from them and know how to react on certain aspects of life. The building will be able to follow the movement of the user by feeling their emotions, analysing rhythms and who are connected with other smart devices to support them. Small places are becoming hyper functional and are reached by a construction of three foundations: - Neuroscience of the design process (the architect's brain) - Neuroscience of the experience of architecture - Neuromorphic architecture- Biophilic design & smart buildings – aspects of living/building/ learning and knowing) NeuroArchitecture, therefore, will receive the support from Ambient Intelligence to reach their goal which strives for a more sustainable solution that undertows the notion of only using something specific (e.g. electronic devices, etc.) whenever it’s needed.

According to Meerbeek B. et al (2014), the future of living will be ambient and therefore single devices will be connected with Bluethooth, Wi-fi, Zigbee, linked to a controlling system that offers the service of smart living. Thence, the service providers are searching for

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paradigms for optimizing the service. Therefore, every device-unit becomes connected with an operating system that follows the rhythm of the needs of the end-user. The collection of an individual's data may have many benefits e.g. more efficiency, effectiveness, security and safety but what about privacy?

Nevertheless, NeuroArchitecture follows Maslow's hierarchy of needs (1943) which is often portrayed in the shape of a pyramid with the largest, most fundamental needs at the bottom and the need for self- actualization and self-transcendence at the top (Lester D, 2013).

The aim of building smart: an input which can be quantified and measures the brain & body responses of an individual (neural, physiological and psychological) and an output which are the sociological behavioural and economical outcomes.

One thing is missing on Maslow’s hierarchy to make the pyramid more accurate is another layer which supports the Wi-Fi and the connectivity.

A new wave of change will appear. From analogue to digital, lamps to LED, stand-alone to connected and from a good to a service. The future of living will be connected and provided with services. The initial good (e.g. light source) becomes a secondary tool that support the primary service (e.g. providing the environment with artificial lighting whenever it is needed). Is society ready for all connectivity and service provided rhythms? How will life look like if the environment can feel what we need, what we want

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or desire? Do we still have to work or maybe obey technology, one day?

- Lester, D., 2013. Measuring Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Psychological Reports, 113(1), pp.15–17.

- Meerbeek B., Aliakseyeu D., Mason J., van Essen H., and Offermans S. (2014)., The Role of Ambient Intelligence in Future Lighting Systems – Summary of the Workshop. Philips Research Europe, 5656 - Eindhoven, The Netherlands TU Eindhoven, Industrial Design department, Eindhoven, The Netherlands, https://page-one.live.cf.public.springer.com/pdf/ preview/10.1007/978-3-642-314797_5, viewed on 5th of October 2017.

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Illustration by Luisa Leroy

Connectivity Era

Self

Wi-Fi 3/4G

Accurate hierarchy of needs

5G Wi-Fi

Movement in living

ACTIVEWEAR – WHERE IS THE MOVEMENT?

author

Magdalena Schwarzenlander Besides being an innovation master student, I am an imaginative storyteller and conscious tree hugger. I am driven by making existing things better rather than creating new products and services that lead to mindless consumption, exploitation of raw material and waste.

FROM THE SOURCE

The idea of the text is not to be dogmatic and point with a finger at someone's behaviour, but to give food for thought and plant a seed for change.

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Sweden - the country of memberships and kanelbulle.

While my personal limit for membership cards was reached quite soon after arrival to Sweden, I don’t expect to reach my personal limit of kanelbulle intake in the near future.

Embracing the Swedish FIKA culture too much does sooner or later lead to a gym membership or at least in wearing activewear whenever possible. A few years ago, a short video went viral that focused entirely on activewear and its importance in our daily life. In case you don’t know the short clip it is available on Youtube and worth checking out.

Raise your hand if you have never worn active wear on a Sunday grocery trip to Willy's or ICA without having been at the gym right before, or without having had the intention of doing a single squat, burpee or plank after. With the rising trend of athleisure wear you do not even have to feel guilty if your hand is not raised at this very moment.

Wearing activewear does not require you to be actively moving anymore as it has become popular and even fashionable for people from all walks of life and in all kinds of environments. Comfy clothes have come a long way. From being demolished in 2012 by the Designer Karl Lagerfeld saying that people wearing sweatpants in public have lost control over their lives to almost every retail store offering a wide range of ATHLEISURE wear.

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So where does the movement come from, if not from you?

The majority of clothes labelled as comfortable are made out of fabric like polyester, acrylic or synthetic blend. These fossil-fuel- derived fabrics contain synthetic fibres to make them comfortable. Washing synthetic material in the washing machine releases tiny particles of plasticfibre into the water.

This cocktail of microfibre, laundry detergent and water is transported to water purification plants where waste water is filtered and treated to become tap water again. For now the technology is not able to filter out all the microplastic fibre so it moves on to become part of rivers, lakes and even the ocean.

By becoming part of the ecosystem microfibres eventually even end up in the food chain through fish and sea food.

If you see me next time on campus enjoying a kanelbulle or wearing my activewear do not hesitate to approach me to share your opinion on this topic.

Watchlist “ACTIVEWEAR” by Van Vuuren Bros (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYRENWT8lz8) “The Story of Microfibers” by storyofstuffproject (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqkekY5t7KY)

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Illustration by Magdalena Schwarzenlander

Ecosystem

Food chain

Microfiber

THE NOW

author

Maria Pasqualini I am Maria, a non-stop thinker that tries to understand the meaning of everything, except love.

I am also studying Design+Change.

FROM THE SOURCE

What moves you?

Have you ever thought of the aspect(s) that ‘push’ you in life?

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You might be skeptical about these questions – and it is great to be skeptical – but it can also be interesting to reflect upon.

We often think of memories and experiences we have been through, sometimes getting stuck on them, and also the opposite, experiences we want to go through, being bombarded by the frantic surroundings that constantly raise questions about our future. We forget to live in the now; we often forget to move slowly perceiving our surroundings as, for instance, listening to the silence of early mornings or to the noises of after-lunch hours. Where are we living then?

We are in constant movement, we are in a constant fight. Fighting with our instincts, fighting for our own sake, for someone else’s sake... but do we even realise the constant chaos we are immersed in?

Getting nostalgic about the past, planning the future, but rarely staying still – present in the now.

Even the now has its movement, but it’s subtle, it’s almost invisible to the naked eye. The now is a tense that never ages, that never expects. The now doesn’t recall regret, nor does it predict possibilities. The now is unpredictable, indiscriminate, and erratic. The now is vulnerable and in this vulnerability, lies its fragility.

The now is fragile because it doesn’t pretend.

The now is in constant change; it moves on its own frequency. Getting to the now requires movement,

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from yesterday until this right moment.

It moves wisely, it moves beautifully. The now is never too late or too early. It starts in the right moment and it ends in the right moment. It is during the now that precious things happen. It is during the now that past and future are irrelevant, insignificant.

While we move, we live. Where there is movement, there is life - and it is up to us how we live our lives, either by memories, by predictions, or simply by being present.

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Illustration by Maria Pasqualini

Being present Allowing

Self

Moment Allowance

HIGH FLYING BIRDS

author

Magdalena Schwarzenlander Besides being an innovation master student, I am an imaginative storyteller and conscious tree hugger. I am driven by making existing things better rather than creating new products and services that lead to mindless consumption, exploitation of raw material and waste.

FROM THE SOURCE

The following lines are the result of a moment of procrastination on a sunny day in october. Back then the birds were busy picking berries from the colourful tree in front of my window which was a mesmerizing act of movement. Not only were the berries gone in an instant but it made me also reflect on the actual movement many birds undertake once winter is coming.

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They will be gone when you read this the birds will be gone when you read this most of them.

They will have gone south when you read this taken the sun with them when you read this left grey sky and rain behind.

But for now the birds fligh high but for now indian summer is here but for now the leaves shine bright yellow and mellow red.

But for now act as if past is present when you read this.

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THE TRANSITION MOVEMENT AT LNU

author

Amanda Amigues

FROM THE SOURCE

An interesting description on how the "Transition Movement", which has been active in Växjö for a long time, is now entering new realities: the universities.

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The Transition movement is demonstrating how successful and inspiring community-based initiatives can envision and take practical positive steps to a better, healthier and more fun future, making local communities more sustainable and resilient.

Transition Universities use the same core values and tools as the rest of the Transition movement to create positive empowering change within the university community.

A Transition University is a holistic approach to sustainability within a university and its surrounding community, looking at how sustainability can be integrated in operations, research, education, governance and more. It tends to involve academic and non-academic staff, students, Estates/Facilities management teams, and in some cases also local community members, and its projects can embody many different aspects of sustainability and resilience.

The projects of a Transition University tend to focus on positive, practical action, such as building community gardens, local bike or car sharing schemes, re-use and upcycling projects, awareness raising on climate change, peak oil, and malfunctioning economic systems, reducing personal and institutional carbon footprints.

Transition is not just about projects and the outside world, it is also about changing the way we relate to the world and each other, and about considering the values as well as practices of the world in which we live.

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Changing our worldview from separate to interconnected, from scarcity thinking to enough for all, from competitive to collaborative, all form part of the Inner Transition landscape: as individuals, we can envision and take actions to build the future we want – or fear a future much worse. For many, the scale of the problems is simply overwhelming and distraction or denial feel safer. Inner Transition is designed to help support us face a world that is changing faster and more profoundly than most can imagine or absorb.

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Illustration by Greta Mabilia

Transition Universsities

Resiliency

Communities Sustainable visions

HOW TO KEEP MOVING

author

Greta Mabilia I am a student of the program "Design + Change" at LNU. I work with design and sustainability, focusing most of my energy on the social aspects of it.

I am also the founder and curator for "Botanica".

FROM THE SOURCE

Some words to describe how difficult and terrifying it can be to keep moving, but also how important it is to try.

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Keep moving when the clock is ticking, the alarm is ringing, the time is running, shifting, knocking.

Keep moving when you feel like dancing, jumping.

Pausing. Breathing.

Flying.

Keep moving when it’s night time, slowly, quietly, softly. Feel the shadows, flowing, playing, whispering. Staring.

How to keep moving? When the clouds and the air are heavy, fill you, crush you, break you.

Staring. Loosing. Counting the seconds. Trying, failing. Shutting off the light.

Falling.

Moving? When you touch the ground. Hit it.

Hurting. Bleeding. Screaming. Biting your lips.

No one is supposed to listen.

Immovable. Still. Lying. Words sounding, pounding.

Disappearing. Circles.

Leaving.

Hearing. Asking. Touching. Responding.

Feeling. Apologizing, forgiving.

Here. You​are here.

Start moving again. Imperceptibly. Tingling.

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Keep moving when you’re still, waiting, thinking, crying. When the seasons are changing.

When the clouds and the air are fresh, fill you, lift you.

Keep moving for the sighs, the songs, the silence, the sounds. For what you see. For when you scream.

Everything changes, everything​keeps moving.

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Illustration by Greta Mabilia

New strenght

Immobility

REFLECTIONS ON VIPASSANA

author

Julius Hamilton I study Swedish language at Linnaeus University.

FROM THE SOURCE

A reflection on meditation, immobility and a life changing experience in Vipassana.

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I was unsure what to write about on the topic of “movement” for this issue of Botanica. It was not until late this September when, sitting in a meditation hall in the countryside of Mjölby, and the instructor announced that, to deepen our meditation, for the next hour we should not allow ourselves to move, not to twitch a muscle or change our leg position, that I found the subject of my essay. Sitting cross-legged on the floor for an entire hour without moving can climb from being uncomfortable to very painful, but it is an essential component of the meditation technique we were practising, which is called vipassana.

I applied to this 10-day meditation course with almost no idea what it would entail, but a vague sense of anxiety upon learning we would not be allowed to talk for the entirety of the ten day course.

After arriving at the meditation center, unpacking in our rooms and sharing a light meal, we began to observe Noble Silence and, following the instruction of S.N. Goenka on a video screen, began to practice anapana meditation, which involves merely breathing, clarifying and focusing the mind, for three days.

I was surprised to find how quickly I adapted to this new lifestyle which entailed waking up to a gong at four in the morning, not having a cell phone, books, writing implements, any forms of entertainment, not eating dinner, and not being allowed to exercise. There were so many things I thought I needed to feel happy on a daily basis, that I now learned I could give up and feel fine. In this state of isolation, I observed that many thought patterns I had - the impulse to write things down, decisions I had been preoccupied with,

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or emotional situations I was ruminating over - all seemed to run their course, think themselves through, until I felt they no longer mattered, and left me.

On the fourth day, Goenka explained that everything we had been doing so far had merely been preparation for what we were really going to be doing here, in his words, “a surgical operation of the mind”, which was vipassana meditation. “Vipassana”, in Pali, an ancient language of India, means “seeing into the nature of things”. This meditation is intended as a direct implementation of the teachings of the Buddha, who taught that all phenomena are transient and that suffering arises from attachment to such phenomena, in the form of craving and aversion - craving for pleasures we have experienced but may no longer, and aversion towards unpleasant things which continue to occur in our lives, unavoidably. Meditators achieve this by focusing on the physical sensations perceived on a small patch of skin. As more nuanced sensitivity is gained, they expand the field of awareness to the body, cultivating an objective detachment from them, without any craving or aversion to pleasure or pain. In order to be fully aware of these subtle sensations, and to confront, rather than avoid, the physical pain, the meditator should refrain from moving even minimally.

These ideas resonated with me deeply. I had always seen unhappiness as emanating from some reductive cause - the need for a certain diet, exercise, living conditions, more close friends, or achievements to feel proud of. But perhaps one loses track of the pattern that evolves over time, and fails to address the problem at its root - that there will always be more desire, unsated, and always negative, uncontrollable

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events to which we feel an aversion, and lasting contentment comes from lessening these impulses.

We practised this style of meditation for the next six days. At first it was difficult and painful, but over time I was amazed to find how, by simply observing the pain objectively in my leg and reacting with less aversion to it, I could tolerate it more and more until for periods of time I barely felt it. Eventually I hurt my leg so badly I had to stop doing it, and without any pain to focus on, I found the meditation less fruitful. On the last two days, I didn’t feel I made any progress on the technique, and I felt ready to leave, so that I could research and experiment with other ways of developing this meditation.

On the last day, we were allowed to talk as a “shock absorber� for returning to the real world. It was very thrilling to finally speak to the people I had been living with for ten days, and I thought everyone there was interesting. Some people had found it grueling and unenjoyable, while others had found it very calming and that it had effected some kind of personal change in them. One man said on the last day he had to go out into the forest and cry for a few hours, and that he found the experience cathartic. I also met a British author who told me he had first done vipassana as a young man dealing with alcoholism, and that about a week after coming home he had a mental breakdown and came near to committing suicide, but he ultimately gave up drinking. I think most people would agree that spending ten days in this state of introspection dislodges fixtures in our psychology, floats them

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around in the reflective light of our consciousness, and ultimately evacuates them.

Finally, it was time to leave. Back to the busy worlds of errands, appointments, and fleeting desires‌ all the emotions of daily experience, so enmeshed with it as to seem inseparable. I wondered if I could keep the clarity of mind that I had found here.

In summary, I found this to be a life-changing experience. There were some aspects of the course one could object to, like that much of the grounding philosophy was pseudo-scientific, and one might wish to be given more freedom to question and experiment with the technique. But I do believe this kind of meditation can have lasting benefits, and I would like to consult scientific research as to what those benefits are, especially compared to other styles of meditation like mindfulness and loving-kindness. I believe this experience had a long term effect on me, because it broke certain obsessions of mine, and it showed me a new vision for the direction of my own life. If meditating in a dark room for ten days sounds like your thing, I would recommend you apply to a vipassana course, which are generally free of charge.

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Illustration by Julius Hamilton

Social sustainability

Meditation

Positive personal growth

Immobility

what is

BOTANICA BOTANICA is an independent publication for students at LNU. It is run by students, for students.

Here sustainable* ideas are shared, by giving space to student's works, thoughts and projects and putting them out there, for everyone to be inspired by.

BOTANICA uses the metaphor of growing plants to represent growing ideas, which are rooted in the multicultural ground of LNU. BOTANICA wants to empower students, because we have the tools to plant the seed of knowledge.

BOTANICA is your platform to change society, the environment, the world.

*our sustainability is social, economical and environmental

botanica.lnu@gmail.com