Goethe University's Tiny Forests

Starting in fall 2025, Tiny Forests will be created at various locations of Goethe University. A Tiny Forest is a climate-resilient, biodiversity-promoting microforest designed according to the methods of Japanese pioneering forester Akira Miyawaki. What makes it special: Within a few years, very dense planting creates a self-sustaining forest ecosystem. Another key aspect of this method is the involvement of the local community, from the collaborative planting of the Tiny Forest to its later use by school classes, public tours, and research projects.

Goethe University gets seven tiny forests

Thanks to the support of private donors, businesses, and foundations, a total of seven Tiny Forests are growing at various locations of Goethe University. The initiative began on November 22, 2025, with a major event at Riedberg: the 125 m² forest was planted collaboratively by members of Goethe University and the Frankfurt community.
 

Here you can find reports about the event:

• Hessenschau
• JOURNAL FRANKFURT
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Instagram

The last three mini-forests were also planted through community efforts. On March 7, 2026, the Rotary Club Frankfurt am Main - Friedensbrücke took action at the Westend campus, supported in their planting efforts by the Hessian Business Education Center. On March 13, 2026, Merz Lifecare collaborated with 8th-grade students from Riedberg High School to plant the sixth tiny forest at the Riedberg campus. The seventh forest was created on March 14, 2026, with donors from the Private University Funding initiative, also at the Riedberg campus.

Here you can find posts about these activities:

• March 7:
  • LinkedIn post by the Rotary Club → 
• March 13:
  • LinkedIn post by Merz Lifecare →
  • Article in the Frankfurter Rundschau →
  • Article in the neighborhood magazine MainRiedberg →