VIVACE Weltgarten

Experimenting with the world

VIVACE Weltgarten brings together four sites in Europe — Castelverde and Losio in Italy, Weidenhain in Germany and Łuków in Poland — as places for experimentation at the intersection of agriculture, energy, technology and education. The initiative starts from a simple observation: the land on which we grow our food is also central to how we produce and consume energy, manage water, preserve biodiversity and organise economic activity. Understanding these relationships requires looking beyond the boundaries of individual sectors and examining how they interact in practice.

The German Weltacker concept offers an interesting point of departure. If the world's arable land were divided equally among its inhabitants, each person would have roughly 2,000 square metres available to produce the agricultural goods they consume. This includes food, animal feed, fibres, oils, biofuels and industrial raw materials. The calculation makes visible the physical extent of our consumption and the competing demands placed on a finite resource. It also raises questions about energy. How much land should be devoted to food production, biomass or renewable electricity? How much energy is required to cultivate, irrigate, harvest, process and transport agricultural products? And how might the energy transition change the economics and management of rural land?

Agriculture has always been an energy system. Plants convert sunlight into biomass through photosynthesis, while agricultural production depends on human labour, machinery, fertilisers, irrigation, processing and transport. The transition from animal power to fossil-fuelled mechanisation transformed agricultural productivity, just as the availability of synthetic fertilisers, refrigeration and modern logistics reshaped food systems. Today, agriculture faces a new phase of technological change, involving electrification, renewable energy, energy efficiency and the search for ways to reduce dependence on fossil fuels without compromising food production.

At the same time, rural territories are becoming increasingly important to the development of renewable energy infrastructure. Solar installations, wind turbines, biogas plants, electricity networks and energy storage systems all have implications for land use, agricultural activity and local communities. These developments create opportunities but also difficult choices. Agrivoltaics, for example, seeks to combine agricultural production with solar electricity generation on the same land, potentially providing shade, reducing evaporation and diversifying farmers' income. Its benefits depend on crop selection, climate, installation design and agricultural management. Biogas can transform agricultural residues and organic waste into useful energy, but the cultivation of dedicated energy crops raises questions about land competition, soil management and resource efficiency. Neither approach can be evaluated independently of local conditions.

Weltgarten takes inspiration from the Weltacker's practical approach to understanding global systems, while developing a broader programme around the connections between agriculture, energy and everyday life. Our four sites differ in geography, climate, agricultural history and their relationship with surrounding settlements. These differences offer opportunities to compare how natural resources and technologies can be managed under different conditions. Solar exposure, rainfall, soil characteristics, growing seasons and access to infrastructure influence both agricultural possibilities and energy choices. Rather than proposing a single model for every location, we are interested in understanding which solutions make sense where, and why.

The relationship between agriculture and energy also offers an unusually rich setting for practical education. A field can become a place to investigate the conversion of sunlight into plant growth or electricity, to calculate the energy required to pump water, to compare the efficiency of different irrigation methods or to examine the relationship between crop yields and energy inputs. Questions that initially appear technical can be made accessible through measurement and experimentation. How much electricity could a small solar installation produce over a growing season? How does shade affect soil temperature and plant growth? What is the energy cost of producing a kilogram of wheat? How much useful energy can be recovered from agricultural residues, and what alternative uses might those materials have?

These questions connect mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, engineering and economics. They also encourage an understanding of trade-offs. A technology that reduces energy consumption may require greater initial investment. A renewable energy installation may generate additional income while changing how agricultural land can be used. A method that improves productivity in one climate may be unsuitable elsewhere. We want Weltgarten to provide opportunities to examine such decisions through practical activities, educational games and collaborations with people who bring different forms of expertise.

The German expression Lernen durch Handeln — learning through action — captures an important part of this approach. Agricultural and energy technologies are often discussed in terms of large-scale infrastructure, investment and regulation, but many of their underlying principles can be explored through relatively simple experiments. Measuring electricity generation from a small photovoltaic panel, monitoring soil moisture, comparing water-pumping methods or calculating the energy content of biomass can introduce concepts that are directly relevant to industrial processes and environmental management. These activities can be adapted to different ages and levels of technical knowledge, from elementary mathematics to more advanced questions of engineering and systems design.

Innovation is not limited to new equipment. It can also involve combining existing technologies differently, improving resource management or developing forms of cooperation between agricultural producers, energy companies and local communities. A farm may produce food, generate electricity, recover organic materials, manage water and provide environmental services. Understanding the relationships between these activities is increasingly important as European industries seek to reduce emissions, improve resource efficiency and strengthen the resilience of their supply chains.

The question of abandoned and underused land is particularly relevant to VIVACE's work through Agri Dacia. Across Europe, agricultural abandonment reflects a combination of economic, demographic, geographic and institutional factors. Some plots are too fragmented or difficult to cultivate profitably; others face problems of access, ownership or declining agricultural activity. Renewable energy development may offer new economic possibilities in certain locations, but it also introduces questions about land allocation, ecological impact and the long-term interests of local communities. We are interested in examining how agricultural, environmental and energy uses can be considered together, rather than treating land as an empty surface awaiting a new function.

Weltgarten also has a European dimension. The four sites belong to different cultural, linguistic and economic environments, shaped by distinct agricultural traditions and energy systems. Italy, Germany and Poland have different electricity mixes, rural economies, regulatory frameworks and histories of industrial development. These differences provide a useful basis for understanding how the energy transition is experienced locally, and how solutions developed in one region might be adapted elsewhere.

The Italian campo, German Acker and Polish pole refer to cultivated fields, but these landscapes are also connected to wider networks of electricity, water, transport, manufacturing and trade. A field is never isolated from the economic systems around it. The fertiliser applied to a crop, the fuel used by a tractor, the electricity required for irrigation and the energy consumed in processing and distribution all connect agricultural production to industry. Making these connections visible is an important part of our educational ambition.

We are particularly interested in bringing together farmers, engineers, energy professionals, teachers, businesses, students and local residents. Each approaches the same landscape with different questions and practical knowledge. A farmer may understand the effects of seasonal water shortages, while an engineer can examine pumping efficiency or energy storage. An agricultural machinery manufacturer may contribute technical expertise, while a school can use the same problems to introduce mathematics and science. Through VIVACE's participatory learning tools, we want to encourage exchanges that make specialised knowledge more accessible without losing its complexity.

Our intention is to develop Weltgarten gradually as a network of places where these relationships can be observed, tested and discussed. The four sites provide a physical foundation for experiments, educational activities and collaborations, while allowing each location to develop according to its own characteristics. We are interested in documenting observations, comparing results and exploring how practical knowledge can circulate between territories and professional communities.

The name Weltgarten — world garden — reflects this ambition. It describes a place where agriculture, energy and technology can be understood not as separate subjects, but as interconnected parts of the systems that sustain everyday life. Our starting points are four sites in Italy, Germany and Poland. Through them, we hope to contribute to a more practical understanding of how land, resources and human ingenuity can be brought together to address the challenges of food production, energy transition and territorial development.