An organization successfully created a challenge that resulted in benefits to local student communities as well as local ecosystems.
The Wild Visions challenge, based in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia area, seeks to connect university students to the natural world by inviting them to "design gardens with all sorts of visions and themes, then bring them to fruition this spring with native seedlings," as per Grist.
The challenge was launched in January 2024 and is set to return annually. It started when the organization Garden for Wildlife hired Rosalie Bull with the goal of having her look into how to engage with college students in the area, reported Grist.Â
The creation of the Wild Visions challenge was aligned with a "solarpunk" framework, which is traditionally used as a literary genre that "conjures visions of a sustainable future, where nature is as central as technology," as per Grist.
"We framed the challenge as a response to the biodiversity crisis, but also as an invitation to be creative and to create habitat and to create space for humans to connect with the more-than-human world," Bull reported to Grist.
The goal of Wild Visions is to address the importance of natural spaces for native plants, as well as the significance of connecting people back to nature. This is mutually beneficial for local ecosystems, as well as local communities.
For human health, time spent outdoors and gardening is extremely positive for physical and mental health. It even has a name — green care — and it pertains to exposure to greenery and gardening as a holistic form of medicine for numerous physical and mental ailments, as published in the NIH.
For biodiversity, planting gardens with native plants, especially in urban areas, is wildly important for preserving ecosystems that rely on native flora for survival. Additionally, because native plants evolved over time within their local ecosystems, they are more resistant to conditions in the climate, often needing less water and thriving without pesticides.
The positive impacts of the Wild Visions challenge were felt between both the local ecosystems and community student groups.
"We'll be creating in total nearly 6,000 square feet of new wildlife habitat," Bull stated to Grist.
Additionally, student groups were able to use the challenge as an opportunity to connect with their identities. For example, a student group from American University called Latinos en Acción created a monarch butterfly habitat, representing the symbol of migrant justice.
Another student group from George Washington University, called Students for Indigenous and Native American Rights, created a garden shaped like a turtle, which alludes to the flag of the Indigenous Piscataway people.
In an Instagram post from Garden for Wildlife (@gardenforwildlife) about the Wild Visions challenge, the caption perfectly summarized the goals and amazing outcomes of the projects: "This challenge is a great opportunity for students to meaningfully intervene in the biodiversity crisis, and gain experience carrying out a community earth-care project."
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