The 24th Environmental Exhibition Special Program] Hosei University Rooftop Gardening Maintenance Project Vol. 7 "Spacetime" (Monday, November 20, 2023)

　From November 15 (Wed.) to November 24 (Fri.), 2023, "The 24th Environmental Exhibition - Thinking about the future of our irreplaceable earth, we will deliver our individual voices to stop the tears of Ekopyon" is being held at the Media Lounge on the 1st floor of the Gaihori Building for the first time in about four years.

　On Monday, November 20, 2023, as a special event of the "24th Environmental Exhibition," Hosei University Environmental Center held the seventh project, "Time and Space: Spacetime.

　The "Green Terrace," the activity base of the Hosei University Rooftop Gardening Maintenance Project, was established in the spring of 2005 and has expanded from a "resting place" for students, faculty, and staff to a "space where endangered killifish swim in the gourd pond in the garden, trees and flowers grow, and birds, butterflies, and other living things grow and inhabit". The pond is now expanding into a "space where living things grow and inhabit," including birds and butterflies.

　In fact, nature and clocks are closely linked. For example, the "circadian rhythm" is one of the important biological functions of plants in adapting to changes in the global environment, such as the alternation of day and night and the changing of seasons, by influencing the sleep movement of leaves, opening and closing of stomata, and photosynthesis based on external information such as light and temperature.

　In addition, the sundial, which uses the diurnal motion of the sun starting from Polaris and determines the time based on the transition of the sun's hour angle, is a clock that utilizes the power of nature. The world's largest sundial was built by King Jai Singh II of Jaipur in 1730, and the spire obelisk in Egypt is said to have served as a sundial.

　In the seventh project, "Spacetime," we have created tulip bulbs and peonies, with the biotope network of the "outer moat" area in mind, and with an idea of what kind of organisms (including humans) would visit the "Green Terrace," in what season, on what occasion, and at what time of the day, The tulip bulbs, lily of the valley and peony bulbs (donated by Naoko Enomoto of the Environment Center), and the North Pole (donated by Naoko Enomoto of the Environment Center), named after the white earth of the North Pole because of its white flowers, were selected with the conservation of local biodiversity and connection with "nature" in mind. rdquo; Hosei University, aiming to create a beloved garden. At the end of the project, everyone enjoyed the sweet potatoes (Purple Sweet Road and Naruto-Kintoki) grown in the vegetable garden plot.

　The Hosei University Rooftop Gardening Maintenance Project, for which the Hosei University Environmental Center serves as the secretariat, has been working to create a "beloved garden at Hosei University" through a series of small "encounters" and "changes in behavior" brought about by the "love for the school" with an awareness of the biotope network in the "outer moat" spanning Chiyoda and Shinjuku wards. In March 2022, the efforts were highly evaluated and won a prize in the "2021 Chiyoda Biodiversity Grand Prix" hosted by Chiyoda City, and in February 2023, the group category and encouragement prize in the "16th Shinjuku Eco One Grand Prix Contest" hosted by Shinjuku City.

　The next project, "Winter Dreams," will be held on Monday, December 4, 2023, at the Green Terrace on the Ichigaya Campus, where the activities will be held, under the theme of dreams in winter.

　We look forward to seeing you all at the "Beloved Garden at Hosei University," which is "full of attention to detail.

The seventh project, "Time and Space: Spacetime," held as a special project for the 24th Environmental Exhibition, was a challenge to create a garden with an awareness of time and space (from left to right: Naoko Enomoto, Hosei University Environmental Center; Daiki Kato, Faculty of Law; Reika Sakaino, Faculty of Business Administration; Minori Takada, Faculty of Lifelong Learning and Career Studies; Saki Sanada, Faculty of Engineering and Design ). (Saki).

At the beginning of the event, Naoko Enomoto, Hosei University Environmental Center, explained the members and the selected plantings according to the theme. As an example of the connection between nature and clocks, she introduced the "circadian rhythm" as one of the functions of life and the "sundial," which uses the sun's diurnal motion.
In order to create a beloved garden at Hosei University, which is "full of attention to detail," it is important to be particular in the selection of plantings. For this project, bulbs of lily of the valley from Kagoshima prefecture were selected and carefully planted.

For the seventh project, we created the garden while envisioning what kind of creatures (including humans) would visit the garden, in what season, on what occasion, and at what time of day.
At the end of the project, the members harvested sweet potatoes (Purple Sweet Road and Naruto-Kintoki) grown in the vegetable garden plot.

In the direction of the North Star, which is the starting point of the "sundial" utilizing the power of nature, we planted the North Pole, whose white flowers in a row coincide with the white earth of the North Pole.
This summer was the hottest on record, but we managed to harvest sweet potatoes grown in planters in the vegetable garden plot.

The 24th Environmental Exhibition Special Program] Hosei University Rooftop Gardening Maintenance Project Vol. 7 "Time and Space: Spacetime" (Monday, November 20, 2023)