Case Study: Elluminate Fire And Ice Organic Garden Project

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Jennifer Corriero and Ping Ya-Lee, TakingITGlobal,   "The Youth Guide to Biodiversity" 1st Edition (Chapter 13) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance. Reproduced with permission.

Chapter 13. Annika Su, Taiwan. Verbatim.

Annika Su (left) and her classmates, Ruo-chi Kong, Huei-chu Wu and Yu-yin Tsai, at Fongsi Junior High School, Taiwan, accept a 2009 Global Junior Challenge

award on behalf of the Elluminate Fire & Ice Organic Garden Project.

© Cindea Hung

In 2006, Abel Machado School in the tiny community of Massambará, Vassouras, Brazil, participated in an online event that challenged schools to implement one activity to combat climate change in their local area. The event was organised by the non‑profit global collaboration initiative, Fire & Ice, started by Elluminate, an e-learning and virtual conferencing technology provider based in Canada.

In consultation with local farmers, the students at Abel Machado School created organic compost and fertilisers, and grew a wide variety of vegetables on a tiny plot of land on school property. 

In 2008, Elluminate Fire & Ice invited a team from Fongsi Junior High School, Taiwan, to join this project. Annika Su was one of the students at Fongsi Junior High selected to be part of this international collaboration, along with three of her classmates. Annika and her team in Taiwan started their own organic garden at Fongsi and shared information and strategies with other schools involved in organic gardening in Mali, France, Turkey, Cuba, Solomon, Japan and Indonesia.

Through blogs, virtual conferencing, PowerPoint presentations and a TakingITGlobal virtual classroom, the Elluminate Fire & Ice Organic Project engaged participating schools in a cross-cultural, educational collaboration that would gain international acclaim. 

In 2009, the Elluminate Fire & Ice Organic Garden Project was a finalist of the Global Junior Challenge in Rome, Italy. In Rome, Annika proudly accepted the award on behalf of her new global network of garden collaborators and friends.

When Annika first joined the Elluminate Fire & Ice Organic Garden Project in 2008, she was a “city girl” with no experience in gardening. After a full season of working to transform an empty plot at her school into a productive organic food garden, Annika developed a new appreciation for the Earth’s natural processes. When asked why it is important to preserve organic agriculture methods in the face of climate change, Annika responded,

“if we don’t fight with nature, nature won’t fight with us. That’s why we should go back to working with nature.”