Teenagers / Adults
10–20
3 days
at the Weltacker in Pankow or in Treptow or at your place
For High School Students & Adults
In soil ecology, the totality of all soil organisms is called the edaphon—a term with a fascinating phonetic association (“phon” as in telephone, microphone, xylophone…?).
In this workshop, we combine two things that don’t often go together: science and sound art. By the end, you’ll know a whole lot about the soil—and you’ll have recorded a radio play, too. The stars of the radio plays are the various organisms in the soil: from relatively large animals (macrobiota) such as mice, earthworms, woodlice, and beetles, to medium-sized (mesobiota) animals such as springtails, nematodes, or mites, all the way to the microbiota—bacteria and fungi.
Along the way, you’ll discover plenty of interesting characters and stories to share. But the best part is that you can make weird sounds with your voice and conjure up a funny—or even spooky—world.
This is how you’ll become “Edaphonistas”—spokespersons for and with the creatures of the soil.
The workshop is led by agricultural biologist Dr. Karin Pirhofer, an experienced education specialist at Weltacker, along with artist and sound designer Boris Jöns and voice coach Claudia Wiedemer, both of whom bring extensive experience in producing sounds, radio plays, and music.
Feel free to listen to the radio plays that have already been created.
More information is available on our Ackerblog.
The workshop lasts three days and can take place between June 2025 and July 2026.
Since we’ll be outdoors, please remember to wear weather-appropriate clothing—sun protection if it’s hot and rain gear if it gets wet.
You can hold the Edaphonistas workshop with us at our 2,000-square-meter Weltacker in Pankow’s Volkspark, at our Ackerlabor in the Späth’sche Baumschule in Treptow, or even at your school. Feel free to let us know in the comments which location you’d prefer.
The Weltacker in Pankow and the Ackerlabor at the Späth’sche Baumschule are accessible without steps. In rainy weather, maneuvering a wheelchair can be a bit difficult—we’re happy to help!
The workshops are free of charge because they are funded through the NO PLANET B program with financial support from the European Union.
Weltacker Berlin e.V. is solely responsible for the content of this workshop series, which does not reflect the position of the European Union.
