Emilie, Charlotte and Laura took part in ‘Science is wonderful! 2026’ organized by the European Commission. During the 3-day event (March 18-20) 44 ERC-funded teams brought research to pupils and students from primary and secondary schools across Belgium. The event had more than 4,000 pupils and students visiting!
Our team hosted the booth ‘Forests are a treasure trove of delicious snacks‘. At the booth, we aimed to share our research from the ERC project FORESTDIET showing that wild fruit and vegetables from forests can make important contributions to people’s diets. Our message was simple: By protecting forests, we also protect nutritious (and delicious!) tree-based foods – benefitting people as well as nature!
At our booth, pupils and students learned about the “nutrient superpowers” of different fruits, nuts, and leafy vegetables that grow on trees. They could smell and touch different tree foods such as the fruit from the mighty baobab (also known as “the tree of life”). And they could make and take home their own seasonal calendar with local wild foods found in Belgium.
We also hosted a science show. At the show, the children went on a journey with our forest explorer. The children helped the forest explorer finding different tree foods with ‘nutrient superpowers’ to overcome different challenges faced during the journey!
A big shout out to organizers from the European Commission for their incredible efforts in making the event such a massive success – both for the visiting pupils and students and the research teams!