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Microalgae reactors aren't witchcraft!
The ADS Grenzfriedensbund e.V. makes the principle of water purification by microalgae tangible and understandable.
From summer 2025, ADS educators will be trialling pilot courses with school classes on
a) Algae for water purification,
b) Algae as cosmetics,
c) algae as food.
An algae bioreactor will be installed at a school camp on the Schlei to familiarise pupils with the practical use of microalgae and demonstrate the wide range of applications. The project is scientifically supported by partners from the Blue Bioeconomy and the Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel. Teachers for algae, biotechnology and the blue bioeconomy are also being trained, with the aim of obtaining certification from the IQSH.
A and B promotes sustainability education and specialist training. It raises awareness of the blue bioeconomy among schoolchildren and the public and supports the relief of over-fertilised waters such as the Schlei.
How can algae help clean water? What do microorganisms have to do with cosmetics? And what do algae actually taste like? These are exactly the questions explored by the educational project AundB – Algae and Sustainable Education. At the heart of the project is a microalgae wastewater treatment system installed in September 2025 at the ADS school camp in Ulsnis on the Schlei fjord: a living classroom that makes sustainability and circular economy principles tangible and easy to understand.
Microalgae are tiny multitaskers: they clean nutrient rich water, produce oxygen, and generate valuable biomass at the same time. Through three thematic learning modules focused on water treatment, cosmetics, and nutrition, children and young people explore the applications of the blue bioeconomy. The pilot courses are supported by educators from the association as well as teaching degree students from CAU Kiel.
Using project funding, an algae production facility was built inside a former table tennis room. The tubular system utilizes the school camp’s own greywater, which is technically pretreated beforehand. Even the generated waste heat is reused efficiently: it dries wet life jackets in a neighboring building. The produced biomass is used in the AlgenSaat project for coating seeds and fertilizers. The raised garden beds on site are also fertilized with these algae based products.
A student laboratory enables experiments in STEM subjects: microscopy, water analysis, photometry, and engineering are all part of the curriculum, alongside sustainable cycles and CO₂ balance assessments. Other ADS school camps in Germany and Denmark will also establish their own algae related focus areas, for example in nutrition, cosmetics, or art.
AundB is not only aimed at students. Teachers are also trained as part of the project. Supported by IQSH, modules on the blue bioeconomy are intended to become a permanent part of educational programs, both in analog formats and digitally through webinars and hybrid learning concepts.
Thanks to the Danish German friendship within the ADS network, school exchange programs with partner institutions in Scandinavia are also planned. The project therefore builds bridges between environmental education, intercultural exchange, and applied science.
As the first educational initiative of its kind in Germany, AundB demonstrates how the blue bioeconomy can already be taught today in a practical and accessible way. AundB stands for genuine knowledge transfer, tangible environmental benefits, and strong educational value.
Prof. Dr. Michaela Oesser
ADS Grenzfriedensbund e.V.
moesser@dein-ads.de
