Katy Fox, founder of CELL; Credit: CELL

Chronicle.lu recently had the opportunity to speak with Katy Fox, founder of CELL - the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg, to learn about the origins and mission of this local non-profit organisation and how it supports the ecological transition in the Grand Duchy. 

On Saturday 17 December 2022, CELL held its annual "Garden Forum" at Co-labor in Bertrange. This is one of many activities organised by the non-profit throughout the year. CELL's projects focus on research and education, "REconomy" (rethinking the economy) and citizen participation. 

Katy Fox recalled that she founded the non-profit together with a group of school friends back in 2010 and it officially launched in January 2011. "The idea was at the time to bring something new to the environmental scene in Luxembourg," Katy explained, noting that the scene was limited at that time. The idea was thus to bring about citizen participation and the "movement of the transition" but also to promote permaculture design and to bring people together, whilst "skilling up for this transition".

Katy elaborated that the goal of CELL is "to skill up for the transition and to give citizens the tools to organise themselves in this sort of view that if we wait for the governments, it's too late for responding to climate change, and if we act alone, we might be quickly discouraged." She added that the concept of community building is particularly strong in CELL.  

One of CELL's major projects at present is the "Äerdschëff", a self-sufficient space for "human learning and flourishing". As Katy explained, volunteers set up this building in Redange-sur-Attert between 2019 and 2022, although the design process has been ongoing since 2015. This pilot project uses natural materials and centres around circular design. As its name implies ("Earth ship" in English), Äerdschëff is like a ship in that "if you go on a ship and embark on a voyage, it's necessary that you have all that you need with you." Similarly, on Earth, people should make their own resources, take only what they need and reuse items. The main target audience for such education projects is young people. CELL organises class visits for students, as well as visits for adults, and can take in local or European volunteers for up to a year to accompany them on a project "that they themselves develop". The non-profit has also built up its own non-formal education curriculum centred around topics such as regeneration and sustainability. The focus is also on low tech - CELL is even organising a "Low Tech Festival" for young people in April 2023, as part of the inauguration of the Äerdschëff.

Concerning the "We are transition!" campaign, Katy Fox explained that this emerged in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic and its related restrictions, which "greatly slowed down transition activities in Luxembourg and around the world." She elaborated: "We wanted to rebuild the lost link and get closer to our community members, and even more, we felt the need to gather as team members!" This inspired the idea of publishing a series of portraits of the CELL community, bringing everyone together in a single "family album", and sharing these on social media. Klima Expo visitors in October 2022 were also invited to be a part of this album, and the campaign has proven popular. "'We Are Transition' goes beyond CELL's team, it's about all citizens who feel concerned by the climate issues and are willing to make a difference." CELL will continue to use the hashtag #WeAreTransition next year.

Another major CELL initiative is the "Eise Gaart" community garden project. The project forms part of CELL's food transition objectives, "which aim to develop local and organic food by promoting gardening and permaculture education and encouraging citizens to produce their own fruit and vegetables in community gardens." Within this project, the non-profit organises gardening and permaculture training courses throughout the year, and works with municipalities to develop community garden projects on their territory. CELL also works with the SEED network to promote the sale of local and organic seeds to the public, notably through an annual seed market. Most of the training courses and workshops take place in French, although the non-profit hopes to one day "integrate all the communities present in Luxembourg". The challenge is "finding multilingual experts in the field of gardening and permaculture with a strong commitment to our values and action". Nevertheless, "gardening is a universal language" and everyone is welcome to join these courses: "Whatever your language, do not hesitate to join our training groups because the collective benevolence that characterises the transition movement will always make it possible to find solutions so as to be able to integrate everyone". Further information is available (in French, English and German) on the website: www.eisegaart.cell.lu.

The recent Garden Forum, within the "Eise Gaart" project, was also the occasion to launch the "Polynatur" programme, which aims to raise awareness about wild pollinators. As Katy Fox explained, the Pollinator and Ecosystem Conservation and Restoration Programme (Polynatur) "responds to the current global loss of insects with a three-year programme of actions to protect pollinators". Key actions and support and training courses are built around habitat protection and restoration. The project also involves the National Museum of Natural History as well as members of the public "to deepen and disseminate knowledge on pollinating insects".