Meet MensaProject: a complete reimagination of the school cafeteria, turned into a lively community space. Think cozy lounge corners, a student-run shop (yes, run entirely by students every lunch break), and the key feature — GreenBeen: indoor farming beds growing real vegetables right at the cafeteria entrance.
To get a better understanding of the project, we interviewed Nikita Berozin, head of the Student Council and initiator of GreenBeen:
What is GreenBeen exactly about?
Nikita: "GreenBeen is an autonomous educational farming system designed specifically for schools. The system consists of modular indoor growing beds, enabling the cultivation of more than 200 varieties of fruits, vegetables, and herbs directly in the dining halls.The fresh, organically grown produce can then be used in school cafeterias, providing healthy ingredients for daily meals. Beyond food production, GreenBeen serves as a hands-on learning platform that helps students develop a deeper understanding of sustainability, agriculture, and responsible consumption. By growing food directly within the school environment, GreenBeen creates a daily connection between children and the food they eat, turning sustainability from a classroom topic into a real-life experience GreenBeen also functions as a living laboratory for biology education. Younger students can explore plant growth and ecosystems through interactive experiments, while older students can use the system for more advanced scientific investigations, including data collection and research projects. For International Baccalaureate (IB) students, GreenBeen provides an ideal platform for conducting Internal Assessments (IAs) by testing variables such as light intensity, nutrient composition, irrigation patterns, and plant growth rates in a controlled environment."
Where did the idea come from?
Nikita: “As part of the student council, we noticed how disconnected many students are from food and nature. It’s not just a problem, it’s a bottleneck that is not that hard to fix. Combined with my personal experiences growing up in Ukraine, this inspired our shared vision — to reconnect students with nature to make sustainability not the exception, but the default.”
Did you implement the project independently?
Nikita: “Yes! We led the project ourselves and secured funding from JugendHILFT, which helped us purchase planting systems and equipment for the cafeteria. Our work was also recognized as one of the top 24 youth-led projects in Germany, which is why we're going to Berlin in October for a fully funded summit. We’re incredibly grateful to our SIS Regensburg for providing space throughout this journey. Besides the grant from JugendHIlFT, we’re proud to share that our student-driven initiative ranked Top 15 out of 23,000 participants in the Blue Ocean Competition across Europe!”
This is what happens when young people are given space to lead.