by Maarten Wolterink

The first edition of Stadscafé RAP Leiden has been succesfull. The theme Nature & the City was approached by three guests with various backgrounds, from nature-inclusive design (Maike van Stiphout from DS), bird protection (Jip Louwe Kooijmans from Vogelbescherming Nederland) to expert in biodiversity (Marco Roos from Naturalis). The crowd got excited and engaged itself “en masse” for removing tiles in their gardens in order to make room for more biodiversity. Some even promised that same evening to get started! Three lucky ones went home with a free ‘bakkie om’ from Leidse Grond. Satisfactorily moderator Mathias Lehner could conclude that a large majority of the approximately 80 attendees eventually rallied behind the statement: More biodiversity is achievable if everyone participates. I do too.

Leiden newspaper cartoonist Maarten Wolterink summarized the evening in a series of beautiful and funny cartoons. See you at the next Stadscafe in Leiden!