Small plants, big impact: Krautschau makes urban nature visible

Over 500 plant species grow in pavement cracks, wall joints and on paths in German cities. This resilient greenery defies foot and vehicle traffic, heat, drought and pollution. At the same time, urban plants have important benefits for people and the environment: they create micro-ecosystems for numerous insects and other organisms, improve the urban climate, have a cooling effect and bind dust.

Now in its fifth year, the nationwide #Krautschau campaign week, initiated by the Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung, aims to encourage more people to become aware of the often overlooked wild plants in cities. For the first time, the Senckenberg Institute for Plant Diversity, which was founded last summer, is taking part in the campaign together with the KSJ City Forestry Office, the Friedrich Schiller University Jena and the Thuringian University and State Library and invites all Jena residents to join in.

Participation

Participation is very simple: plants found are marked with chalk, labeled with their German name, photographed and - if desired - shared on social media using the hashtags #Krautschau and #MehrAlsUnkraut.

Together with researchers from Senckenberg and supported by the team from the Jena City Forestry Office, interested parties can discover the city's plant diversity directly on site and sharpen their eye for the "rebels" of urban flora - from dock to cinnamon weed. The Flora Incognita app, which was developed in Jena and Ilmenau, among other places, offers help with identification. Those who prefer to identify plants using analog methods can use the nature guide "Das wächst in deiner Stadt" (This is what grows in your city), for example.

Discovering urban diversity together

Urban diversity can also be discovered on walks together:

• Wednesday, 27.05.2026, 16:00
  Meeting point: Entrance to the Ernst Abbe Library, Engelplatz 2, 07743 Jena
• Thursday, 28.05.2026, 16:00 hrs
  Meeting point: Entrance to the Ernst Abbe Library, Engelplatz 2, 07743 Jena

The walks take about two hours. Participation is free, children are expressly welcome.

An overview of all nationwide campaigns can be found at