Biodiversity Goes to School
The “supergut” initiative's escape room in Schaan welcomed its 5,000th visitor in February and the hunt for Dr. Mo No will continue until the end of March 2025. But the Hilti Foundation is already thinking ahead. The topic of biodiversity will remain top of mind with a large-scale school competition and mobile “supergut labs” which will begin in summer 2025. The level of enthusiasm generated by the escape room was recently on display when a class from the Liechtensteinisches Gymnasium, in Vaduz, paid a visit.
Team spirit and brains for biodiversity
Mo No employees Zeno and Daniel briefing the players.
Rife with anticipation, 22 high school students from the Liechtensteinisches Gymnasium (Liechtenstein Secondary School, or LG) in Vaduz met at the “Mono Store” in Schaan. They are among the more than 90 percent of Liechtenstein students who were targeted for the escape room - and will have visited it by the end of March. This afternoon, it’s class 6Na’s turn to put a stop to Dr. Mo No together with their teacher, Oliver Bettin. After a short, perfectly staged introduction by the two game hosts, Daniel and Zeno, the youngsters head down one floor to where the exciting adventure awaits them.
While tricky puzzles about biodiversity are solved downstairs, Oliver Bettin makes himself comfortable in the supergut lounge - a recreation area with books and materials where one can explore the biodiversity topic in greater detail. Oliver Bettin successfully completed the escape room weeks ago with three colleagues. “The experience really inspired me. The escape room covers so many aspects of biodiversity and is also really fun,” says the chemistry and biology teacher enthusiastically. However, he is even more enthusiastic about his students, who opted for the science profile in secondary school. “Everyone was immediately on board when I suggested visiting the escape room. Even though the topic of biodiversity is not currently part of our curriculum and today's visit is outside of regular school time.”
Andrina was a key member of the team, contributing to multiple clues being solved.
“Well done!” “Yes, perfect, keep it up!” Scraps of words coming from the neighboring Mono Store filter into the supergut lounge, where the two game hosts follow the action in the three escape rooms via screens and headphones, providing advice in the form of hints when required. After a bit more than 23 minutes, two groups had already made it out of the escape room by defeating Dr. Mo No. “Anything under 40 minutes is great. Today's times are even close to the all-time best results,” said the impressed Mono Store employees.
As the first students arrive back on the first floor, the excitement still shines in their eyes. They excitedly began discussing which tasks were the most difficult. Among the classmates is Andrina, who’s face is beaming: “It's a cool feeling that everything went so well. I thought the different puzzles were really cool.” Both at school and at home, the high school student has already learned a lot about biodiversity and has even done some work herself. “I've already built several insect hotels, as well as a hedgehog villa in my own garden,” says Andrina proudly. Shortly after the escape room experience, her classmate, Elias, was left with one feeling in particular: “You were put to the test mentally as an individual, but the main problem was working well together, as a team.”
From challenge to change - making biodiversity a sustainable experience
After all the groups completed the challenge, the 22 students had a lively exchange of impressions before finally saying goodbye to each other and leaving.
Their teacher watches them through the window as he packs up his documents in the supergut lounge. He, too, is visibly impressed by today's visit to Schaan. “I hope that the escape room will be followed by many more great supergut projects that are just as successful and appeal to as many people as possible, especially young people. Only those who have experienced the topic of biodiversity at a young age, and consider it important, can - and will - make a positive contribution to it later on,” says Oliver.
The supergut initiative will definitely continue to fulfill this hope in the future by continuing to focus on awareness-raising and communication, particularly in the school environment, and creating the most exciting approaches possible. For example, a competition has already been launched in which all school classes in Liechtenstein have until March 31, 2025, to submit small or larger project ideas to make their school grounds a little more biodiverse.
“This can range from small structures, such as piles of branches or stones, to raised beds or the creation of colorful flower meadows,” says Michelle Kranz, Managing Director of the Hilti Family Foundation Liechtenstein, encouraging participation. “Incidentally, this competition is financed from the proceeds of the escape room.” And this much can already be revealed: Mobile “supergut labs” are also planned from the summer of 2025. In short: In the future, supergut will remain as exciting and colorful and multifaceted as biodiversity itself.