Autumn Clean-Up Initiatives at MATE’s Szent István Campus

The woodland within MATE’s Gödöllő Botanical Garden is of national importance, preserving one of the last remnants of the hornbeam-rich field maple–oak forests native to the Gödöllő Hills.

On 15 October, a group of Hungarian and international MATE alumni, retired staff, lecturers, employees, students and their family members cleared ivy from a large area of the woodland undergrowth to help protect and restore its native biodiversity. The youngest volunteer was five-year-old Davi Geschleichter, while the MATE Retirees’ Club was the largest group represented. Nearly 30 volunteers took part in the event, organised by the Centre for Student Services. As a reward for their efforts, Botanical Garden Director Ildikó Pándi led the participants on a guided garden tour.

            

The following day, on 16 October, MATE joined the nationwide TeSzedd! litter-picking campaign. Organised by staff from the Centre for Foreign Language Education and the International Strategy and Coordination Centre, the clean-up brought together 11 international students and MATE staff members, who collected litter across the Szent István Campus. Their efforts removed 14 bags of waste from the campus environment.

        

The third day of the campus cleanup continued on 17 October. SZIA Agroecological Garden of MATE volunteers did a fantastic job preparing furrows for the drip irrigation system in the Turkish nut garden at Szent István Campus in Gödöllő!
 
The team spent the morning working hard under the guidance of the Head of Center for International Strategy and Coordination Dr. Zsuzsanna Tarr and the university’s irrigation system expert Ervin Madarász.
 
     


A heartfelt thank you to all our volunteers for their time and commitment to a cleaner, greener campus!