Cuaderno de campo is an educational field notebook created by Aprisco to directly connect agroecology research in northern Extremadura with local educational community. 

The notebook emerges from a collaboration between Aprisco and the San Martín preschool and primary school (Garganta la Olla), a rural benchmark for educational innovation, within the BiodivRURAL living lab. In 2023, they co-designed an experimental school garden inspired by Aprisco’s research at the Monfragüe Experimental Station linked to the LegumES project on ecosystem services provided by legumes. The garden functioned as a small-scale replica of real research plots and became a learning space used in natural science, mathematics, art, language and robotics.

At the end of the school year, a World Café with teachers and students evaluated the experience and generated ideas for a field notebook tailored to classroom use. Using these contributions, the Cuaderno de campo was designed, adapting the garden to the COUSIN project’s research focus on crop wild relatives. The garden now includes cultivated legumes and cereals alongside their wild relatives, and the notebook guides weekly observations such as drawing plants, measuring growth and counting leaves.

Still in beta, the notebook is currently being tested at San Martín. A refined version open to ongoing improvement will be produced for wider distribution to schools in the region, incorporating complementary classroom activities as inspiration for linking scientific research with everyday learning.

View and download the PDF!