Food Security at the Community Level
Reflecting on Aruba’s School Food Forest Initiative
Tuesday, July 1, 2025 | 7:00 – 9:00 PM University of Aruba
The University of Aruba invites you to join a significant dialogue about community-driven approaches to food security, centered around the remarkable transformation of eleven primary school sites across our island.
Over the past three years, what began as a single school garden evolved into an island-wide initiative that converted degraded school plots into thriving food forests. Students now harvest vegetables and herbs from land that was once barren, while teachers have gained living classrooms where environmental concepts come alive.
Rose Barros has completed a comprehensive evaluation of this initiative, documenting both the ecological successes and the deeper lessons about what enables community-driven food security efforts to succeed. Her findings reveal insights that extend far beyond our shores, particularly relevant for Small Island communities facing food security challenges.
Event highlights
Project presentation: Rose Barros will share key findings from her evaluation, focusing on practical lessons about community engagement, institutional support, and the human factors that determine success.
Expert panel discussion: Three perspectives will examine the broader implications:
● Academic and community perspective: Rendell de Kort, researcher on food security in Caribbean islands and parent volunteer at Mon Plaisir Basisschool food forest
● Social sector perspective: Daniel Tecklenborg, Director of CEDE Aruba, on supporting community-driven initiatives
● Educational perspective: Roelien Hofman, Principal of Basisschool Prinses Amalia, on integrating food forests into school culture
Facilitated community dialogue: Moderated by Prof. Eric Mijts, exploring how such initiatives build adaptive capacity, support community ownership, and contribute to economic resilience.
Who should attend
This dialogue is designed for university faculty and students, government officials from various departments, school directors and teachers, members of the syntropic agriculture community, parents and volunteers, community development organizations, and anyone interested in practical approaches to building food security and resilience.
Why this matters
Small Islands face unique food security challenges—high import dependence, supply chain vulnerabilities, and limited resources. Traditional solutions often focus on large-scale interventions. Aruba’s food forest initiative demonstrates what community-level action can achieve when properly supported, offering lessons that could inform similar efforts throughout the Caribbean region.
This event positions the University of Aruba at the intersection of academic inquiry and community action, demonstrating how research institutions can contribute to practical problem-solving while generating insights of broader regional significance.
Registration: Please confirm your attendance by June 30 by filling in our RSVP form