The REAL Tiny Forest
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
Last update: 26 February 2026
The dream - A forest that grows with the children
Imagine standing at the edge of a small, dense thicket in Graphisoft Park. The trees are young now - barely saplings - but they were planted by the hands of children. Over the next decade, while those same children move through primary school and beyond, this patch of earth will quietly transform into a layered, living, buzzing microforest.
This is the REAL Tiny Forest.
Why a Tiny Forest?
The REAL Tiny Forest is built on the Japanese Miyawaki method - a technique developed by botanist Akira Miyawaki that creates dense, native woodland at extraordinary speed. Where a conventional forest might take a century to mature, a Miyawaki forest grows up to ten times faster, is thirty times denser, and shelters far more wildlife than conventional planting. The secret is density: native species are planted three per square metre, in multiple layers, encouraging the trees to compete upward toward the light and support one another in the process.
On the 60 m² site in Graphisoft Park, we will plant approximately 200 native Hungarian saplings and shrubs - and then step back and watch them race skyward.
The result is a climate-resilient green pocket that supports biodiversity and improves the microclimate in a publicly accessible area. It also becomes something equally important: a place where children can learn outdoors in a concrete, local, and measurable way.
Join us on planting day!
Our community planting event takes place on 14 March 2026 in Graphisoft Park, right next to the REAL School building. Students (aged 5–14), parents, teachers, and community volunteers will come together for a hands-on morning of planting and mulching.
A forest as a classroom
The Tiny Forest is designed as an educational tool from day one. During planting and aftercare, learning will follow the LEAF (Learning about Forests) cycle.
Planning and planting – community work with children, staff, and families, supported by Graphisoft Park’s gardeners
Observation – monitoring growth and biodiversity through school projects
Knowledge sharing – documenting and communicating what the community learns
The Miyawaki method fits naturally with REAL School's broader educational philosophy: that deep learning happens when children work on real problems and witness real results. Climate change can feel overwhelming, especially for young people. Planting a forest - and watching it grow - is an antidote to that anxiety.
Why a heart-shaped forest?
Stand for a moment at the entrance of what will become a living heart. Here, where the two lobes meet, where the forest forms its gentle V, something rather wonderful is about to unfold. The heart shape serves two essential purposes—one symbolic, the other remarkably practical.
A symbol we can see and share
The heart is perhaps humanity’s most ancient symbol of devotion. By planting a forest in this unmistakable form—visible from above, recognisable at a glance—REAL School creates something that speaks without words. This is love made visible. Not the abstract notion of caring for our planet, but care rendered in soil and saplings, in native species and careful tending. For students, particularly young ones, this transforms the project entirely. They’re not simply “planting trees”—they’re growing a heart for the Earth itself. The shape bridges scientific rigour with genuine emotional connection, making ecological restoration not just understood, but felt.
The practical magic of the V
Here’s where design and purpose beautifully converge. Most tiny forests tend toward the circular, the irregular, the organic potato-shape. Nothing wrong with that, of course. But the heart offers something these others cannot: a natural punctum, a point of focus.
That V-shaped chamber where the two lobes meet becomes an invitation. A viewing platform here, perhaps. Information signage explaining the Miyawaki Method, the native species, the remarkable density of planting - three seedlings per square metre, creating a forest that cannot be entered, only observed. A protected fence, more interesting in its heart-shaped contours, keeps the young forest safe.
This is crucial. Passers-by must understand what they are seeing—why this dense thicket will grow faster, taller, richer in biodiversity than conventional planting. The V-shaped entrance provides the perfect pedagogical moment: a place where children and adults alike can peer into the growing tangle, watch it transform season by season, year by year.
A living testament
The heart grows. It changes with the seasons, matures over decades, and becomes an ever-richer habitat. Unlike any monument of stone or steel, this symbol breathes. It embodies regeneration not as a concept, but as a living process. REAL School’s heart-shaped forest, then, becomes both teacher and testimony—a beacon of hope, certainly, but also a thoroughly practical design for engaging community, communicating purpose, and nurturing connection with the more-than-human world.
How you can support?
You can
Join the Community planting day - sign up here
Volunteer to water the trees in summer when the School is on break - email joinus@realschool.hu
Donate via the Dream to Reality Foundation here. Support helps cover the practical elements that make a tiny forest thrive and stay protected in its early years, including aftercare and learning resources.
Our partners
The 10 Million Trees Foundation awarded their National Tree Planting Day grant - Miyawaki mini forest category - to REAL School in January 2026, making the REAL Tiny Forest possible.
The project is supported by Graphisoft Park, which is providing the land and participating in long-term maintenance, and by the REAL School community.
Project updates
29 January 2026: REAL School was awarded a grant by the 10 Million Trees Foundation to create our very own Miyawaki mini forest.
February 2026: Tools and materials procured, baby trees and site prepared (earthworks, soil improvement, fence preparation), thanks to our partner Garden Futura.
14 March 2026: Community planting day
March–June 2026: Regular watering and weeding with students, plus observation-based learning projects
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