Green Train

In October Thinking Forest joined forces with The Green Train for a special afternoon and evening at Landgoed Welna. The Green Train is an innovative sustainable travel project transforming railway journeys into moving venues for environmental action, cultural engagement, and climate awareness.

The journey begins the night before aboard the European Sleeper Train, followed by a morning program at Mediamatic in Amsterdam, where participants will help hand out seedlings. From there, the Green Train traveled to Landgoed Welna.

The afternoon in the forest began with a forest walk, which led to the wooden sculptural work of Gerbrand Burger, a Trajectory through a Maze of Trajectories.

Afterwards, the group gathered for a participatory planting session as part of The Gift & 432 series, led by artist Nina Backman of Silence Project. This work invites participants to engage directly with nature through the planting of larger trees, each accompanied by a certificate and an artwork in evolving tree planting artwork and social ritual.

These symbolic plantings take place at select locations along the train’s route, transforming each site into a living, growing artwork. Through collaborative planting with local communities, environmental partners, and cultural institutions, the program fosters a deeper awareness of our shared responsibility for the planet. Each tree becomes part of a broader ecosystem of care, memory, and future resilience. At Welna We planted a row of lime trees close to the house at Welna. Planting a lime tree close to a house gives practical protection, like shade, and historically the lime tree has been said to protect from various kinds of evil.

Following the tree planting, the group gathered for a dinner at Welna Estate. A seasonal meal was prepared by De Groene Ketel, run by Marieke van Leersum and Giel Dons. Later, Nina Backman joined Bram Opdam (Director, Landgoed Welna) for an open discussion to close the evening.

Thank you to all of our contributors, as well as Sub3 Art Fund, Stichting Stokroos en Landgoed Welna for making this program possible.