A Digital Forest for All
Forced migration and climate change are two of the defining crises of our time, deeply intertwined and demanding urgent, creative responses. The Garden(s) of Refuge, a mini-forest planted on the TU Dortmund University campus using the sustainable Miyawaki method, was born from this understanding. Developed by Prof. Vanessa Agnew at Academy in Exile, together with colleagues from Spatial Planning and UA Ruhr partners, the mini forest offers not only ecological benefits but also a place of welcome, reflection, and shared belonging for scholars, students, and members of the public alike.
Yet a physical forest has physical limitations since not everyone can visit the campus in Dortmund. To bring the Garden(s) of Refuge to a wider world, we are creating a digital simulation of the forest in Minecraft. Using drone footage and geo-referenced tree data, we are building a digital twin of the garden — tree by tree, rock by rock. Minecraft offers something rare: a freely explorable, universally accessible space that transcends geography. Anyone, anywhere, can walk through the forest, discover its stories, and feel its shelter, experiencing the forest in the way and at the time they want.
Woven into this digital landscape are testimonies by people who have special connections to trees, including Academy in Exile fellows: scholars who have experienced forced migration firsthand. Their voices, embedded directly into the Minecraft environment, transform the forest into a living archive of memory, resilience, and resistance.
The Garden(s) of Refuge was always meant to grow. Now, it grows beyond its borders.