Voluntary work opportunities

The "Oasis for Children" project, implemented in Zagreb, is based on the experience of implementing non-institutional education in 5 primary schools in Zagreb. The main objective of the project is to promote the principles of healthy lifestyles, environmental protection, sustainable development and volunteering among pupils of partner primary schools. Throughout the year, students will be educated outdoors in school gardens, on environmental protection, sustainable development, healthy lifestyles and volunteerism. Students will also work on the garden for the opportunity of practising the knowledge gained from the regular education system. Every academic year, new primary schools are added to the project with the increased popularity of the school gardens [Ref 1]

After 2011, in the face of crisis and austerity hardship and the collapse of the central public welfare system, many municipalities assumed the role of enhancing food production through urban allotment gardens. In Ag. Dimitrios (AD), the idea emerged from a couple of newly elected representatives one of whom was part of an agriculture cooperative outside of Athens. A mixture of social and environmental goals were set (to change the microclimate, to change people's habits, to reintroduce contact with nature in the city, to be environment-friendly through good practices, and to create an educational ground for children). [1]

The Roerplein pocket garden was a Neighborhood Green Plan project. The Neighborhood Green Plans were an initiative of Utrecht Municipality to support the bottom-up 'greening' of its neighbourhoods. Citizens could propose a variety of often quite small-scaled plans that enhance the neighbourhood by means of green spaces that promote social cohesion and thereby community identity. At the Roerplein, a public square was transformed into a green square by way of a participatory process, assisted by a social entrepreneur. The project aimed to reduce heat stress, enhance social cohesion and the attractiveness of the neighbourhood, promote biodiversity and support recreation (ref. 1).

The Tree Strategy is a municipal action plan in progress, aiming to address some of the main sustainability challenges described in the Environmental Program of Malmö City. Its main relations to sustainability challenges include improved health and well-being, decrease differences in those among different social groups and increase biodiversity. The Strategy includes a range of possibilities for evaluating its ecological and social success (ref. 1).

Initially the park was created in 1903 as a summer residence for the royal family and had a no-visitor’s policy. For over 40 years the park collected 821 trees, shrub and, grass species from all over the world on less than 100 ha. After the estate was given back to the successors of Tsar Boris III, they partially donated the park to Sofia municipality and in 2013 the park-museum ‘Vrana’ was opened for visitors. Due to its rare species, well-preserved wilderness and historical significance, the park enjoys great interest from tourists as well as scientists as a biodiversity hotspot. (Ref 1)

Creation of the social garden by a coalition of multiple social actors in Bremen (citizens, NGOs, public institutions). The initiative was a self-organized grassroots project for urban development that aims at the creation of the green urban area for sustainable gardening and sustainable solutions. The project involved greenery plantings, growing vegetables and herbs, assembly of beehives, organization of educational and cultural events and workshops (Ref. 1, 4).

The project aimed to create a garden on the roof in the Bremen Volkshochschule, developed with the help of local NGO, Gemüsewerft Bremen and local citizens. The initiative involves vegetables and herbs growing, educational workshops on nutrition and urban gardening as well as various social activities. It aims at increasing access to the urban gardening space and increase in ecological awareness of the residents of Bremen (Ref. 1, 3).

The Belvedere College Urban Farm is run by students from the school and by the Urban Farm start-up. The complex consists of a greenhouse and an open farm, both situated on the rooftop of Belvedere College. The project serves as a testing ground for researching sustainable farming practices, provides education and practical experience on the topic to students, and is part of a collaborative food network in the local area. (ref 1, 7, 8)

The project of building 100 butterfly booths in different locations of the city developed by BUND Bremen in cooperation with the Botanical Garden, Stadtgrün Bremen and implemented jointly with the citizens. The project additionally involved plantings of flowers and educational activities. It aimed at increasing biodiversity, increasing the protection of the endangered butterfly species as well as providing care instructions for the care of butterflies for the residents of Bremen (Ref. 2, 3).

The two-year project "Integrationsgärten" aimed at the creation of three social integration gardens for refugees at different residential districts: transitional house Arbergen 2 (2016), a transitional house at Tannenbergstraße (2016/2017), and in Huckelriede (2017). The project involved various gardening activities and cultural events that aimed at increasing social integration of the refugees, improving their language skills, as well as stimulating neighborhoods to social engagement and participation in environmental issues in the neighborhood (Ref. 2, 3).