1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Aix-en-Provence
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Un potager sur une terrasse urbaine
Short description of the intervention
An urban garden on a private citizen's terrace in the city of Aix en Provence, has been created with the help of the organization "Pays d'Aix en Transition" working towards permaculture and urban gardening. The main objective of this urban garden is to produce vegetables and fruit for personal consumption, to install plants in a very urban environment, and use permaculture techniques. Another objective is to grow climbing plants to decorate the walls. (Ref.1 )
Address

Unknown
Aix en Provence
France

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Total area
8.00m²
NBS area
1.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Residential
Website of the intervention
http://www.paysdaixentransition.org/tous-les-groupes/permaculture-urbaine/exper…
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
unknown
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
unknown
End date of the intervention
unknown
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
"Produce vegetables and fruit for personal consumption;
Install plants in a very urban environment and use permaculture techniques;
Gradually grow climbing plants to dress the walls and the arbor" (Ref. 1)
Quantitative targets
"The terrace on which this garden was realized is facing south.
It is 8m² and the total cultivable area is 1m²."
"2 large wooden bins were placed on the ground. They are 50 cm high to hold a maximum of soil."
"On the east side, a wooden structure was custom made to exploit the surface of the sloping wall, it has 3 bins. Behind the horizontal wall, a narrow bin was built to accommodate the aromatics." (Ref. 1)
Monitoring indicators defined
size of the terrace in m² (Ref 1)
number of bins of wooden structure (Ref 1)
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Sustainable consumption
Sustainable production
Please specify "other Type of NBS project"
food production (Ref 1)
Implementation activities
"Plans and seeds planted in this garden (in small quantities):
-Climbing plants: a white Muscat vine and a kiwi tree.
-Vegetables: radishes, beets, arugula, leeks, onions, tomatoes and dwarf peas
-Fruits: strawberries and wild strawberries
-Herbs: parsley, chives, basil, fennel and mint"
"gravels were distributed to the bottom of the tanks on 10 cm, then clay soil on 10 cm and finally a mixture of compost and potting soil with a little horse manure"
"An automatic irrigation system has been set up to manage the irrigation of the garden." (Ref. 1)
-"Pays d'Aix en Transition is committed to the Collectif Climat du Pays d'Aix." (Ref. 2) The Collectif Climat du Pays d'Aix (Climate Collective of the Aix Territory) "is made up of people who engage as individuals and associations whose interest is related to climate issue. Its dynamics are anchored in the territory of the Pays d'Aix in relation to regional, national and international dynamics such as the "Alternatiba" movement and the Climate Coalition 21." (Ref. 4)
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
Other
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Nature on buildings (external)
Green walls or facades
Community gardens and allotments
Allotments
Please specify the number of plots or allotment gardens
1 (Ref 1)
What is the level of innovation / development of the NBS related to water management?
Low: Simple rain water collection intervention (rain garden, local seepage pit) or simple permeable areas
Vegetation Type
Garden beds
Other
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Water (surface and ground water for drinking and non-drinking purposes)
Regulating services
Other
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Please specify "other regulating service"
use permaculture techniques (Ref.1)
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Non-government organisation/Civil Society
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Led by non-government actors
Non-government actors
Non-governmental organisation (NGO) / Civil society / Churches
Citizens or community groups
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
Terrace of an individual, which got the help and the support of the organization "Pays d'Aix en Transition" working toward permaculture and resilience in urban area. (Ref 1)
Key actors - initiating organization
Non-government organisation/civil society
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Other
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Non-government organisation/civil society
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Other
Please specify other land owner
small landowner: Terrace of an individual, which got the help and the support of the organization "Pays d'Aix en Transition" working toward permaculture and resilience in urban area. (Ref 1)
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Taskforce groups
Dissemination of information and education
Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Co-management/Joint management
Citizen monitoring and review
Please specify other landowner
small landowner: Terrace of an individual, which got the help and the support of the organization "Pays d'Aix en Transition" working toward permaculture and resilience in urban area. (Ref 1)
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
Unknown
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
Yes
Please specify the "local regulation/strategy/plan"
"In preparation for the COP21 climate conference to be held in Paris at the end of 2015, Pays d'Aix en Transition is committed to the Collectif Climat du Pays d'Aix." (Ref. 2) The Collectif Climat du Pays d'Aix (Climate Collective of the Aix Territory) "is made up of people who engage as individuals and associations whose interest is related to climate issue. Its dynamics are anchored in the territory of the Pays d'Aix in relation to regional, national and international dynamics such as the "Alternatiba" movement and the Climate Coalition 21." (Ref. 4)
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Please specify other vegetation type
grow climbing plants to decorate the walls. (Ref.1 )
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
"Pays d'Aix en Transition" is part of the "Collectif Climat du Pays d'Aix" (Ref. 2)
Presence of GI / NBS research project - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Subsidies/investment for GI / NBS in the city - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Co-finance for NBS
Unknown
Co-financing governance arrangements
Unknown
Was this co-governance arrangement already in place, or was it set up specifically for this NBS?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
Unknown
What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?
Unknown
What are the total amount of expected annual maintenance costs?
Unknown
What is the expected annual maintenance costs of the NBS or GI elements?
Unknown
Please specify cost savings
Unknown
Please specify total cost (EUR)
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
Unknown
Type of fund(s) used
Unknown
Non-financial contribution
Yes
Type of non-financial contribution
Provision of land
Provision of labour
Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Other
Business models
Green densification model
Local stewardship model
Please specify other environmental impact
- "An automatic irrigation system has been set up to manage the irrigation of the garden." (Ref. 1); "accommodate the aromatics." (Ref. 1)
-addressing climate change by being a part of a larger project to address climate change: "The Collectif Climat Pays d'Aix is made up of people who engage as individuals and associations whose interest is related to climate issue. Its dynamics are anchored in the territory of the Pays d'Aix in relation to regional, national, and international dynamics such as the "Alternatiba" movement and the Climate Coalition 21." (Ref. 4)
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Private non-for-profit actor (e.g. NGO, foundation)
Citizens / local communities
Type of innovation
Technological
Product innovation
Please specify technological innovation
Plants, herbs, vegetable and fruits were planted and wooden structure was custom made to exploit the surface of the sloping wall (Ref. 1) "An automatic irrigation system has been set up to manage the irrigation of the garden." (Ref. 1)
Novelty level of the innovation
Ambiguous (e.g. multiple interpretations)
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
The article about this intervention is located under the sub-section on the website called "experimentations". Therefore, this garden could have been the first one following permaculture techniques to be created in the area. (Ref. 1)
Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Climate change
Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Reduced biodiversity loss
Increased number of species present
Other
Description of environmental benefits
Green space and habitat:
-Increased green space area: quantitative, increase of 8m^2 in green space (Ref. 1)
-Increased number of species present: quantitative, 16 species (Ref. 1) "Climbing plants: a white Muscat vine and a kiwi tree. Vegetables: radishes, beets, arugula, leeks, onions, tomatoes and dwarf peas. Fruit: strawberries and wild strawberries. Spices: parsley, chives, basil, fennel and mint
-This is an urban garden in a building, therefore, it offers a green space in the city (Ref 1)
-The organization Pays d'Aix en Transition is working toward resilience (Ref. 1)
- "An automatic irrigation system has been set up to manage the irrigation of the garden." (Ref. 1)
-"On the east side, a wooden structure was custom made to exploit the surface of the sloping wall, it has 3 bins. Behind the horizontal wall, a narrow bin was built to accommodate the aromatics." (Ref. 1)
-"gravels were distributed to the bottom of the tanks on 10 cm, then clay soil on 10 cm and finally a mixture of compost and potting soil with a little horse manure" (Ref 1)
-addressing climate change by being a part of a larger project to address climate change: "The Collectif Climat Pays d'Aix is made up of people who engage as individuals and associations whose interest is related to climate issue. Its dynamics are anchored in the territory of the Pays d'Aix in relation to regional, national, and international dynamics such as the "Alternatiba" movement and the Climate Coalition 21." (Ref. 4)

Economic impacts
Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
Increased market share for green economies
Description of economic benefits
Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not): quantitative, 16 species (Ref. 1) "Climbing plants: a white Muscat vine and a kiwi tree. Vegetables: radishes, beets, arugula, leeks, onions, tomatoes and dwarf peas. Fruit: strawberries and wild strawberries. Spices: parsley, chives, basil, fennel and mint
Social and cultural impacts
Social justice and cohesion
Increased access to healthy/affordable food
Increased sustainability of agriculture practices
Description of social and cultural benefits
Social justice and cohesion:
-Increased access to healthy/affordable food: Successfully produced vegetables and fruit for extra personal consumption (Ref. 1)
-Improvement of sustainable agriculture practices: "An automatic watering system has been set up to manage the irrigation of the garden." (Ref. 1)
Type of reported impacts
Expected impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
-Permaculture techniques are applied to this garden (Ref 1)
-The organization Pays d'Aix en Transition is working toward resilience within the context of climate change (Ref. 1)
-Increased green space area: quantitative, increase of 8m^2 in green space (Ref. 1)
-Increased number of species present: quantitative, 16 species (Ref. 1)
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Sustainable production
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
No information available
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
Increased access to healthy food for humans and/or animals
Negative impacts: Did the project cause any problems or concerns?
No information was found regarding negative impacts of the project
COVID-19 pandemic
No information available as of Jul 09, 2020
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Unknown
Evidence for use of assessment
Presence of an assessment, evaluation and/or monitoring process
Unknown
Presence of indicators used in reporting
No evidence in public records
Presence of monitoring/evaluation reports
No evidence in public records
Availability of a web-based monitoring tool
No evidence in public records
Impact assessment mechanism
Name of any specific impact assessment tools
Unknown.
Use of GIS in mapping impacts
No evidence in public records
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Ref. 1
Ref. 2
Ref. 3
Ref. 4
List of references
1. Pays d'Aix en Provence (n.d). "Un potager sur une terrasse urbaine". Available at: http://www.paysdaixentransition.org/tous-les-groupes/permaculture-urbaine/experimentation/un-potager-sur-une-terrasse-urbaine/ (Accessed: Jul 09, 2020).
2. Pays d'Aix en Provence (2015). "Pays d’Aix en Transition s’engage dans le collectif climat 2015". Available at: http://www.paysdaixentransition.org/pays-daix-en-transition-sengage-dans-le-collectif-climat-2015-2/ (Accessed: Jul 09, 2020).
3. Collectif Climat Pays d'Aix (2016). Website. Available at: http://collectifclimat-paysdaix.fr/ (Accessed: Jul 09, 2020).
4. Collectif Climat Pays d'Aix (No Date). Facebook Page. Available at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/collectifclimat.paysdaix/about/?ref=page_internal (Accessed: Jul 09, 2020).
Comments and notes
Comments
Section 4: The organization Pays d'Aix en Transition has different projects to respond to the COP 21 held in Paris in 2015 and joined the "Collectif Climat Pays d'Aix" (Ref.3):
"In preparation for the COP21 climate conference to be held in Paris at the end of 2015, Pays d'Aix en Transition is committed to the Collectif Climat du Pays d'Aix." (Ref. 2)
"The Collectif Climat Pays d'Aix is made up of people who engage as individuals and associations whose interest is related to climate issue. Its dynamics are anchored in the territory of the Pays d'Aix in relation to regional, national, and international dynamics such as the "Alternatiba" movement and the Climate Coalition 21." (Ref. 4)

Section 1: The exact address is unknown, but the terrace is located in the city of Aix en Provence. The coordinates indicate the centre of the city.
Pictures of the NBS
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/sites/default/files/nbs/images/jardinurbain-ouest21.jpg
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Please specify other source of non-financial contribution
Terrace of an individual, which got the help and the support of the organization "Pays d'Aix en Transition" working toward permaculture and resilience in urban area. (Ref 1)