1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Antwerpen
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Samentuin Colorietenhof
Short description of the intervention
‘Colorieten Hof’ is a community garden in which vegetables, herbs and flowers are grown sustainably. The garden is a social meeting place for elderly, neighborhood citizens and female immigrants who can learn Dutch and about Belgian culture (Ref. 1, 3).
Address

Balansstraat
23/A
2018 Antwerpen
Belgium

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Central Business District / City Centre
Website of the intervention
http://www.velt.nu/
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2010
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2012
End date of the intervention
ongoing
Present stage of the intervention
Ongoing
Goals of the intervention
The main goal was creating a community vegetable garden where people of all ages, cultures and social groups meet each other and enjoy seeding, nurturing and harvesting vegetables and herbs. An additional goal is education on ecological gardening and teaching immigrants Dutch and about Belgian culture (Ref. 3).
Quantitative targets
Unknown
Monitoring indicators defined
Unknown
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Environmental education
Social cohesion
Social interaction
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Sustainable consumption
Sustainable production
Implementation activities
Ecological seasonal gardening: growing flowers, herbs and vegetables (Ref. 1, 2, 3). A compost corner for which the residents of the health care centre Hof ter Beke bring their organic waste (Ref. 3). Cooking soup once a year from the vegetables for the residents of the community garden (Ref. 3). Organizing workshops by the ecological gardening association Velt, by two members of the organization (Ref. 3). A chicken coop is placed in the community garden (Ref. 2).
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
Maintenance and management of urban nature
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Community gardens and allotments
Community gardens
Please specify the number of plots or allotment gardens
Unknown
Vegetation Type
Flower beds
Garden beds
Other
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Recreation
Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational)
Physical and experiential interactions with plants and animals
Social and community interactions
Other
Please specify "other cultural service"
Education on ecological gardening and on the Dutch language and Belgium culture for female immigrants (Ref. 3).
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Citizens or community groups
Marginalized groups
Marginalized groups
Elderly people
Refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants
Governance
Governance arrangements
Led by non-government actors
Non-government actors
Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
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
The community garden is initiated by Elisabeth de Coninck who is a citizen and member of the ecological gardening association Velt (1, 2). The community garden is implemented and maintained by neighborhood citizens, health care centre Hof ter Beke (public sector institution) and the Intercultural Centre for Women Antwerp, a civil society organization that supports female immigrants by means of education and social events) (Ref. 2). When transforming the courtyard of Hof ter Beke into a community garden, this needed to be discussed with the municipality of Antwerp as they are the land owners. The municipality decided that vegetables should be grown in flowerbeds that are disconnected with the soil because of the risk of contamination (Ref. 3). The municipality is not involved in the management of the garden, therefore 'co-governance' is not selected. Workshops on ecological gardening are provided by two members of Velt, Elisabeth de Coninck and Marijke Vandierendonck (Ref. 3).
Key actors - initiating organization
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Public sector institution
Non-government organisation/civil society
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Public space owned by the city
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
Dissemination of information and education
Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Co-management/Joint management
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
No
NBS intervention implemented in response to a national regulations/strategy/plan
No
NBS intervention implemented in response to a local regulation/strategy/plan
No
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Please specify other type of voluntary intervention
The community garden is a dream come true for Elisabeth the Coninck (citizen that is member of the Velt gardening association) to transform the courtyard of the health care centre into a community vegetable garden. She is an experienced vegetable gardener and was looking for a location to start a community garden. By accident she met Guy Plas, the manager of the health care centre who was just looking for a new destination for the garden (Ref. 3).
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
Herbs and vegetables (Ref. 1, 3)
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
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 goods
Provision of labour
Other
Please specify other type of non-financial contribution
Provision of biological seeds and ecologically furnished wood to create the flowerbeds by 'sponsors' (it is not specified who exactly provided this). Also, residents bring their organic waste to the garden that can be used as plant nutrients (Ref. 3).
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Business models
Local stewardship model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Citizens / local communities
Type of innovation
Social
Cultural innovation
Please specify social innovation
The project can be considered unique because of the combination of the actors that are involved in the maintenance (elderly people living in the health care centre, female immigrants, neighborhood citizens and volunteers) (Ref. 3).
Novelty level of the innovation
The innovation is copied/derived from previous initiative(s) with substantial adaptation
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
It is not the only community garden in Antwerp, but the project can be considered unique because the elderly help the immigrants with the language and culture while the immigrants bring liveliness into the garden which benefits the well-being of the residents and both groups and citizens can learn about ecological gardening (Ref. 3).
Replicability/Transferability
Unknown
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Environmental quality
Improved waste management
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Description of environmental benefits
Environmental quality:
-Improved waste management: A compost corner for which the residents of the health care centre Hof ter Beke bring their organic waste (Ref. 3).

Green space and habitat:
-Increased green space area: Ecological seasonal gardening: growing flowers, herbs and vegetables (Ref. 1, 2, 3).
Economic impacts
Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
Description of economic benefits
Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not): Organizing workshops by the ecological gardening association Velt, by two members of the organization (Ref. 3). A chicken coop is placed in the community garden (Ref. 2). Ecological seasonal gardening: growing flowers, herbs and vegetables (Ref. 1, 2, 3).
Social and cultural impacts
Social justice and cohesion
Improved social cohesion
Increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
Increased opportunities for social interaction
Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
Increased access to healthy/affordable food
Increased sustainability of agriculture practices
Cultural heritage and sense of place
Promotion of cultural diversity
Improvement in people’s connection to nature
Education
Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
Description of social and cultural benefits
Social justice and cohesion:
-Improved social cohesion/Increased opportunities for social interaction: the participants are very positive about the social benefits of the garden and state that it has benefitted them in making contact with other people (Ref. 3).
-Increased visibility and opportunity for marginalized groups or indigenous peoples: The garden is a social meeting place for elderly, neighborhood citizens and female immigrants who can learn Dutch and about Belgian culture (Ref. 1, 3).
-Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces: The community garden is initiated by Elisabeth de Coninck who is a citizen and member of the ecological gardening association Velt (1, 2). The community garden is implemented and maintained by neighborhood citizens, health care centre Hof ter Beke (public sector institution) and the Intercultural Centre for Women Antwerp, a civil society organization that supports female immigrants by means of education and social events) (Ref. 2).
-Increased access to healthy/affordable food: Cooking soup once a year from the vegetables for the residents of the community garden (Ref. 3).
-Improvement of sustainable agriculture practices: Ecological seasonal gardening: growing flowers, herbs and vegetables (Ref. 1, 2, 3).

Cultural heritage and sense of place
-Promotion of cultural diversity/Improvement in people’s connection to nature: An additional goal is education on ecological gardening and teaching immigrants Dutch and about Belgian culture (Ref. 3).

Education:
-Increased knowledge of locals about local nature: Organizing workshops by the ecological gardening association Velt, by two members of the organization (Ref. 3).
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
number of people participating in the garden or in the gardening workshops (Ref. 3).
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Voluntary work opportunities
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 specific information available as of October 6, 2020. Belgium began a gradual deconfinement process in May (https://www.info-coronavirus.be/en/faq/).
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
(1) Community garden on municipality website
(2) Community garden on NGO website
(3) Article about the garden
List of references
1. Gemeente Antwerpen (2017). Samentuin Colorietenhof. [online] Available at: https://www.antwerpen.be/nl/info/58beb95cb85c8dd1c701d8a2/samentuin-colorieten-hof (Accessed: October 6, 2020).
2. Ecoplan (2015). Samentuin Coloriten Hof. [online] Available at: http://www.ecoplan.be/colorieten-hof (Website not available in 2020).
3. Boudewijn, N. (n.d.). De Colorieten Hof. Een Antwerpse samentuin. [pdf] Available at:
https://fdocuments.nl/document/de-colorieten-hof-een-antwerpse-samentuin.html (Accessed: October 6, 2020).
Comments and notes
Comments
Alternative link for Ref. 3 (with less pages): http://www.velt.nu/sites/files/content/documenten/Samentuinen/colorieten_hof_antwerpen_en_leilekkerland_kortrijk.pdf
Public Images
Three women gardening
https://www.antwerpen.be/info/58beb95cb85c8dd1c701d8a2/samentuin-colorieten-hof