1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Athens
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Πάρκο Νασαρίνοσ
Short description of the intervention
The garden was established in 2012 by self-management of the community of Exarcheia. The site is a former parking lot in public land, historically reclaimed by the neighbourhood as a green zone. People occupied the space, designed the park, and constructed it. The former parking lot was owned by the Technical Chamber of Greece (TCG). A weekly assembly manages the site and activities. The aim of the community garden is formative, to show how to grow food, reproduce and collect seeds. The park has encompassed multiple functions in addition to community food-producing garden, such as children's playground, a place for cultural events, gathering and emancipation (Ref 1, 2, 3).
Address

Exarcheia
Athens
Greece

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Total area
2000.00m²
NBS area
2000.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Previous derelict area
Other
Please specify “other type of area” before implementation of the NBS
Car Parking
Website of the intervention
http://parkingparko.espivblogs.net/englishfrench/about-the-park/
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2009
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2009
End date of the intervention
2012
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
o To grow food, reproduce and collect seeds;
o To create more urban green area;
o Use for leisure;
o To connect the residents and the city;
o Maintain green space with high vegetation;
o To create a space for creativity, emancipation and resistance, open to various initiatives, such as political, cultural and anti-consumerist ones. (Ref 1,2)
Quantitative targets
Unknown.
Monitoring indicators defined
The amount of food produced, carbon sequestration, number of visitors, access to green area, controlling the air temperature, heat island effect, aesthetic view (Ref 1,2,3).
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
Climate change mitigation
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Environmental quality
Air quality improvement
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Effective management
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Social interaction
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Enabling opportunities for physical activity
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
Economic development: agriculture
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Sustainable production
Climate change mitigation: What were the goals of the NBS?
Sequester and store carbon
Climate change mitigation: What activities are implemented to realize the conservation goals and targets?
Increase green urban nature for carbon storage (wetlands, tree cover)
Implementation activities
"After the piece of the land had been left unused for years, its neighbors took a stance. When the lease of the then present parking area came to an end, it didn’t take long before the residents took a stance; they formed the Exarcheia Residents’ Initiative, and got involved with the possible re-development plans of the land. Starting off as an experiment to connect the residents and the city, Exarcheia Residents’ Initiative took on the task of creating a green space with high vegetation. They planted new different crop trees, the space was squatted and with drilling and planting with few new constructions like fencing, sitting area, garden area the Navarinou park was born" (Ref 1).
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Parks and urban forests
Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
Community gardens and allotments
Community gardens
Please specify the number of plots or allotment gardens
One park in the previous car parking area.
Vegetation Type
Grass
Shrubs
Trees
Flower beds
Garden beds
Please specify how many trees were planted
Information not available.
Amenities offered by the NBS
Benches and drinking water stations
Playgrounds
Cultural (museum, concert areas)
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Regulating services
Local climate regulation (temperature reduction)
Air quality regulation
Carbon storage/sequestration
Cultural services
Aesthetic appreciation
Recreation
Social and community interactions
Scale
Spatial scale
Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Local government/Municipality
Citizens or community groups
Governance
Governance arrangements
Led by non-government actors
Non-government actors
Citizens or community groups
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
Starting off as an experiment to connect the residents and the city, Exarcheia Residents’ Initiative took on the task of creating a green space with high vegetation (Ref 1, 2).
Key actors - initiating organization
Citizens or community group
Land owners
No information found
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Citizens or community group
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Citizen science
Citizen monitoring and review
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)
Enablers
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS vision/strategy/plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Please specify
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify the general plan with GI/NBS section
Resilience strategy for Athens 2030
If there is a relevant strategy or plan, please specify the theme / type of the plan.
City specific climate change policy or plan
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
Exarcheia Residents’ Initiative: the community group to plan and develop the project. (Ref 1,2)
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
No
Co-financing governance arrangements
No
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
Source(s) of funding
Crowdfunding
Type of fund(s) used
Donations
Membership or entrance fees
Non-financial contribution
Yes
Type of non-financial contribution
Provision of goods
Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
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
System innovation
Please specify system innovation
The citizens' community took the initiative to make the unused land to a properly used environmentally friendly area.They built some infrastructures to support the innovation. There are a very clear governance and collaborative initiative among the community group.
(Ref 2)
Novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Please specify novelty level of the innovation
Unknown
Replicability/Transferability
The innovation is transferred to new initiative(s) with substantial adaptation
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
The similar kind of initiative has been taken by The Municipality of Maroussi, Athens, Greece in developing a similar community garden. The project is a collaboration between the local municipality and the citizens. (Ref 2)
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Climate change
Lowered local temperature
Environmental quality
Improved air quality
Green space and habitat
Increased green space area
Description of environmental benefits
The Navarinou park is a free and self-managed community park at the heart of Exarcheia. The park was created by the locals and includes many tree species, flower beds, and vegetable patches. The park has turned a grey area to a green one and provides habitat for some species. The creation of the park has also improved the micro-climate of the locality and helps the locals to spend more time in nature (Ref 1, 3).
Economic impacts
Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
Description of economic benefits
The park does not have any direct economic benefits, but helps and encourages the locals to grow their own vegetables. The small vegetable patches are mostly not for profits but for the community to learn to grow food and at the same time build strong connections with neighbours (Ref 1, 2).
Social and cultural impacts
Social justice and cohesion
Improved social cohesion
Fair distribution of social, environmental and economic benefits of the NBS project
Improved access to urban green space
Increased opportunities for social interaction
Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
Increased access to healthy/affordable food
Cultural heritage and sense of place
Improvement in people’s connection to nature
Increased sense of place identity, memory and belonging
Increased appreciation for natural spaces
Description of social and cultural benefits
Building the Navarinou park has not been only a project for the locals but a journey that they walked together. The place carries a strong emotional value as the locals have fought against the city to gain the right to build the park. The park is a self-managed park. Visitors and the locals voluntarily clean the place, water the plants and do the necessary chores. The place has become a self-organized, anti-hierarchical and anti-commercial space with an open assembly. The park is actually a place of gathering, creation, emancipation, gaming and resistance. It aims to become a park beyond profit and property, functioning as a space of play, assembly and communication, creativity, exchange and activism beyond barriers of age, origin, education, social and financial status (Ref 1, 4).
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Toral greening of the area, reduced local temperature, reduced pollution, and foods produced.
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
Climate change adaptation
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Green space creation and/or management
Environmental quality
Air quality improvement
Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
Effective management
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Social cohesion
Social interaction
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Voluntary work opportunities
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
Positive distribution of NBS benefits
Improved access to green and/or blue spaces
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
Unknown as of July 2020.
Methods of impact monitoring
Process of recording NBS impacts
No evidence in public records
Methods used to evaluate the impacts of NBS
Not applicable
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
Citizen involvement
Citizens involvement in assessment/evaluation
Yes
Mode(s) of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
Focus Group
Other
Please specify other modes of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
The entire project was citizens' initiative.
o Exarcheia Residents’ Initiative: They organize meetings which are used to discuss all alterations, problems, and proposals (Ref 1,2,3).
o Every idea can be expressed and nothing is declined without dialogue and argumentation.The park is being co-created and developed by the group every day. (Ref 2)
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Yes
Please specify
The community groups also organize meetings to evaluate the results of the weekly meetings and analyze the problems and if any modification is needed. (Ref 1)
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Yes
Please specify
The modifications were made based on the expectations of the citizens. "The park’s future is decided upon in public meetings that vary in frequency depending on needs and availability. This gives the park an open character, where every neighbor can have his or her say. These meetings are used to discuss all alterations, problems and proposals"(Ref 1). The consensual decisions of the open meetings are binding for everyone. And based on the discussions they go for changes in development and maintenance of the park like increasing the production of the food or changing the food crops seasonally. (Ref 2)
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Tο πάρκινγκ τους, πάρκο μας
A beautiful park with a political history
List of references
1. Δεν βρέθηκε (no date) Tο πάρκινγκ τους, πάρκο μας. Available at: http://parkingparko.espivblogs.net/englishfrench/about-the-park/. Accessed on 14th July, 2020.
2. Dilouambaka Ethel (2018) Navarinou: The Athens city park, created and run by locals. Culture Trips. Available at: https://theculturetrip.com/europe/greece/articles/navarinou-the-athens-city-park-created-and-run-by-locals/. Accessed on 14th July, 2020.
3. Parking Navarinou (no date) Firefund. Available at: https://www.firefund.net/parkonavarinou. Accessed on 14th July, 2020.
4. Navarinou Park, Athens (2017). Wikimapia. Available at: http://wikimapia.org/12538989/Navarinou-Park. Accessed on 14th July, 2020.
5. Pablodesoto (2010) Mapping the Commons. Available at: http://mappingthecommons.net/en/blog/2010/12/08/navarinou-park/. Accessed on 14th July, 2020.
6. City of Athens (no date) Athens Resilience Strategy for 2030: Redefining the city. Available at: https://www.academia.edu/34861574/Athens_Resilience_Strategy_for_2030_Redefining_the_city. Accessed on 14th July, 2020.
Additional comments
While providing a space for emancipation and resistance, Navarinou park aspires to have an urban garden. As more and more people visit the park, they get the opportunity to get in touch with nature in the city. Navarinou Park differs from official public spaces as it is a communal space used as needed with its own forms of control, not as defined or authorized space. Today the park is a neighborhood garden that is used to grow food, and is used for leisure. It defies constraints that relate to differences in age, origin, educational level and social-, or economic position, and functions without profit or ownership-driven logic. The park’s future is decided upon in public meetings that vary in frequency depending on needs and availability. This gives the park an open character, where every neighbor can have his or her say. These meetings are used to discuss all alterations, problems and proposals (Ref 1,2,3).
Interview comments
Eleni Myrivili, Athens Chief Resilience Officer (100RC) and waiting for her reply.
Comments and notes
Comments
As this a citizens' initiative, a lot of information is not available on the internet. I tried to find and interpret as much as I can.
Additional insights
Starting off as an experiment to connect the residents and the city, Exarcheia Residents’ Initiative took on the task of creating a green space with high vegetation. When it looked as if the land would be used to re-build an office in 2009, the initiative organized a protest. In 2009, along with the “Us, Here and Now and for All of Us” collective and supporters, the space was squatted and with drilling and planting, Navarinou park was born (Ref 1).

The intervention has been initiated and created by the citizens. Only voluntary contributions including the monetary contributions exist."The park is beyond any profit or ownership-driven logics and functions as a place for playing and walking, meeting and communicating, sports, creativity and critical thinking. The park defies constraints relating to different ages, origins, educational level, social and economic positioning". (Ref 2)
Pictures of the NBS
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