1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Helsinki / Helsingfors
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Kalasataman kaupunkiviljelmä
Short description of the intervention
There is a quickly growing number of residents, who want to grow their own food within a short distance of their locality, but new areas for allotments are not sufficient. The environmental NGO Dodo started a "guerilla gardening" movement, part of which is the temporary use of otherwise abandoned spaces. Specifically, at Kalastama area, an empty space waiting to be built upon, 36 farmers created an urban farm with recycled industrial bags to grow crops that can be removed afterwards (ref. 1). The garden in Kalasatama is a collaboration with the city of Helsinki, part of the temporary uses of the area, which in the next 20 years will be built into a new urban district of Helsinki (ref. 4)
Address

Kalasatama Bag Garden
Helsinki
Finland

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Other
Please specify “other type of area” before implementation of the NBS
empty harbour of Kalasatama (ref. 3)
Website of the intervention
http://kaupunkiviljely.fi/brief-in-english/
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
2010
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2010
End date of the intervention
2010
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
1. To provide a space for urban gardening to accommodate the rapidly growing demand for such spaces;
2. To explore new ways of growing food;
3. To make urban farming accessible for everybody (ref. 1).
4. To prove that urban farming makes cities better places to live, reduces the dependence on oil and cuts carbon emissions – when done right urban farming is direct action for the environment! (ref. 1)
Quantitative targets
Install 80 recycled industrial sacks to grow crops in (Ref 2)
Monitoring indicators defined
1. Number of sacks to grow crops in,
2. number of gardeners involved (Ref 2).
Sustainability challenge(s) addressed
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Sustainable consumption
Sustainable production
Implementation activities
The creation of an urban garden in the form of 150 recycled industrial sacks filled with approximately 1000 L of soil at a site that is currently unused but will become a residential area in the next 20 years. People can rent the bags as a personal allotment (Ref 3).
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Community gardens and allotments
Allotments
Please specify the number of plots or allotment gardens
The creation of an urban garden in the form of 150 recycled industrial sacks.
Vegetation Type
Garden beds
Other
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Raw materials
Medicinal resources
Cultural services
Physical and experiential interactions with plants and animals
Social and community interactions
Scale
Spatial scale
Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Citizens or community groups
Marginalized groups
Marginalized groups
Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed)
Governance
Governance arrangements
Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Non-government actors
Non-governmental organisation (NGO) / Civil society / Churches
Private sector/Corporate/Business
Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative
The NGO Dodo is the main leading organisation, but this specific intervention is a collaboration with the local government (Ref 3). Urban Dream Management, a small company was collaborated with in this project (Ref 3).
Key actors - initiating organization
Local government/municipality
Non-government organisation/civil society
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Other
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Local government/municipality
Non-government organisation/civil society
Private sector/corporate actor/company
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Other
Please specify other land owner
Derelict area (an unused and empty land of a harbour) (ref. 2, 3)
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Please specify other landowner
Derelict area (an unused and empty land of a harbour) (ref. 2, 3)
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"
The creation of this garden is in response to a lack of gardening space that the current local plans provide, despite the rising demand (Ref 2).
Mandatory or voluntary intervention
Voluntary (spontaneous)
Please specify other type of voluntary intervention
Voluntary green infrastructure creation (Ref 2).
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
Vegetables, herbs (ref. 2, 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
Please specify
No reference of financial investment is made, but the City of Helsinki has tasked the design agency Part to develop concepts for temporary use of the area and has asked Dodo to be the partner to realise a temporary garden (Ref 2).
Co-finance for NBS
Yes
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)
The project is a collaboration with the local government, but no costs are specified (Ref 2).
Source(s) of funding
Public local authority budget
Type of fund(s) used
Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Yes
Type of non-financial contribution
Provision of land
Provision of goods
Provision of labour
Exchange of services
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Business models
Local stewardship model
Vacant space model
Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?
Public actor (e.g. municipality)
Private non-for-profit actor (e.g. NGO, foundation)
Citizens / local communities
Type of innovation
System innovation
Please specify system innovation
It is a paradigmatic shift as to what kinds of spaces can be used for growing food in the urban setting, while making it an available practice for all (Ref 1, 2, 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
This intervention is not the first urban gardening project by Dodo NGO, but it did inspire and influence the present intervention (Ref 2)
Replicability/Transferability
The innovation is transferred to new initiative(s) with substantial adaptation
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
Dodo NGO has numerous urban gardening projects, using the concept of temporary space. Each project is unique but builds on similar concepts (Ref 4).
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Green space and habitat
Increased number of species present
Description of environmental benefits
- Together with 35 other young farmers, the project built an experimental field of gardening bags in the empty and unused harbour of Kalasatama (ref. 3)
- A new urban farm was created with 80 recycled industrial sacks, with carrots, radishes, salad, herbs, strawberries… “homegrown” and all within a kilometre from the heart of Helsinki (ref. 2)
Economic impacts
Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
Description of economic benefits
- A new urban farm was created with 80 recycled industrial sacks by 36 enthusiastic farmers. Carrots, radishes, salad, herbs, strawberries… “homegrown” and all within a kilometre from the heart of Helsinki (ref. 2)
Social and cultural impacts
Social justice and cohesion
Improved access to urban green space
Increased access to healthy/affordable food
Increased sustainability of agriculture practices
Description of social and cultural benefits
-Increased access to healthy/affordable food and increased knowledge about gardening: As urban farming/knowledge is spreading, people start looking at city space with a new mindset (ref. 2)
- With the project new ways of growing food were introduced and the project aimed at making urban farming accessible for everybody (ref. 1).
Type of reported impacts
Achieved impacts
Indicators
Number of gardening sacks (150), number gardeners involved in the project (36) (Ref 4).
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Voluntary work opportunities
Environmental justice: The implementation of the NBS project resulted in ...
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
The project was completed in 2010.
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
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: Kaupunkiviljely. (n.d.). Dodo's Urban Farmers.
Ref 2: Levenston, M. (n.d.). Urban farming in Helsinki, Finland.
Ref 3: Urban Dream Management. (2010). Bagfield in Kalasatama.
Ref 4: Kaupunkiviljely. (n.d.). Urban gardening projects in Finland.
Ref 5: Slow Food takes over Helsinki’s rooftops
List of references
1: Kaupunkiviljely. (n.d.) Dodo's Urban Farmers. Retrieved from http://kaupunkiviljely.fi/brief-in-english/ (Accessed 23 July 2020)
2: Raivio, P. (n.d.). Urban farming in Helsinki, Finland. Retrieved from http://cityfarmer.info/urban-farming-in-helsinki-finland/ (Accessed 23 July 2020)
3: Urban Dream Management. (2010). Bagfield in Kalasatama. Retrieved from http://www.urbandreammanagement.com/2010/05/bagfield-in-kalasatama/ (Accessed 23 July 2020)
4: Kaupunkiviljely. (n.d.). Urban gardening projects in Finland. Retrieved from http://kaupunkiviljely.fi/brief-in-english/urban-gardening-projects-in-finland/ (Accessed 23 July 2020)
5: Helsinki Times. (2012). Slow Food takes over Helsinki’s rooftops. Retrieved from https://www.helsinkitimes.fi/157-lifestyle/2794-slow-food-takes-over-helsinki-s-rooftops.html (Accessed 23 July 2020)
Comments and notes
Pictures of the NBS
/sites/default/files/nbs/images/Kalasatama%20Bag%20Garden.jpg
Public Images
Urban farming in Helsinki, Finland
Urban farming in Helsinki, Finland
Source: Ref. 2
Experimental field of gardening bags
Experimental field of gardening bags
Source: Ref. 3
Experimental field of gardening bags
Experimental field of gardening bags
Source: Ref. 3
Experimental field of gardening bags
Experimental field of gardening bags
Source: Ref. 3