The First Delicious Bio-Garden in Sofia

1. General information

Location and description of the intervention

City or FUA

Sofia

Region

Europe

Native title of the NBS intervention

Първата вкусна био-градинка в София

Short description of the intervention

A pilot educational garden was created by Foundation Zaedno in Sofia in 2011 in the city kindergarten Slaveyche. The initiative was carried out with the financial support of Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and volunteers. The aims of the garden were to turn a derelict site into an attractive place for learning about and practicing gardening, playing games, learning about healthy nutrition, conservation, and promoting the creation of other Delicious Bio-Gardens. The garden has herbs, vegetables, and a rainwater harvesting system. Events connected to this initiative were taking place till 2013-14 (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 4)

Address

ul. „Kapitan Todor Nochev“ 30
1407 Sofia
Bulgaria

Location

Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place

Type of area before implementation of the NBS

Previous derelict area

Other

Please specify “other type of area” before implementation of the NBS

Vacant area behind the kindergarten playground (Ref 4)

Website of the intervention

http://gradinka.zaedno.net/taxonomy/term/10

Timeline of intervention

Start date of the intervention (planning process)

unknown

Start date of intervention (implementation process)

2011

End date of the intervention

2011

Present stage of the intervention

Completed

2. Objectives of the intervention

Goals of the intervention

- Transform a derelict site in the kindergarten's backyard into an attractive garden
- Create an outdoor classroom for educating children and adults (parents and kindergarten staff) about gardening, conservation, and healthy nutrition
- Promote a positive and conscious attitude towards the environment and healthy nutrition
- Provide "creative" environmental education by allowing children and adults to learn by growing their own produce
- Create a place for recreation and play
- Promote the creation of other Edible Gardens in Sofia
- Form a community of friends that take care of the garden together, and in this way help parents to spend more time with their children
(Ref. 1; Ref. 2)

Quantitative targets

Unknown

Monitoring indicators defined

Unknown

Sustainability challenge(s) addressed

Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)

Green space creation and/or management

Regeneration, land-use and urban development

Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development

Water management (SDG 6)

Stormwater and rainfall management and storage

Health and well-being (SDG 3)

Enabling opportunities for physical activity

Creation of opportunities for recreation

Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)

Social cohesion

Social interaction

Environmental education

Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)

Sustainable production

Please specify "other Type of NBS project"

promoting the creation of other Delicious Bio-Gardens (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 4)

Implementation activities

- The team of Foundation Zaedno, children from the kindergarten, and parents, created the garden - Organic humus from Californian worms was used
- The garden includes herbs, vegetables, and a rainwater harvesting installation
- An instruction manual for creating Delicious Bio-Gardens was produced
- The children were given magnifying glasses to study how quick the vegetables grow and what the leaves of different vegetables look like
- All lessons start and end with games
(Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3; Ref. 8)

Type of NBS project

Creation of new green areas

Transformation of previously derelict areas

Knowledge creation and awareness raising

3. NBS domains, ES and scale

NBS domain and interventions

Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented

Community gardens and allotments

Community gardens

Grey infrastructure featuring greens

Green playgrounds and school grounds

Please specify "other derelict areas"

Previous derelict space

Please specify the number of plots or allotment gardens

Unknown

Vegetation Type

Garden beds

Other

Please specify other amenities offered by the NBS

The NBS is in the backyard of a kindergarten and provides educational experiences for the children (Ref 1)

Amenities offered by the NBS

Playgrounds

Other

Services

Expected ecosystem services delivered

Provisioning services

Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)

Cultural services

Aesthetic appreciation

Inspiration for culture, art and design

Recreation

Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational)

Physical and experiential interactions with plants and animals

Social and community interactions

Scale

Spatial scale

Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)

Beneficiaries

Primary Beneficiaries

Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)

Citizens or community groups

Young people and children

4. Governance and financing

Governance

Governance arrangements

Led by non-government actors

Non-government actors

Non-governmental organisation (NGO) / Civil society / Churches

Citizens or community groups

Other

Please specify other non-government actors involved

children from Kindergarten 93 - Slaveyche and their parents (Ref. 1; Ref. 3; Ref. 6)

Please specify the roles of the specific government and non-government actor groups involved in the initiative

The project was initiated by Foundation Zaedno. It was implemented by the foundation's team together with children from Kindergarten 93 - Slaveyche and their parents. The intervention was financed by the Charles Steward Mott Foundation. Partners and supporters of the project are Budeshte Sega Library, Slow Food Bulgaria, Bulgarian Association of Bioproducers, the Parents' Board of Trustees St. Mina, Bio-Dynamic Farm Kushtata s Bambuka, Bio-Farm Malo Peshtene.
(Ref. 1; Ref. 3; Ref. 6)

Key actors - initiating organization

Public sector institution

Non-government organisation/civil society

Other

Please specify other key actors – Initiating organization

children from Kindergarten 93 - Slaveyche and their parents (Ref. 1; Ref. 3; Ref. 6)

Land owners

Educational actor (schools or universities)

Please specify other Key actors - Other stakeholders involved

children from Kindergarten 93 - Slaveyche and their parents (Ref. 1; Ref. 3; Ref. 6)

Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)

Public sector institution

Non-government organisation/civil society

District/neighbourhood association

Citizens or community group

Private foundation/trust

Other

Land owners

Educational actor (schools or universities)

Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used

Dissemination of information and education

Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)

Co-management/Joint management

Citizen science

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

Unknown

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

Herbs and vegetables (Ref. 4)
Organic humus from Californian worms (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3; Ref. 8)

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

Yes

Please specify

The garden was financed as part of the programme Place for Living 2011. The programme was organised by Foundation EkoObshtnost and used financial support from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation. Place for Living 2011 was aimed at supporting organisations in Bulgaria in solving problems related to living conditions through environmental conservation and restoration. The maximum amount of financial prize that could be received was 7000 BGN (3576 euros), where 10% had to be secured in a financial or non-financial form by the applicant organisation. (Ref. 4; Ref. 6)

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?

Set up specifically for this NBS

Financing

Total cost

Less than €10,000

What is/was the Cost/Budget (EUR) of the NBS or green infrastructure elements?

Less than 3576 Euros (Ref. 4; Ref. 6)

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)

Source(s) of funding

Private Foundation/Trust

Type of fund(s) used

Donations

Non-financial contribution

Yes

Type of non-financial contribution

Provision of land

Provision of labour

Provision of expertise

Exchange of services

Who provided the non-financial contribution?

Citizens (e.g. volunteering)

Other

Business models

Local stewardship model

Vacant space model

Green education model

Which of the involved actors was motivated by this model?

Private non-for-profit actor (e.g. NGO, foundation)

Citizens / local communities

5. Innovation

Type of innovation

Social

Cultural innovation

Novelty level of the innovation

The innovation is copied/derived from previous initiative(s) without substantial adaptation

Please specify novelty level of the innovation

The Delicious Bio-garden in kindegarten Slaveyche was based on a very popular practice around the world for "implementing ecological education through experience", which "encourages the establishment of self-supporting communities." "The Biogarden is an innovative educational instrument uniting many and different topics and developing in children and adults sustainable habits for a healthy way of life and preservation of the environment." (Ref. 2; Ref. 3). Based on these descriptions, it can be inferred that the intervention in Sofia was copied without substantial adaptation.

Replicability/Transferability

The innovation is transferred to new initiative(s) without substantial adaptation

Please specify Replicability/Transferability

The intervention was a pilot project aimed at testing the effectiveness of the Delicious Bio-Garden in Sofia and promoting the creation of other Delicious Bio-Gardens in the capital. As a result, 10 other gardens have been realized in Sofia since 2012. (Ref. 1; Ref 4; Ref. 7)

6. Evaluation and learning

Impacts, benefits

Environmental impacts

Environmental quality

Improved soil quality

Water management and blue areas

Improved stormwater management

Green space and habitat

Increased green space area

Increased conversion of degraded land or soil

Reduced biodiversity loss

Increased number of species present

Restoration of derelict areas

Description of environmental benefits

- The garden was successfully implemented on previously unused derelict land behind the kindergarten and was used to grow organic vegetables and herbs (Ref. 3)
-- Organic humus from Californian worms was used (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3; Ref. 8)
- A rainwater harvesting system is in place (Ref. 2)
The intervention was a pilot project aimed at testing the effectiveness of the Delicious Bio-Garden in Sofia and promoting the creation of other Delicious Bio-Gardens in the capital. As a result, 10 other gardens have been realized in Sofia since 2012. (Ref. 1; Ref 4; Ref. 7)

Economic impacts

Unknown

Description of economic benefits

Unknown

Type of reported impacts

Achieved impacts

Indicators

- The garden has successfully produced organic vegetables and herbs (Ref. 3)
- The garden turned into a favourite place for children and their parents (Ref. 3; Ref. 7)
- The children have successfully been taught precious lessons about ecology, organic agriculture, healthy living, and team work (Ref. 3)
- The children acquired patience, tolerance, and love for nature as a result of their activities in the garden (Ref. 3)
- A rainwater harvesting system is in place (Ref. 2)

Environmental, social and economic impacts

Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)

Health and well-being (SDG 3)

Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)

Regeneration, land-use and urban development

Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)

Water management (SDG 6)

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

No information was found as of 8 September 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

7. Sources

References

Web links relevant to the intervention

Ref. 1. Web-page about the garden

List of references

Ref. 1. www.zaedno.net (2011). ВКУСНАТА БИО-ГРАДИНКА 2011 - пилотен проект. [online] available at: http://gradinka.zaedno.net/node/67 [Accessed 8 September 2020].
Ref. 2. www.zaedno.net (2011). Първата вкусна био-градинка в София - сезон 2011. [online] available at: http://www.zaedno.net/node/92 [Accessed 8 September 2020]
Ref. 3. BNR (2011). Вкусната биоградинка - алтернативно образование за най-малките. [online] available at: http://bnr.bg/radiobulgaria/post/100231250/vkusnata-biogradinka-alternativno-obrazovanie-za-nai-malkite [Accessed 8 September 2020]
Ref. 4. www.zaedno.net (2014). Вкусните образователни био-градинки на България. [online] available at: http://gradinka.zaedno.net/node/152 [Accessed 8 September 2020]
Ref. 5. zaedno.net (2011). Вкусната био-градинка: алтернативно образование за най-малките, 2011. [online] available at: https://vimeo.com/31777512 [Accessed 8 September 2020]
Ref. 6. Фондация ЕкоОбщност (2011). Програма „Място за живот 2011”. [online] available at: http://bepf-bg.org/%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%B9%D0%BD%D0%BE%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B8/en-%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BB%D1%8E%D1%87%D0%B8%D0%BB%D0%B8-%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B8%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%B8/%D0%BF%D1%80%D0%BE%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D0%BC%D0%B0-%D0%BC%D1%8F%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BE-%D0%B7%D0%B0-%D0%B6%D0%B8%D0%B2%D0%BE%D1%82-2011 [Accessed 8 September 2020]
Ref. 7. www.zaedno.net (2012). “Вкусните градинки – уроци от Природата за всички” 2012 проект за създаване на 10 вкусни градинки в София. [online] available at: http://gradinka.zaedno.net/node/127 [Accessed 8 September 2020]
Ref. 8. Lunen 2011 (2013). Наръчник "Вкусните градинки - уроци от природата за всички". [online] available at: https://issuu.com/calendar/docs/naruchnik-vkusni-gradinki-2013 [Accessed 8 September 2020]

Comments and notes

Comments

2020 comments:
It is very unlikely that the garden was influenced by any policies/strategies/programmes - it was a completely voluntary project.

The Impacts text was modified. The "Social Justice" category includes "meeting place for local residents", "increase quality of life", and "community spirit". I thought these were relevant to the stated impacts.
"Regeneration, land use..." - selected due to the fact that a derelict site was transformed into a garden ("promote naturalistic styles of landscape design; enhanced nature beauty and aesthetical experiences").
"Water management" selected because there is a rainwater harvesting installation in the garden.
"inclusive and effective governance" selected because of the "community-based activities (e.g. communal clean-up, river- bank greening and community gardening); citizen involvement" features.
Unfortunately, even though the locals liked the initiative very much, there is no mention of any impact monitoring

Pictures of the NBS

/sites/default/files/nbs/images/creating_the_bio-garden.jpg

Public Images

https://bnr.bg/radiobulgaria/post/100231250/vkusnata-biogradinka-alternativno-obrazovanie-za-nai-malkite

https://bnr.bg/radiobulgaria/post/100231250/vkusnata-biogradinka-alternativno-obrazovanie-za-nai-malkite

https://bnr.bg/radiobulgaria/post/100231250/vkusnata-biogradinka-alternativno-obrazovanie-za-nai-malkite

https://bnr.bg/radiobulgaria/post/100231250/vkusnata-biogradinka-alternativno-obrazovanie-za-nai-malkite

Please specify other source of non-financial contribution

The kindergarten provided the land. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 4)