1. General information
Location and description of the intervention
City or FUA
Timişoara
Region
Europe
Native title of the NBS intervention
Gradina de legume a gradinitei Waldorf
Short description of the intervention
The initiative group from Timisoara, formed after the permaculture sessions supported by the Romanian Permaculture Association, contributed to the creation of a vegetable garden in the courtyard of the Waldorf Kindergarten.
The garden is a source of fresh vegetables for the morning snack of children and space for them to learn about gardening and plants.(1)
Address

Strada Uranus 10
300687 Timisoara
Romania

Location
Point location, which indicates where the NBS takes place
Total area
300.00m²
NBS area
300.00m²
Type of area before implementation of the NBS
Residential
Timeline of intervention
Start date of the intervention (planning process)
unknown
Start date of intervention (implementation process)
2014
End date of the intervention
2014
Present stage of the intervention
Completed
Goals of the intervention
To realize projects with a positive impact in the three directions of development: social, environmental and economic by promoting the principles of permaculture, actions of protection and regeneration of the environment. (1)
Area: 300 sqm
Purpose: vegetable and fruit garden that children can consume fresh at snacks (4).
Quantitative targets
To plant vegetables on a 300 sqm area
Serving about 30 children (4)
Monitoring indicators defined
Number of children ;
Size area (4).
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
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Enabling opportunities for physical activity
Creation of opportunities for recreation
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Sustainable consumption
Sustainable production
Implementation activities
The kindergarten collaborated with the local Zoo from where they brought manor, and in the spring of 2015 the manor was spread around the land and stubs were planted on a trail so children can watch the vegetable how they grow. The garden also has a good irrigation system. (1)
Type of NBS project
Creation of new green areas
Knowledge creation and awareness raising
NBS domain and interventions
Ecological domain(s) where the NBS intervention(s) is/are implemented
Community gardens and allotments
Community gardens
Vegetation Type
Garden beds
Amenities offered by the NBS
Unknown
Services
Expected ecosystem services delivered
Provisioning services
Food for human consumption (crops, vegetables)
Cultural services
Recreation
Intellectual interactions (scientific and / or educational)
Scale
Spatial scale
Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Beneficiaries
Primary Beneficiaries
Non-government organisation/Civil Society
Citizens or community groups
Young people and children
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
The Permaculture Association was founded in 2010 and represents the expression of a grassroots movement to promote sustainable development solutions for human communities under the name of the Permaculture and Ecological Remediation Circle Cluj. The members of the association offer training and lectures around the country and as such they developed this project in Timisoara.
Key actors - initiating organization
Public sector institution
Non-government organisation/civil society
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Private sector or company
Educational actor (schools or universities)
Key actors - Other stakeholders involved (besides initiating actors)
Public sector institution
Non-government organisation/civil society
Citizens or community group
Land owners
Private sector or company
Educational actor (schools or universities)
Participatory methods/forms of community involvement used
Dissemination of information and education
Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Policy drivers
NBS intervention implemented in response to an Regional Directive/Strategy
Yes
Please specify the "Regional Directive/Strategy"
This NBS was not exactly implemented as a response to a EU strategy, however it is connected to the Swiss Federation and its links to the EU, where the Swiss Federation is committed to reduce economic and social disparities within the European Union (1)
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
Presence of specific city-level GI/NBS section/part in a more general plan - mentioned in connection to the project
Unknown
Presence of city network or regional partnerships focused on NBS - mentioned in connection to the project
Yes
Please specify
See email correspondence for further information:
The garden was built along with other 5-6 gardens, within the project "Education for Sustainability: The Garden as a Pedagogical Resource for Sustainable Development", project aimed at introducing environmental protection and regeneration methods based on the principles of permaculture in schools and centres for children in the country, materialized in courses for teachers, practical ecological education activities, gardening and the creation of new gardens in the school yard. It was also supported by the national project "Increasing the capacity of the Romanian Permaculture Association to promote and support the protection and regeneration of the environment through innovative methods and participatory techniques in local communities" national project - targeting local communities in 5 cities in Romania in launching practical initiatives for gardens, urban green spaces, and other good practice projects
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
Not applicable
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
The Waldorf kindergarten in Timisoara offers a daily meal for the children enrolled there. The issue was that most of these meals were either catered or parents had to provide money for them. With the creation of the garden, cost savings included the vegetarian menus and desserts were covered. Unfortunately I do not have specific data (R.1)
Please specify total cost (EUR)
Unknown
Source(s) of funding
Funds provided by non-governmental organization (NGO)
Type of fund(s) used
Donations
Other
Please specify other type of fund used
EEA grant of 66.400 CHF, according to the e-mail interview correspondence (See attached)
Non-financial contribution
Yes
Type of non-financial contribution
Provision of land
Provision of goods
Provision of labour
Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Business models
Green health 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
Type of innovation
Technological
Product innovation
Social
Cultural innovation
Please specify technological innovation
Community gardens and especially vegetables gardens in schools across Romania are not well spread. The innovation consists in the fact that this community garden is one of the first of its type and functionality in the country. Only this year, the mayor of Bucharest has in mind implementing a similar project at the city's level, for example. In any case, the association that developed this garden already built another 3 in other schools, 2 in social centers, and 2 in museums (R.1)
Please specify social innovation
The social innovation consists in the fact that children and also their parents benefit from an educational point of view, meaning they learn how food is produced and the impact that this process has on their lives. (2)
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 association had workshops in 2013, workshops sponsored through a grant from Switzerland through the Swiss Contribution to the enlarged European Union. After that workshop, cities such as Cluj, Iasi and Timisoara were targeted to create community gardens. As such, usually the same project was implemented in different schools of these cities, without major changes. The first one was in Cluj (1)
Replicability/Transferability
The innovation is transferred to new initiative(s) without substantial adaptation
Please specify Replicability/Transferability
The innovation in Timisoara was transferred to a school in Brasov. Here, the initial concepts were kept, meaning the garden was built with the help of children and based on their consumption needs. Usually parents volunteers offered as well. (1)
Impacts, benefits
Environmental impacts
Unknown
Description of environmental benefits
Unknown
Economic impacts
Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
Description of economic benefits
No reports have been issued for this NBS, however on Facebook there are photos (attached) that prove the NBS survived past 2014 and it is still functioning and used to produce vegetables.
Social and cultural impacts
Education
Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
Description of social and cultural benefits
No reports have been issued regarding the impacts however in an interview with the kindergarten's administration, one of the impacts named was that children got to experiment nature more and became more aware of the benefits of healthy food.
Type of reported impacts
No impacts reported
Indicators
Unknown
Environmental, social and economic impacts
Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
Health and well-being (SDG 3)
Regeneration, land-use and urban development
Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
Analysis of specific impact categories
Job creation: The NBS created ...
Voluntary work opportunities
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 August 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
Yes
Mode(s) of citizen involvement in evaluation/assessment
Focus Group
Submission of monitoring data (citizen observation)
Citizens involvement in the analysis of the assessment/evaluation
Unknown
Follow-up to the evaluation / assessment
Unknown
References
Web links relevant to the intervention
Initiative locale de gradini, (Prezi presentation)
Gradini/sere/transformarea spatiilor virane/productia de legume si flori in med…
List of references
1. Asociatia Romana de Permacultura (2014), Initiative locale de gradini, (Prezi presentation) Available at https://prezi.com/5e7zlf_r6xkv/csm-031-ultima-sesiune/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy (Accessed 29-6-2020)

2. WRO Romania (2016), Gradini/sere/transformarea spatiilor virane/productia de legume si flori in mediul urban, Available at http://www.wroromania.ro/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Tema-3.pdf (Accessed 29-6-2020)

3.Primaria Municipiul Timisoara (2014), Planul de actiune pentru energie durabila a municipiului Timisoara, 2010-2020, Available at http://www.conurbant.eu/file/2415-PAED_Municipiului_Timisoara_2014-2020_reevaluat_in_2014_publishing_online.pdf (Accessed 29-6-2020)

4. Initiative Locale (2014), Gradina de legume a gradinitei Waldorf, (Website not available in 2020)
Interview
Attachment Size
E-mail interview correspondence. Waldorf Kindergarten (39 KB) 39 KB
Interview comments
Waiting reply for a sent e-mail in which I asked about monitoring reports, if there were funds coming from the government.
Comments and notes
Comments
6/Evidence for monitoring: According to an email correspondence there were monitoring reports at the project level (with 5 locations nationwide similar to Waldorf) and were created for the Partnership Foundation, the partner in Romania for the EEA Grants. They contain data on the activities carried out at the level of the whole project (practical and theoretical courses, workshops, activities in the garden) number of participants per type of event and targeted groups, photo and video documenting each activity in the project. There are no individual monitoring reports for the Waldorf Garden in Timisoara.
Additional insights
The main participants at Waldorf Garden Timisoara were the parents and children of the school, the volunteers of the Timisoara Association, the general public. The project did not target the neighbourhood residents as such, but their teachers, teachers, pupils and their parents. Among the volunteers were the residents of the neighbourhood, as well, on a voluntary basis.
Pictures of the NBS
/sites/default/files/nbs/images/timis.jpg
Public Images
Photos of the garden in April 2016
Plot ready for vegetable seeds to be planted
https://www.facebook.com/ComunitateaWaldorfTimisoara/photos/ms.c.eJwzNDA0MjOxMLW0sDC0NDE10DOECJgZgAVMLGECppZGhqZG5hYmAALXCiw~-.bps.a.1012648522152791/1012648598819450/?type=3&__tn__=HH-R&eid=ARDsB9mWqCVtTC3FLCQroFfAt2t92I_ceOSiA24MI3JWa7DIpwji2awSP5tYTowW6eIXYOfuSBloSvBc
Photos of a garden plot in April 2016
Plot already planted in April 2016
https://www.facebook.com/ComunitateaWaldorfTimisoara/photos/ms.c.eJwzNDA0MjOxMLW0sDC0NDE10DOECJgZgAVMLGECppZGhqZG5hYmAALXCiw~-.bps.a.1012648522152791/1012648598819450/?type=3&__tn__=HH-R&eid=ARDsB9mWqCVtTC3FLCQroFfAt2t92I_ceOSiA24MI3JWa7DIpwji2awSP5tYTowW6eIXYOfuSBloSvBc