Provision of expertise

Henteleff Park is a 'passive park' located along the banks of the Red River and Normand Creek in Winnipeg where the rural character of a landscape that nurtured early Métis culture, Winnipeg’s budding market garden industry and the Henteleff family has been reserved (2). In the 1980s and '90s after being the city's tree nursery it was up for real estate development when "a group of volunteers from the nearby residential area, led by the Henteleff family, presented a convincing plan that showed the value and potential of the site as a public park. As a result of successful lobby efforts, the land was rezoned as a park in 2002 and named Henteleff Park after the original owners of the farm" (1 p21).
With its grasslands, riparian forests, Red River banks and the Normand Creek, the Park is home to a diverse plant and wildlife, providing refuge for songbirds, a spawning area for fishes and a serene sanctuary for community residents to enjoy a quiet respite from the bustle of the city life all around (2).

This project started as a grassroots movement by Hunter’s Bar Infant School (HBIS) in Sheffield when they were seeking to actively help to protect children from air pollution. HBIS led a fundraising campaign that, in collaboration with the University of Sheffield, provided the base to create a green barrier in their playground. The NBS is part of a bigger study called BREATHE that provides the science behind the project, which involves the design of the green barrier, the assessment of its impacts and a feasibility evaluation for installing green barriers in other schools in Sheffield and in Buenos Aires. (1)

Urban gardening developed in Rome as a reaction to the unequal distribution of available green spaces in densely populated areas of the city, and to the lack of care for the already existing ones. Since 2006, a large number of associations and informal citizen groups have started to engage in collective gardening by performing both Guerrilla Gardening-style actions and long-lasting community gardens projects run by local associations. This social and spatial transformation is turning most of its urban voids and interstitial spaces into places for collective enjoyment thanks to the spontaneous engagement of local dwellers. [1]

The creation of pocket parks is an urban initiative that has steadily grown throughout Budapest since 2010 (Reference 1). Most of these projects are citizen-led, but there is often support provided in the form of education and consultancy by initiatives such as the Contemporary Architecture Center (KÉK), or sometimes the local government (Reference 8). These spaces, typically covering an area of 1400 square meters only, are multi-functional and provide a space for small-scale food production, recreation, community sharing, and can be a fundamental element of neighbourhood rehabilitation. Moreover, it provides positive environmental effects such as water retention and the improvement of the area's micro-climate. Pocket-parks are critical in increasing the number of green areas in neighbourhoods that have limited space. (Reference 9)

The Porto Biospots Network is a partnership of the Municipality with "Infraestruturas de Portugal", and is a network of urban forest areas (predominantly autochthonous) that aims to allow the reforestation of adjacent transit routes, major highway nodes, and routes of circulation within the city, transforming environmentally poor lands into green areas that provide multiple ecological services. This initiative foresees the reforestation of 14 areas and the planting of 10,000 trees by 2021, having already completed 2 roads, with a total of 1305 native trees planted. The biospot is the materialization of a part of the Municipal Ecological Structure of Porto. [1][4]

The "Oasis for Children" project, implemented in Zagreb, is based on the experience of implementing non-institutional education in 5 primary schools in Zagreb. The main objective of the project is to promote the principles of healthy lifestyles, environmental protection, sustainable development and volunteering among pupils of partner primary schools. Throughout the year, students will be educated outdoors in school gardens, on environmental protection, sustainable development, healthy lifestyles and volunteerism. Students will also work on the garden for the opportunity of practising the knowledge gained from the regular education system. Every academic year, new primary schools are added to the project with the increased popularity of the school gardens [Ref 1]

‘I have a bee’ (IHAB) is an organisation for hobby beekeepers. It contributes to a sustainable and long-term solution to the bee colony collapse phenomenon by popularizing bee keeping as a hobby. It was founded by 3 hobbyist beekeepers back in 2014. The idea originated from their passion for beekeeping and the desire to breed and keep bees as pets. The group has engaged in research about the roots of traditional beekeeping and designed a new top bar hive which has the advantage of being usable in backyards or on city terraces. (Ref 1) Their 1,000,000 beehive initiative aims to ignite 1,000,000 people around the world to watch at least one beehive. (Ref 3) No information found on status of project as of September 2020.

The idea of beekeeping originated from AUDI AG, Audi Hungaria's parent company. In 2015, Audi Hungaria was in the midst of implementing its flora and fauna protection plan thus the beekeeping idea was in line with ongoing developments, and was quickly taken up by management. 6 bee colonies with 270,000 bees were installed in September 2015. The bees produce 200-240 kilograms of honey each year, which is branded as Audi Hungaria Premium Honey, and gifted to visitors, as well as purchasable in the gift shop. The income is used for nature conservation programmes. The company also cooperates with the University of Sopron in a biomonitoring project which uses the bees as bioindicators of environmental pollution. (Reference 1)

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)

Mercedes-Benz helps in the Reforestation of the Park of the Pena, in Sintra: "As part of its social responsibility actions, and as a socially responsible company and involved in its community, the Daimler Group in Portugal decided to intervene and help in the reforestation of the Pena Park in Sintra after it was flogged in 2013 and 2015 By violent storms that caused the fall of more than 2000 trees." (ref 1)