Provision of expertise

The Leonardo Garden was a community garden in an empty building site of 8th district of Budapest, that implementation was initiated by KÉK, the Contemporary Architectural Centre. (Reference 3)
The recultivation of two neglected, empty plots of land created one of the earliest community gardens in Hungary. Plants for consumption, spices, herbs and ornamental plants were planted. The 95 plots in the Garden were cultivated by young people, families and pensioners, but the Garden also served educational purposes, as it frequently received school groups. The Garden has hosted a number of public community and cultural, gastronomic and musical events, which were well attended by both the neighbourhood and the general public. The community garden was closed in March 2018 because the company that owns the land wanted to start construction on it. (Reference 5)

In 2002, the facilities of the Bielefeld Botanic Garden was expanded with a small apiary for local bees. The apiary was opened on the 90th anniversary of the Botanical Garden and since then in its 5 beehives accommodate the bees living in the garden. The facility is a place for breeding of bees to support their pollination activities and thus their role in food production while the apiary also offers visitors the chance to get an insight into the life and work of a beehive. Through various environmental educational programs, visitors and school children can learn about the importance of bees and the process of honey making. Beekeeping stations were also installed in other surrounding areas such as cemeteries, old dumps, fenced rainwater retention basins. (1,2,3,4)

The project refers to the development of a vacant plot to create a social garden. Activities and plans implemented included: planting greenery, creating flower meadows and flowerbeds, common flowers planting by citizens, common vegetable growing area and a greenhouse, recreational area (hammock, trampolines, field games, sun loungers and sofas for recreation), cultural zone (outdoor cinema, exhibition space), workshop area (for artistic, ecological and sports workshops), canteen area (open-air kitchen, outdoor bar, communal dining space). The garden was open for the public between 2016 and 2018.(1)(4)

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)

The curtain forest at the end of the city is a project that was initiated by the Timisoara's Municipality in 2001 by planting different tree species and creating a barrier for high-temperature summers. It's 60 m high and it was designed to stand in front of very strong winds especially since Timisoara is a city located in a very plain area. Now, it comprises 23 hectares and the municipality aims at 50. (2)

In 2014, the Bielefeld Botanical Garden was expanded with a 2,700 land, previously owned by the local municipality. The extension area and the “old” part of the Botanical Garden were visually and functionally separated by the dense, sometimes gloomy woody vegetation of the "new" area where the watercourse and the small reservoirs were barely noticeable. The aim of the redevelopment is to integrate the entire extension area into the old botanical garden using pathways between the old and the new areas of the botanical garden, the improvements of water body and vegetation areas. The redevelopment also includes the renovation of buildings in the "old" area of the botanical garden, the installation of new recreation facilities and the building of a pharmacy garden. The planning and implementation process is lead by the Friends of the Botanical Garden Bielefeld Association (Verein Freunde DesBotanischen Gartens Bielefeld e.V) in close cooperation with the Environmental Agency of the local municipality (1,2, 7,10,11)

Located in the neighborhood of Pla del Bon Repòs com, Carolines Altes, Carolines Baixes and Campoamor, the community orchard of Carolines is an initiative to transform an abandoned lot into a sustainable garden and a community orchard (Ref. 2). "The place where this orchard is located was an abandoned space for 20 years where a large amount of garbage accumulated. The neighbors decided to clean the area by giving it a use with an orchard area, meeting area, gardening. The people responsible for it are the assembly of neighbors. It is also an action to combat the physical and psychological degradation of the neighborhood, being the community garden an excuse for this, but also a fundamental pillar where these ideas are based." (Ref. 2)

Located in a former German village, Freidorf, which became a quarter of the city of Timisoara in the twentieth century, the Lămâiţa Pond is a recreation blue area, initially a dumpster, surrounded by building blocks built in the communist period. Through this intervention, the municipality aims at reducing the size of the pond, cleaning it, creating a beneficial area for different types of vegetation and fish. Also, its goals are to give a recreational space to the community that lives by and to also establish a rainwater management centre for the neighbourhood. (1)

The project is a community garden hosted by the first humanitarian NGO in post communist Romania, Fundaţia ’89 (1). It serves as a permanent sustainable source of the NGO in order to feed its employees and to engage in community work homeless people, itinerant workers, evacuated families, drug abusers. (1)

"MiColtivo, Orto a Scuola" promoted by Fondazione Riccardo Catella, aims at involving children with horticulture with the aim of educating them on the importance of a correct diet and environmental issues. The first pilot project was launched in local schools in 2012. The project was developed in the concept of the imminent EXPO 2015, as the main topics were nutrition and the environment. (1)