Provision of goods

A community garden at the margins of Bucharest, which aims to serve both locals and tourists, and the only place of its kind for the 240.000 inhabitants of the quarter. Apart from its educational aspects, the garden is a living workshop and a place of relaxation for its visitors (1).

A multi-sensory garden designed and built especially for people with dementia and their carers has been opened in Doncaster at St. Catherine's mental health hospital. The Garden is the result of multiple charities and organisations coming together to push the project forward. The aim was to create a stimulating, relaxing and safe environment for people living with dementia, as well as their carers, to enjoy. The garden has been designed to be multi-sensory to prompt memory recall by appealing to senses such as sight, smell, touch, sound and even taste that come with the different seasons (Ref 1 & 2).

The Green Belt in Frankfurt am Main spans in the inner area of the city and covers almost a third of the city's wider area which is around 80 square kilometres, around half of which is the city forest (6). In 1991, as stated in the city council's Green Belt Constitution, the Belt has been declared a protected open space while it also outlined the long term goal of securing and developing it (1). The green belt with its landscapes, excursion destinations and the large network of paths is important for the quality of life in Frankfurt and at the same time offers a place of retreat for plants and animals. It is essential for a good urban climate (1).

In 2007 the Lisboa City Hall began the development of a strategy for urban agriculture, having created in 2011 several allotment parks. Beyond the provision of plots, the Council also provided the fences, shelters for storage, water irrigation, training and technical support. In 2011 there were already 56 plots of 150 m2 at a location named Granja Farm (2)

Formed by residents and local organisations, the original focus of Greening Wingrove & Arthur's Hill was to address issues of litter and flytipping in Wingrove. The informal association later became a Cooperative (Community Interest Company) (1,2). Since its formation, the organisation aims to clean and green its part of Newcastle's West End through a diverse set of activities (15). These include the development of a former bowling green to become a community bike garden and community hub; encouraging locals' action on litter, promoting greening and food growing and local stewardship (4)

The Wild West End project encompasses the goals and visions of Greening Wingrove & Arthur's Hill. The project is aiming to explore local natural heritage, with a focus on species currently at risk such as bats, birds (swifts and house martins) and hedgehogs with the inclusion of residents, schools and local communities. Besides mapping the status of these species, habitat creation is also an objective to prevent the further decline of these at risk species in the area (15, 16)

The OrtoCollettivo project focuses on the creation of common spaces to grow local sustainable food while raising awareness about environmental challenges in cities. The project is based on teamwork: if there is work planned for today and someone cannot come to do that job, someone else will do it, with the ultimate benefit of everyone. It, therefore, stimulates common values about well-being, sustainable food production, and sharing time and activities collectively as a group (2). The initiative is ongoing and expanding, however in 2020 there were voices from the people living in the area that the poor maintenance of the terraces caused landslides and disturbed traffic. Nevertheless the NGO that initiated the intervention defended the project and suggested that the issue is caused by the lack of canals for the rain water to flow in. (8)

In 2019, the city of Poznań finalized works on another city park, as a part of its long-term urban redevelopment plan. When designing the park, the focus was on creating a place for relaxing and recreation for all residents - regardless of what forms of activity and relaxation they prefer. Therefore, the entire area has been divided into zones adapted to different needs, be it for active adults, children, or dog owners. The park comprises of an extensive lawn and is separated from a noisy street by a corridor of trees. Everything is lit with solar lamps [1,2,5].

"Pending the creation of housing and new walks by 2020, the association Carton Plein and the EPA (Public Building Institution) of Saint-Etienne have created a temporary public space on the site known as "la Cartonnerie". A place for exchange and conviviality, the site hosts artistic installations, ephemeral installations and events. It is a laboratory conducive to imagining new ways of doing the city" (Ref. 1). The citizens also created shared gardens in this area called "Le Jardin Experimental"(Experimental garden) (Ref. 4).

Along the 'Green Belt' (Grünen Band) in Bielefeld, which connects several urban grave lands with a continuous path, the organisation of Transition Town Bielefeld created a community garden to replace the permaculture garden in Bleichstrasse. (8) Thanks to its location, apart from the food production, the garden increases the environmental quality of the site serving as a green transition between the grey areas and the city. This function is in line with the overarching mission of Transition Town Bielefeld to promote energy and cultural transition in the city through different initiatives. (7) The community garden initiative was started in 2013 and welcome citizens to take part in the maintenance, planting and other gardening work of the garden or simply to enjoy its beauty since its launch in 2015. The project has a bigger goal towards sustainable development of urban infrastructures and social equity (1,2).

The Agenda working group called "Natural gardens in Wachtberg" aims at the development and promotion of nature-based construction solutions and increased use of local wild plants since 1998. In this pursuit, it managed to acquire land (400 sqm) from the municipality of Berkum and, transform the lawn area into a near-natural garden showcasing nature-based gardening elements with the help of other environmental associations and sponsors (1,2,7). Apart from securing and enhancing local biodiversity, the garden serves as a display of possible elements and solutions of a nature-based garden for interested parties. Moreover, through information boards, workshops and a detailed brochure on implementation guidelines, the project can spark interest and empower local residents to implement such nature-based elements in their own garden (1, 3, 4,7).