Provision of labour

This NBS site is part of the Bratislava Zelenaj Project. This particular NBS involves the creation of vegetation on buildings as a means to mitigate the effects of climate change in cities due to urban overheating caused by global warming. It targets the residents of the Archa House of Seniors (Domove seniorov Archa) in Bratislava as part of the citywide project “Bratislava is preparing for climate change” with the aim of protecting and promoting the welfare of the city’s vulnerable citizens from climate change effects. The roof's main function is buffering the discharge of excess rainwater. (10)

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)

Together with citizens, municipality, NGOs and urban green space developers and managers, GREEN SURGE contributed to the improvement of Ljubljana’s urban green spaces in the LivadaLAB initiative. This project combined research insights with the expertise of the youth NGO Zavod Bob, University of Ljubljana, the Institute for Sustainable Development, construction company LAVCO, urban management company TISA, and a number of local businesses. Together, they implemented a project which successfully integrates youth and environmental policy goals for the City of Ljubljana. It engaged over 30 young citizens in developing a multifunctional open public green space with the aim to further promote, support and foster the active role of citizens, especially marginalized groups, in improving the quality of urban green spaces in Ljubljana. This project is one of the initiatives under the overarching Uran Learning Labs (ULLs) project by Green Surge, which was applied to 20 European cities. (1, 4 and 5)

Each year, since 2003 between 22 March, World Water Day, and 22 April, World Earth Day, the traditional spring cleaning campaign For a More Beautiful Ljubljana (Za lepšo Ljubljano) is in progress in Ljubljana. The basic goal of the For a More Beautiful Ljubljana campaign is to give a thorough spring clean to functional areas across the City of Ljubljana, and those taking part include Departments within the City Administration, the City’s District Authorities, public companies united within Ljubljana Public Holdings, City of Ljubljana public institutes and various Ljubljana societies. (1 and 5)

The intervention involves the transformation of a long-time fenced construction site, which was underdeveloped since 2011. The municipality, which owns the site, first agreed to support the cultural association KUD Obrat and their project idea with a lease for a month-long use, but later it prolonged its support based on local community’s response to the intervention. The place became a community space while the project enhances and promotes the possibilities for urban gardening as well as a more active inclusion of the inhabitants in decision-making regarding planning, development and management of the city (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)

Oslo is completely surrounded by old forests full of wildlife and native species, providing important ecological services. This “Green Belt Boundary”, known as Marka, has been approved to be protected by the City Government in order to “ensure that the forests are protected against urban development. The management of the city’s forests follows a multi-user plan based on ecological principles and places the emphasis on a long-term and target-oriented development of a varied recreational forest that allows for nature conservation and outdoor activities”. 1,700km2 are protected by the Marka Act, of where 310km2 are located within Oslo municipality. (Ref. 1,9)

Revitalization of Rakova Jelša includes cleaning of the informal waste area and renovating it in a park which connects the city with the Marsh Landscape Park. In two phases, the park area was arranged together with the children's playground and the footbridge over Lahov graben. The possibility of regulated urban self-sufficient agriculture or gardens in the immediate vicinity of the city center means the added value of this area. (1)

As part of the title Green Capital of Europe, Ljubljana planted the first public orchard. The public orchard is open to citizens and visitors of the city, where fruits are available from mid-summer to late autumn. One part of the orchard includes a plantation of old varieties of apple, plum and pear, while the other includes trees species little known. The public orchard and nectar garden are intended for residents, passersby, volunteers, groups of pre-schoolers, families and educational organisations. The nectar garden is enriched by an innovative didactic adventure trail that winds around the nectar garden. Next to the nectar garden is a hotel for insects and bird feeder intended to promote biodiversity and raise awareness about nature conservation. Nearby is also a renovated playground for children. Three such orchards have been created in Rakovi jelši, Savski naselj and Puhtejeva ulica. The arrangement of the public orchard is one of the goals set in the environmental protection program for the City of Ljubljana 2014 - 2020. (1, 2 and 3)