Inclusive governance

The Jardin des Plantes represents a space rich in nature in the heart of the city and also hosts the Opera Theater of Saint-Etienne (Ref. 2). In 2015, "A thematic urban commission (with the citizens' district representatives) is set up to enhance the "Jardin des Plantes" while keeping its wild side but with a controlled vegetation." For instance, the social center proposed a fitness trail and elected representatives propose a signage of trees, the integration of design, thanks to urban furniture and ephemeral works" (Ref. 1). Citizens requested that vegetation of walls be undertaken to "avoid the flourish of unattractive tags" (Ref. 1).

O'pflanzt is! is a community garden in the inner part of Munich. It was founded in summer 2011 by Vanessa Blind. Her vision was to create an urban, socio-ecological community garden - a place of planting, sowing and harvesting, a place for meeting and learning, a piece of nature in the city, a creative wilderness. The garden is a real community garden, as there are no individual beds, and decisions are made collectively. Sustainable production is one of the main goals of the project, which is why planting is done organically without synthetic fertilizer and only wood and recycled materials are used. (Reference 2) In 2018, the area of the garden had to be returned to its owners. The leaders of the garden, however, managed to find a new plot within a year and a half. (Reference 13)

Everton Park is one of the city’s precious green lungs, but it has been underused in the past. This area once housed a district of 60,000 people and was densely developed. In the 1980s, it was transformed into Everton Park (Reference 1).
The Everton Park Nature Garden is ¾ hectare walled garden located within Everton Park and is a well-kept treasure of wildlife and tranquillity. It is an established natural habitat that includes two small lakes, grassland meadows and woodland, rock types of interest to geologists and a heritage trail with guided walks available (Reference 1).
The project is part of the Nesta’s Rethinking Parks Programme which ran until 2015. It has a 1M pound national lottery funding that supported 11 separate pilot projects across the UK. The programme explored a variety of new business models to fund resource park services in the future. Everton Park is one of the pilot projects of Nesta. The Everton Park project was led by the Land Trust with Liverpool City Council and the Friends of Everton Park. The aim was to put in place a strategic plan for community management which will be part of a wider development plan for Everton to regenerate the area, provide new housing and, at the same time, secure the long-term future of the park. (Reference 2)

“Zagreb for Me” was an ambitious and comprehensive project launched in 2015 by the Zagreb Society of
Architects in cooperation with the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Zagreb and the City of Zagreb.
The goal of the project was to start a revitalization of public spaces through the realization of 17 urban
interventions in the whole city area at the same time. This distributed approach aimed to improve the general
“image of the city” and raise the quality of urban life in segments of housing, recreation, leisure and social
cohesion and revitalization of Zagreb's public spaces using public participation as a tool. This project aims to decentralize designed public spaces and draw attention to some forgotten city spots. At the same time, the project, created from a “bottom-up” initiative, establishes a new model of public participation as well as new forms of collaboration (Ref 1, 2, 3). The project "Zagreb for me" was created on the basis of Acupuncture of the city - an interdisciplinary approach and public participation, but it covers a wider urban space, ie it deals with public spaces throughout Zagreb. After the conducted urban-architectural tenders for the selected solutions, the realization is planned. Only one urban-architectural tender was conducted and the implementation of the project stopped there, but the project "Zagreb for me" was recognized as an example of good practice with the possibility of application in other cities. (Ref 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).

The City Council transformed Bispetorve, from a public square, to a green urban space in the autumn of 2015 - available for a wide range of events and experiences - designed to attract life and activity. Bispetorvet was aimed to also play an important role as an attractive crossroads between Strøget, Store Torv, the new harbour area, light railway stop at Skolebakken and the harbour front car parks.” (Ref. 1)

“Cooperation between, residents, businesses and the local authority to facilitate the adaptation of a large urban area in Aarhus for more rainfall in the future. They will be able to influence urban development in the direction of more attractive use of rainwater. Local Rainwater Drainage (LRD) is a current trend derived from the political desire to deal with some of the expected increase in extreme rainfall by collecting and using it for recreational purposes. Society will thus be able to adapt to climate change better whilst providing more recreational facilities and environmental improvements.” (Ref. 1)

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)

The Brackwede open-air pools have been a significant landmark of the city of Bielefeld and part of locals' life since 1926. After several renovations since its opening, in 2005, the maintaining company of the Brackwede open-air pools proposed to convert the pools into natural-water bodies through the application of natural water filtration systems. The pools are supplied from the natural underground stream of Ems-Lutter whose spring water is physically and biologically purified by natural mineral soil filter and water plants. Chlorine is prohibited in this pool - the nature itself ensures water quality (1). Since 2009, the Natural pool of Brackwede offers natural facilities for swimming and other water-related activities besides cultural, sport and recreational opportunities for all (1).

The Community Supported Agriculture initiative in Bonn (SoLaWi Bonn) is an economically motivated arrangement between consumers, farm businesses and certified gardeners to improve the urban provision of local, organic food. Together they develop a concept for collaboration where the consumer group commits to pay an annual fee to cover all of the farmer's expenses for production (according to individual financial capabilities) and to work placements at the farm per year. In exchange, the customer members of the initiative receive a variety of fresh, seasonal, locally produced vegetables. The farmers profit from financial security and economic stability and the ability to apply environmental friendly agriculture practices without the pressure of the market economy (1,4).