Social cohesion

The garden is an opportunity for training, leisure and coexistence where the teaching of ecological gardening is combined with the love of plants and the social use of land. Consolidated in just one year as a training point for the unemployed without losing that playful-neighborhood component with which it opened its doors. In it the volunteers develop a methodology of teaching that facilitates the socialization and the reintegration work when acquiring knowledge in gardening and carpentry. (ref 1)

Bee-friendly Nottingham is a campaign run by Nottingham City Council to make Nottingham a more pollinator-friendly city, promote pollinator-friendly gardening at council events and to protect bee populations by planting pollinator-friendly plants via planting schemes (Ref. 1). It aims to make some lasting changes to the way people manage open spaces in order to help wild and domestic bees and provide more flowers for foraging and more habitat for nest sites (ref. 1).

Wildlife in the City is a project led by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, with Nottingham City Council, to promote, protect and celebrate the nature reserves, wildlife sites and green spaces across Nottingham City (ref. 2). Wildlife in the City is a project run by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust was originally designed to raise awareness of the value of urban wildlife and to inspire people to get involved with caring for wildlife sites on their doorstep. The project aimed to engage people in their local green spaces and wildlife. Wildlife in the City ran lots of activities and events, volunteering opportunities, training opportunities and more (ref. 1). It began as a three-year project funded by Natural England through Access to Nature, as part of the Big Lottery Fund's Changing Spaces programme. The project worked with local people to undertake vital habitat creation and management works throughout the city. It particularly worked in areas of Nottingham with previously little wildlife activity from the partners. These areas were Bestwood, Bulwell, Aspley/Broxtowe estate, Clifton, The Meadows, and Sneinton (ref. 6). After the funding for the project has ended, its objectives and the partnership between the City Council and Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust remained and the Trust continues managing many of the Council's wildlife sites and using local volunteers to help out with essential tasks such as scrub management, gardening, litter picks and floral surveys (ref 2).

The community garden is located in the midst of a housing quarter and in the city district of Grünau, a former Plattenbau-area and forms part of a wider area redevelopment project which turns former brownfield (from the DDR era) into generationally mixed housing units with higher living standards. The idea for the garden arose among its residents, who determined its design and elements. It consists of multi-use zones for young and old residents: a central square, a pond with special flora, plant beds for gardening and harvesting, a wild meadow for recreation and picnics (2,3).

The Project "Let's Open the Walls" is an integrated program of urban and social regeneration interventions that aimed to revitalize a portion of the Venice Commune (that is, one in the former neighbourhood Quartiere Due: Dorsoduro, Santa Marta, Giudecca, Santa Croce, San Basilio). The program, promoted by the City of Venice and funded by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport in 2004, provides for social inclusion and the weakest sections of the population and involved several interventions, including the planting of trees and the creation of green spaces for social activities. In particular, the Urban Italia program addressed to Venice is named: “Apriamo i Muri” (Opening the walls). It refers to the work-field “Quartiere 2” (District 2), in which are concentrated many actions that the city Administration has planned and approved during these last years. The Administration's objective was to transform and revitalize the degraded areas of the Venetian historical center, also through innovative actions. The program aims generally at urban, infrastructure and social regeneration of the Quartiere 2, moreover, it responds through articulated specific works to the critical complexity of the area. (1 and 4).

INCREDIBLE EDIBLE (or "Incroyables Comestibles" in French) is an experiment of social innovation: the volunteers of the movement cultivate small vegetable gardens scattered in the cities and the countryside and make their products available free of charge (Ref. 1). This, the first intervention, took place in front of the "Epicerie du Coing" where volunteers planted several vegetables, flowers and plants (Ref. 2).

Four hackberry trees were planted in the courtyard of the social center "La Grande Bastide". Children were involved with the support of the association "Aux Actes Citoyens" (in english"Act Citizens"). The planting of the 4 trees by the children was done with the support of animators/leaders (who work at the Social Center and animate diverse activities at the center), Karine Lurcin, president of the association "Aux Acts Citizens" as well as several members of the association. (Ref. 1). The Social Center of the "Grande Bastide"(non-governmental organization) was behind the idea, stating that: "It is the idea of ​​the center to have the children do the planting. We will surely be inspired by it for future actions", and, "from today, [the children] will always associate the earth with a particular and positive emotion: pleasure" (Ref. 1).

The project created a friendly green recreation area for the elderly in the neighbourhood where there is a lack of spaces dedicated to the elderly. The plans involve the revitalization of a neglected square, plantings assorted greenery and preservation of the existing trees. The NBS should foster physical activity and social inclusion of the elderly residents in the neighbourhood, as well as to lead to the revitalization of the district and improved standards of living [1,2].

In order to improve the Indian Neighourhood, a 'ribbon' of multiple pocket parks was created that improves social cohesion and environmental quality. The area lacked social cohesion previous to the creation of the pocket parks and was faced with nuisance from addicts and drug dealers as they were involved in disturbing behaviour, vandalism and criminality (1,10). This created an unsafe environment for the inhabitants of the neighbourhood (1,5) In the stamp parks, social activities are organized and the green spaces are completely managed by citizens themselves. (1)

'Blok 54' is a new building on the city island IJburg in Amsterdam, on which a green roof and rain garden were be created in which stormwater can flow from the green roof through a groove with diverse vegetation, reflecting a natural creek. The vegetation with fruit bushes serves as a sensory garden for poly handicapped children and the creek flows into bioswales through which can slowly infiltrate. Blok 54 can thereby be considered an ECOcity-garden. (1,3)