Social interaction

After years of campaigning by local residents in the Liberties area, local authorities approved the idea of creating a park at Bridgefoot Street, instead of selling the area to developers who would have built a housing project there. The park will include lawns, flowers, trees, furniture, lighting, allotments, a community garden, a terrace, play space and play equipment and more. Bridgefoot St. Park will transform a derelict place and address the lack of green and recreational space in the area which locals had been campaigning against. After years of a long wait, the construction of the park has finally begun in 2020. In the meantime, the citizens took matters into their hands and the site became a community garden for a time with residents growing their own fruits, vegetables and even tending to egg-laying hens. (ref 1, 2, 8)

The environmental NGO Dodo started their Guerilla Gardening projects in 2009 with a garden on the wasteland by the main railroad tracks in Helsinki, Pasila. The key idea was to make use of temporary derelict spaces. Raised beds were constructed from old pallets and filled with donated soil. Crops were grown by local citizens and provided both food and aesthetic beauty on the otherwise unused area.
In 2012 the project developed into "Turn Table - The Urban Garden", as the garden was supplemented by a small pop-up restaurant and café in a movable greenhouse (Ref 1, 2, 7). The Turn Table garden space was organized to promote awareness and discussion on the ecological and social aspects of food. The urban garden project included not just the greenhouse, but also an apiary, cultivation beds, a summer café with a terrace, and a market (ref. 4).

The enlargement of the Dona Casilda park started in 2006 when Bilbao Ria 2000, a public limited company created in 1992 with the collaboration of the Public Administrations in order to lead the recovery and transformation of degraded areas of the Metropolitan Area of Bilbao, decided to invest in the renovation of the park. (Ref 2,4) The park was considered the main lung of the city, thus its enlargement (which is the presented NBS) was seen as necessary. (Ref 3) As such, the main road that traversed the park was removed and 30.000 sqm of land has been added. (Ref 2,7) The green area was broadened, by removing the road and enlarging the park. (Ref 2)

The civil society association "Permaculture vorm Eichholz" has made it their agenda to turn a since 2016 abandoned farmhouse into an experience-based, educational, co-design space around the concept of permaculture which is an ecologically inspired design concept for creating resilient and durable agricultural areas while maintaining the diversity of cultural and natural habitats. The farm, which was established in 2017, promotes alternative cultivation methods and energy concepts via seminars and workshops and constitutes an experimental lab for interested citizens who can implement their own ideas or even take over responsibility for parts of the farm they develop and cultivate themselves (Ref. 1, 2, 3). The leaders of the project also plan to implement a sustainable energy concept, with the goal of making the farm self-sufficient in it’s energy consumption by producing renewable energies in a variety of ways. (Ref. 9)

Kuninkaantammi is a new energy- and eco-efficient residential district by the Vantaa River and Helsinki’s Central Park that is in the construction phase with a dense urban design, consistent with the ecological, experiential and community requirements of modern housing. It will become a climate-smart neighbourhood for 5,000 inhabitants. Environmental factors have already been noted in the zoning of the area, and energy efficiency guides the design and building processes.
Kuninkaantammi will be a pilot project for stormwater runoff management in Helsinki using green infrastructure. The construction is ongoing (2013-2025). Management of storm waters in the area will be carried out through natural methods (ref. 1, 11).

The Podlasie Opera and Philharmonic – European Art Centre in Białystok ("green opera") in Białystok, is known for its green roofs, green walls and extensive gardens, which perfectly harmonize with the surroundings. The green area serves as a platform for cultural events and successfully promotes the city. Opera gardens are divided into several levels with lawns, walking paths, bridges, sculptures, and small ponds. Different green elements of the building reduce heat effect and noise, increase the thermal insulation of the building, improve local biodiversity and limit rain drainage to the city centre [1].

Weaver Square Community Garden started in May 2011 on a derelict site owned by Dublin City Council. The site contains the Community Garden and 28 individual allotments let out by the council. The main focus of the Community Garden is to create a safe and relaxing green space for all to use and enjoy. The organizers hope in the future to have more emphasis on the garden as a learning experience, with open days & workshops and other related talks. Dublin City Council has given notice that Weaver Square Community Garden and 27 family allotments are to close at the end of 2018. (Ref. 1; Ref. 2; Ref. 3)

The re-urbanization of the Poligono de Levante neighbourhood included the creation of two large urban parks to form a green area of 47 722 m2 and several environmental considerations such as a bridge for fauna (Ref 1), as it is a strategical zone of Palma . It is a combination of different initiatives, some of which include green elements (Ref 1 and Ref 3).

The government of Mallorca promotes orchards, as part of an ecological movement in Spain. As a result, five orchards were constructed, reclaiming abandoned urban spaces by the Mallorca city government in 2010.
The project has three pillars: strengthening social cohesion and inclusion, creating opportunities for education and for recreation. They were also constructed with pensioners in mind (Ref 2).
There would be an annual draw to give to distribute the orchards. However, this got delayed since 2013. In 2019, the municipality took back the property from the previous owners, and one of the orchards was taken from the list of orchards due to its bad conditions (Ref 5). In 2020, there was going to be a new draw for the distribution of orchards with new focus groups requirements but due to Covid19, this project has been paused (Ref 5).

Owing to the city’s participatory budget, the residents created a well-equipped green recreational square in a vacant area of one of Bydgoszcz's neighbourhoods. The initiative involved the creation of an outdoor gym with several exercise equipment stations, as well as planting pollution-resistant trees and bushes - including oaks, maples, pine and spruce. The initiative aims to manage vacant space and increase access to the green space in this city district [1].