Sustainable consumption

There is a quickly growing number of residents, who want to grow their own food within a short distance of their locality, but new areas for allotments are not sufficient. The environmental NGO Dodo started a "guerilla gardening" movement, part of which is the temporary use of otherwise abandoned spaces. Specifically, at Kalastama area, an empty space waiting to be built upon, 36 farmers created an urban farm with recycled industrial bags to grow crops that can be removed afterwards (ref. 1). The garden in Kalasatama is a collaboration with the city of Helsinki, part of the temporary uses of the area, which in the next 20 years will be built into a new urban district of Helsinki (ref. 4)

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).

After relevant local regulations had been adapted and allowed for keeping apiaries in the city of Białystok, in 2016, the Institute of Biology at the University of Bialystok put six beehives on its rooftop. The initiative aims at increasing biodiversity and pollination in the city. It promotes beekeeping and sustainable production and consumption patterns, and the honey is a brand product of the University [1,3,4].

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).

Southsea Green community garden was developed from a derelict strip of land, to encourage more local growing and spread the message about gardening and volunteering. With time, the garden has transformed into a community green-space (1). Southsea Greenhouse is a collective of gardeners and crafters. The Greenhouse Community Co-operative is transforming wasteland into a community garden and re-investing profits from sales of produce and crafts, back into the local community. Community events and workshops are offered to encourage sharing of local skills and resources, foster a love of the city’s greenspace, and care for wildlife. (3)

Based on an urban regeneration project in the city district of Arrenberg, an association called “Awakening of the Arrenberg” formed in 2008, consisting of citizens, entrepreneurs and real estate owners seeking to transform their district. Under the umbrella of the project “climate quarter Arrenberg” initiated in 2014, whose goal is to make the district CO2 neutral by 2030, the development of a city farm covering 60,000 sqm on former railway premises - a Europe-wide unique project in urban farming – is one of their most important plans that make up their vision of becoming carbon neutral. (Ref. 1, 2 and 3). The goal of the farm is to produce healthy and locally produced food, while creating employment opportunities and remaining carbon-neutral, using power only from the sustainable power plant that will be installed for the project. (Ref. 2) In February 2020, the implementation has not yet started, but the “Awakening of the Arrenberg” association says the vision of the urban farm is stronger than ever before and that the project has received funding approval, with experts now working on feasibility studies. (Ref. 8).

‘Colorieten Hof’ is a community garden in which vegetables, herbs and flowers are grown sustainably. The garden is a social meeting place for elderly, neighborhood citizens and female immigrants who can learn Dutch and about Belgian culture (Ref. 1, 3).

In 2017, the municipality of Sintra approved the municipal Solidarity Gardens Program, which aims at enabling the inhabitants of Sintra to "value solidarity and, in some way, value natural resources" (ref.4).
This intervention aims to create small gardens in urban areas. Not only as a tool for subsistence for families in situations of social vulnerability but also to generate access to areas that tend to deteriorate, through correct management and profitability of resources. Eventually, the NBS aims to promote actions for the implementation of sustainable urban development, focused on strengthening family and local agriculture (1)

On the brownfield of an abandoned train station and its surrounding terrain, active citizens and neighbors developed Utopia town, a living lab for creative urban development, cultural and creative industries, and citizen engagement. Under the guiding principle “edible train station – edible town", next to other projects, an urban garden with organic cultivation was developed on 1,000 sqm of the terrain at the former train station Mirke as a focus area for their activities due to its favourable location in order to show that gardening is possible in urban spaces, even on balconies or terraces (Ref. 1, 2, and 3). The main building of the Utopiatown has a bar, a concert venue, a food sharing station, and a free bicycle lending service that is operated by volunteers. (Ref. 9). Gardening workshops that are offered to citizens with little experience of gardening are planned to be further extended with seminars and practice classes for students (Ref. 3). Since its beginning, the area of the “utopia town” has grown rapidly and is now providing opportunities for multidisciplinary academic research. (Ref. 12)