Achieved impacts

The Pasteur clinic in Toulouse installed a 500m² vegetable garden on the roof of its building in 2014. Maintained by clinic employees and various associations, the garden makes it possible to develop a friendly atmosphere and learn gardening while promoting biodiversity (Ref. 2). The garden grows produce including green beans, tomatoes, basil, strawberries and raspberries, (Ref. 3) and contains flowers such as nasturtiums, Cosmos, tagettes and edible chrysanthemums (Ref. 4).

The city of Palermo has planned a series of interventions to regenerate the coastal area in the Southern part of the city (Bandita, Romagnolo and Acqua dei Corsari). The activities performed to reach this goal were the cleaning of the green areas which surround the coast and creation of playground zones for kids. In particular, the green areas were expanded with the plantation of typical plants of the Mediterranean area. This project was aiming to improve the condition of both water and the coast itself, to make it more attractive and accessible to everyone. (Ref.1.)

A new lake with green banks was built in the district of Altenhof in Essen in order to improve the quality of life in the neighborhood, create new recreational facilities and prolong the existing transport and green infrastructural developments in Essen. The water is supplied to the lake by means of groundwater from a separate well, as well as rainwater from the surfaces of neighboring roofs (Ref. 1).

The municipal agency Gardens and Parks collaborated with the hospital "St. Panteleymon" in Plovdiv in order to restore the condition of their rehabilitation park in the yard. This involved planting 550 trees, cleaning and securing the area, and removing or modifying problematic trees. The park has thus become a more hospitable place for rehabilitation of patients (Ref. 1; Ref. 2).

Arkwright Meadows Community (AMC) Garden is situated in the heart of inner city Nottingham, Prior to 2001, the site was a disused, derelict and rubbish-strewn piece of land. In 2001, a group of Meadows residents came together to improve this derelict piece of land and work started to create the infrastructure of the community garden. The area was transformed into a green oasis and outdoor learning environment. (ref. 8)

Citizen Farm was a start-up founded by Pierre Osswald (Ref. 3). The project began with an experimental urban farm in a vegetable garden of Raymond 6. The ozarium farm (a vegetable aquarium) uses a technique called aquaponia (Ref. 5). This technique grows all kinds of plants and vegetables indoors in an entirely natural way. Fertilizer or watering are not needed. Plants feed on the nutrients in the aquarium: water and fish discharges. In return, they purify and oxygenate fish water. It is an ecological and educational innovation which is surfacing as an "eco-responsible" trend. (Ref. 1, 2). The Citizen farm initative was ended in 2018 due to financial difficulties (Ref. 35).

In June 2012, the Vertical Plants at the Strasbourg National Institute of Applied Sciences (INSA) were installed by two second-year students. They along with faculty and students undertook a technical and regulatory feasibility study, before taking steps to mobilise local companies to meet the costs of the project (Ref. 1). The advantage is not only aesthetic, but the wall has thermal and acoustic properties, and serves as a refuge for biodiversity and is even capable of absorbing atmospheric pollution (Ref. 2).

The ANNALINDE gGmbH operates multifunctional urban agriculture and demonstration projects in the Western part of Leipzig: a community garden, a nursery and a fruit garden on a former train station where the emphasis is on community development and mutual learning processes in addition to food production. This is safeguarded by an events portfolio consisting of garden working days, workshops and collaborations with schools, kindergartens and like-minded organizations. In addition to that, open urban labs are operated for a number of initiatives and projects covering subject areas like urban agriculture, recycling, composting, urban bees, urban resilience and sustainable urban development (1).

The flower meadow was established in 2017 on the roof of Karcher company’s building in Kraków. It is a multiannual project. The meadow consists of herbs and flowers and it serves multiple purposes; provides the recreational space for workers, supports biodiversity and provides habitat for insects and birds, especially pollinators, and has aesthetic functions as it is composed of diverse multi-colour flowers which bloom in different seasons [1].

The Grand Park Garonne urban project aims to rehabilitate and develop the banks of the river Garonne that runs 32 kilometers through the city. From 2015, several development projects was planned to be carried out for a total of 28.7 million euros across 3 areas: the Garonne downstream, Toulouse center and the city's "green lung" Island of Ramier (Ref. 1, 4). Within these are 12 sites that consist of 40 pilot projects for operations. Among these are projects focused on protecting and restoring natural habitats and species in order to create a citywide green corridor (Ref. 8).