U garden
Basic information
Project Title
Full project title
Category
Project Description
U Garden is like a green phoenix which grew out of a wasteland in the city of Ferrol. People collaborating and working towards a common objective gave it a life. This wild lap of land was created into a little garden with herbs, flowers, plants and trees in it. U Garden is not only a garden - It is a place to meet up, to be and spend time. This is a circulation between people from different generations, organisations, families - a place uniting the community.
Project Region
EU Programme or fund
Description of the project
Summary
U Garden is like a green phoenix which grew out of a wasteland in the city of Ferrol. People collaborating and working towards a common objective gave it a life. This wild lap of land was created into a little garden with herbs, flowers, plants and trees in it. U Garden is not only a garden - It is a place to meet up, to be and spend time. This is a circulation between people from different generations, organisations, families - a place uniting the community.
We started working with the parcel in autumn 2020, always taking in consideration the restrictions of COVID-19.The two main initiators are organisation of Xeracion (work with international projects, cultural activities ) and neighbour association of Canido (work with locals in the Canido district). During the project 4 other organisations joined: Movilidad Humana (work with migrants, mainly from South America); AECC (work with people with cancer); Colegio San Rosendo (local school); Caritas (work with people with social/economical challenges). As there were no previous knowledge about gardening , our meetings were assisted by Maria - agricultural consultant giving out professional advice. From the period of October 2020 we had constant weekly meetings to work in the garden: cut the wild herbs, branches, cultivate land, make it even, chop wood, create different soil layers for the parcels. In the beginning of April we planted the first seeds.
In the garden we have two small greenhouses to plant the seeds and 15 wooden parcels (2 per every organisation) to work in. As well we use the land around the parcels - we have planted aromatic herbs and trees to give as much functionality as possible to the land. To keep the project sustainable we have our regular meetings every Tuesday evening. We plan to create a leisure corner, yard around the garden (protection against the wild pigs). As well we plan to organise open air activities with and for the local community, not only for the organisation involved.
Key objectives for sustainability
The urban garden has 3 main objectives:
- Awareness of food and conscious consumption
We follow the concept of "100% local" and "zero kilometer" products. All our products are grown and used inside our community. In city the people have got distanced from the work with land and we want to rebuild the contact. While working in the garden we raise the awareness where the food comes from and how much you have to put effort to have it. With this the respect towards food and its consumption is raised. The school kids who come to work in the garden learn to respect the environment, land and food what it gives us. We believe the best way to understand something is learning buy doing.
- Healthy and active lifestyle
Healthy nutrition and physical movement is important basis of human well-being. We want to point out the importance of fresh ecological food on our table. Working in fresh air, socialising with others, moving yourself and cultivating your own vegetables, fruits - This helps us to keep fit and be a positive and active person.
- Community building
The urban garden is not just a garden. It is a place where different generations, organisations, families and friends meet. We work towards a common objective and this bounds us as a team. Networking helps to create a strong community and strong community can create positive changes together in the society.
Key objectives for aesthetics and quality
- Our main objective in terms of aesthetics and quality within this project is to give a new attractive and functional character to a unused wild land.
In terms of aesthetics we have taken a piece of wasteland next to a public building of civic centre of Canido and given it a totally new visual identity. One year ago in that spot there was nothing, just the unused potential. With our time and work and common objective to make this place as functional and aesthetical - we achieved to convert an unwelcoming place to a welcoming place. We have planted flowers, trees, painted the wooden boxes where the plants grow, cut the wild bushes, made it reachable to people to enter and move around on the land. As well in the nearer future we plan to create a leisure corner to spend time and take a rest after a work session in the garden. When the locals before used just to pass by and did not care about that piece of land; then now they walk, stop, come to talk to others who work in the garden. This reincarnation of land has started a visual dialogue with the passengers and they want to know more, want to join.
Key objectives for inclusion
The main objective of U garden in terms of inclusion is to create a common space where everyone is welcome.
Right now we are working mainly with 6 different organisations. Of course besides of this, other people from the neighbourhood are also welcome. All the organisations are dedicated to different kind of work with people: Migrants, elderly, kids, people with cancer, people with social/economical difficulties etc. We want this garden to be a non judgemental spot to meet up and work towards a common objective not depending on the age, religious belief, nationality, economical opportunities etc. Garden U is a spot to unite people, create respect and break stereotypes.
Results in relation to category
We apply under the category of "Reinvented places to meet and share". Basically this is a short summary of the essence of our community garden. It started as being just another wasteland without any use in any level. With the willpower of the people working together this spot got with time and work a totally new character. This useless land transformed into a spot where people from different social groups come to spend time, share experiences, learn together. We work together for a more aware community, society. While living in a city - We do not have too many experience working with the land, but we want to learn. In our opinion the best way to learn is sharing your knowledge with the others and while doing, living the process. Here different generations meet and with the experience they have - they can also give some advice to the younger generation.
How Citizens benefit
With this project we want to raise the awareness of healthy and active lifestyle, networking, developing and making positive change in smaller or larger scale in the community. With this project the citizens of Ferrol have gained a new meeting spot in the city where in the nearer future different kind of cultural and educational activities will be held. They are welcome to come to give a hand in the garden. Depending of the age or social group - this is a place to socialize with other people, integrate, share knowledge and experience, practice language (in case of foreigners), build a active community. Especially now during the time of COVID19 when we have lost a lot of human contact - it is important to return to rebuild the human connection, community. When in a city there are great initiatives happening, cultural, educational or environmental -people want o join, be part of them. As one of the problems of Ferrol is young people moving out of the city - Active city is an attractive place for young people and families to stay, start their life. Also in the economical level the people participating can grow their own vegetables and fruits which means that they can save money and invest this into activities for self-development.
Innovative character
Our garden is not only just a land where vegetables are put to grow, but an organised space with wooden boxes which have a special system of different layers for the plants to grow better. As well this is just not only a garden - it is also a educational spot to develop workshops and events: yoga, basics of agriculture, drawing, language tandems, cultural nights, concerts etc. Of course, right now with the coronavirus we have to respect the restrictions and move slow, but in the future this community garden converts into something more than just a land where vegetables grow. It will be a symbol for teamwork, integration, awareness building, innovation, initiative etc. As in Ferrol here is a lot of problems with the eucalypt tree what conquers the local native trees, we want to start planting here in our urban seeds of local traditional Galician forest trees (oak, birch, chestnut etc), grow them and then replant into spots where trees are missing.
