Building community-driven vertical gardens

Knowledge creation and awareness raising, Other

The main goals of the intervention were: 1. To bring both thermal comfort and economic benefits to low-income residents of Agege. Inhabitants of these Yoruba communities are living on less than 1 GBP/day; 2. To enhance biodiversity in the residential buildings: the plants used in the vertical walls have a range of uses, from the medicinal properties of aloe vera, to the snake repellent characteristics of the Lantana Camara plant. Most envisioned crops had pollinating properties. 3. To reduce indoor temperatures and fight humidity and the effects of high outdoor temperature. 4. To introduce an innovative responsible approach to vertical gardening that involved locally sourced materials for local people. 5. To increase ownership participation by embracing indigenous ideas as offered by the recruited skillset/ community members in the process of adapting an otherwise expensive prototype within a reasonable financial limit for the target group (Low-income groups). 6. To preserve the building façade from weathering. 7. To reduce urban heat island effects (as vertical gardens add pockets of greenery to overcrowded areas)(1,2,3,4)

This intervention adopted a bottom-up approach to low-cost innovation: VGS prototypes were developed in partnership with the local community of Agege (Lagos, Nigeria) and were a 2 stage initiative. Community members contributed to every step of the research process with their context-based expertise, sharing decision-making and ownership. In order to convince the local residents to participate in the intervention, the research team appealed to the community leaders (Baale). A selection of the most "cooperative" streets and residents followed. In the first phase, 2 sites were selected: 1 in Suru street, the other in Lagos street. Community engagement followed for the development of the prototype and had 4 stages of community meetings. A HDPE prototype was installed in Lagos street and a bamboo one was designed in Suru street. Planting started in early May 2014 and plant maturity was reached around 6 weeks later. Phase 2 was implemented in 2016 in Shobowale Street with the help of Guinness Nigeria Inc. Community engagement happened this time in 3 stages. Contrarily to phase 1, prototypes in phase 2 were designed to transfer weight to the walls rather than the ground. Containers were sustained by a wooden frame rather than wooden poles to avoid drilling the ground of the community centre near water boreholes. Planting started at the beginning of September 2016 and plant maturity was reached within 6 weeks. It was reported that the prototypes were still in use in 2018. (2) It is unclear if the intervention was continued after 2018. Sources after this date were not found online or in any other academic journals making it very hard to reach a conclusion whether the intervention is still functional.

• Researchers/University
• Citizens or community groups
• Marginalized groups: Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed)
• Food producers and cultivators (i.e. farmers, gardeners)