Aix en Provence, France
City population: 354452
Duration: unknown – unknown
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Project area: 1 m2
Type of area: Residential
Last updated: October 2021

An urban garden on a private citizen's terrace in the city of Aix en Provence, has been created with the help of the organization "Pays d'Aix en Transition" working towards permaculture and urban gardening. The main objective of this urban garden is to produce vegetables and fruit for personal consumption, to install plants in a very urban environment, and use permaculture techniques. Another objective is to grow climbing plants to decorate the walls. (Ref.1 )

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Nature on buildings (external)
  • Green walls or facades
  • Community gardens and allotments
  • Allotments

Key challenges

  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
  • Sustainable consumption
  • Sustainable production

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Other

Project objectives

"Produce vegetables and fruit for personal consumption; Install plants in a very urban environment and use permaculture techniques; Gradually grow climbing plants to dress the walls and the arbor" (Ref. 1)

Implementation activities

"Plans and seeds planted in this garden (in small quantities): -Climbing plants: a white Muscat vine and a kiwi tree. -Vegetables: radishes, beets, arugula, leeks, onions, tomatoes and dwarf peas -Fruits: strawberries and wild strawberries -Herbs: parsley, chives, basil, fennel and mint" "gravels were distributed to the bottom of the tanks on 10 cm, then clay soil on 10 cm and finally a mixture of compost and potting soil with a little horse manure" "An automatic irrigation system has been set up to manage the irrigation of the garden." (Ref. 1) -"Pays d'Aix en Transition is committed to the Collectif Climat du Pays d'Aix." (Ref. 2) The Collectif Climat du Pays d'Aix (Climate Collective of the Aix Territory) "is made up of people who engage as individuals and associations whose interest is related to climate issue. Its dynamics are anchored in the territory of the Pays d'Aix in relation to regional, national and international dynamics such as the "Alternatiba" movement and the Climate Coalition 21." (Ref. 4)

Main beneficiaries

  • Non-government organisation/Civil Society
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Led by non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Non-government organisation/civil society
  • Citizens or community group

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
  • Taskforce groups
  • Dissemination of information and education
  • Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
  • Co-management/Joint management
  • Citizen monitoring and review

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

Terrace of an individual, which got the help and the support of the organization "Pays d'Aix en Transition" working toward permaculture and resilience in urban area. (Ref 1)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Yes ("In preparation for the COP21 climate conference to be held in Paris at the end of 2015, Pays d'Aix en Transition is committed to the Collectif Climat du Pays d'Aix." (Ref. 2) The Collectif Climat du Pays d'Aix (Climate Collective of the Aix Territory) "is made up of people who engage as individuals and associations whose interest is related to climate issue. Its dynamics are anchored in the territory of the Pays d'Aix in relation to regional, national and international dynamics such as the "Alternatiba" movement and the Climate Coalition 21." (Ref. 4))

Financing

Total cost

Unknown

Source(s) of funding

  • Unknown

Type of funding

  • Unknown

Non-financial contribution

Type of non-financial contribution
  • Provision of land
  • Provision of labour
  • Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
  • Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
  • Other

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Strengthened capacity to address climate hazards/natural disasters
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Reduced biodiversity loss
  • Increased number of species present
  • Other

Economic impacts

  • Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
  • Increased market share for green economies

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Increased access to healthy/affordable food
  • Increased sustainability of agriculture practices

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

1. Pays d'Aix en Provence (n.d). "Un potager sur une terrasse urbaine". Available at: Source link (Accessed: Jul 09, 2020).
2. Pays d'Aix en Provence (2015). "Pays d’Aix en Transition s’engage dans le collectif climat 2015". Available at: Source link (Accessed: Jul 09, 2020).
3. Collectif Climat Pays d'Aix (2016). Website. Available at: Source link (Accessed: Jul 09, 2020).
4. Collectif Climat Pays d'Aix (No Date). Facebook Page. Available at: Source link (Accessed: Jul 09, 2020).