Antwerpen, Belgium
City population: 499254
Duration: 2012 – ongoing
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Project area: 20000 m2
Type of area: Unknown
Last updated: October 2021

The Biodroom is a community garden where citizens can meet each other, children can play, and where vegetables are grown ecologically. The Biodrome started as a laboratory for art, gardening and ecology in the city: a temporary culture project with art manifestations, but is since 2014 it functions as a community garden that is maintained by citizens (Ref. 1).

A garden with greenhouses and vegetables being grown in bags
https://www.antwerpen.be/info/58ab0bdeca69bc22121ca3c7/samentuin-biodroom-2-0

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Community gardens and allotments
  • Community gardens

Key challenges

  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Environmental education
  • Social cohesion
  • Social interaction
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
  • Protection of historic and cultural landscape/infrastructure
  • Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
  • Sustainable consumption
  • Sustainable production

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Maintenance and management of urban nature

Project objectives

The main goals of the community garden is to create connections between people (social cohesion) by letting them work together (Ref. 7). At the beginning, another goal was to inspire people by means of art manifestations that were all related to the theme of urban agriculture and nature in the city (Ref. 1). Another goal is to educate people about ecological gardening/agriculture by means of workshops (Ref. 8). Lastly, the goal is to create a place where people can relax and children can play (recreation) (Ref. 1).

Implementation activities

A community garden was created of 2 hectares with 500 bags in which vegetables are grown (this method was chosen because the project was meant to be temporary and soil is contaminated) (Ref. 3). Workshops were introduced that educate people about ecological gardening/agriculture and special activities for foreigners (e.g. woodworking) where foreigners can practice their Dutch and meet other citizens (Ref. 1, 6, 8). A 'seed bib' where citizens can 'borrow' seeds to grow their vegetables and bring back seeds once the vegetables are fully grown (Ref. 8). All kinds of art manifestations including art made from natural materials and reused materials, theatre and music (from 2012 to 2013) (Ref. 1, 8). "On April 15, 2012 Biodroom opened for the public. Biodroom is a garden that consists of more than 500 big bags containing soil and compost. There are also two greenhouses. More than 50 different kinds of vegetables are grown and there is also room for a couple of fruits, trees and flowers. Biodroom functions as a "community garden" for and by residents. More than 250 people are members of the garden and 40 of them come regularly gardening" (Ref. 12).

Main beneficiaries

  • Citizens or community groups
  • Marginalized groups: Refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Dissemination of information and education
  • Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
  • Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
  • Co-management/Joint management
  • Citizen oversight (e.g. boards, advisory)

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The project was initiated by the municipality of Antwerp ('Cultuurcentra Antwerpen': overarching organization of cultural centers of Antwerp, 'EcoHuis Antwerpen': Centre of Sustainability and 'Stedelijke Dienst Samenleven': municipality department that promotes quality of life of citizens, social-cultural development and protection of citizen rights) (Ref. 1). The concept 'Biodroom' was conceptualized and designed by Elke Bruno (Elke Thuy and Bruno Herzeele, two artists) (Ref. 7). The municipality of Antwerp financed and did the maintenance of the community garden from 2012 to 2013, but since 2014 the garden is completely maintained by citizens with support from Velt (an association that supports ecological gardening). Velt provides advice and assistance to the board of the community garden) and the citizens discuss the state of the community garden regularly with EcoHuis (Centre of Sustainability of the municipality of Antwerp) (Ref. 4, 7, 11). The 'seed bib' was also developed by the EcoHuis (Ref. 8).

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Unknown
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (The initiative to create a city garden as temporary art project stems from the 'Actieplan Lokaal Cultuurbeleid Antwerpen 2012' (Action Plan Local Culture Strategy Antwerp) by the cultural department of the municipality of Antwerp. In this plan, the creation of a temporary community garden is mentioned as an action to raise awareness of urban ecology which can become a cultural green space for neighborhood citizens: a place of rest, education, culture, relaxation and social connections [9]. In the 'Bestuursakkoord 2013-2018' (Municipality Agreement in which the general vision for the city for this period is specified), the municipality stated that it would promote community gardens and small scale urban agriculture projects including the Biodroom 2.0 (from 2013 on) because it fits the sustainability and public participation strategies of this Municipality Agreement (Ref. 10). )

Financing

Total cost

Unknown

Source(s) of funding

  • Public local authority budget
  • Funds provided by non-governmental organization (NGO)

Type of funding

  • Earmarked public budget
  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
  • Membership or entrance fees

Non-financial contribution

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

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Environmental quality
  • Improved waste management
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased number of species present

Economic impacts

  • Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved social cohesion
  • Increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
  • Increased access to healthy/affordable food
  • Increased sustainability of agriculture practices
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Cultural heritage and sense of place
  • Promotion of cultural diversity
  • Improvement in people’s connection to nature
  • Increased sense of place identity, memory and belonging
  • Education
  • Increased knowledge of locals about local nature

Type of reported 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. Unknown (n.d.). Biodroom Antwerpen. [online] Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 8, 2020).
2. Gemeente Antwerpen (2017). Samentuin Biodroom 2.0. [online] Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 8, 2020).
3. Unknown (2015) Samentuin Biodroom. [online] Available at: Source link (Website not available in 2020).
4. Velt (n.d.). Waar vind ik samentuinen? [online] Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 8, 2020).
5. Unknown (2013). Biodroom 2.0. [online] Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 8, 2020).
6. Unknown (n.d.) Babbel en werk met hout Biodroom 2.0 - Linkeroever. [online] Available at: Source link (Website not available in 2020).
7. Elke Bruno (n.d.) Biodroom. [online] Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 8, 2020).
8. Zuallaert, L. (2013). Biodroom 2012. [online] Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 8, 2020).
9. Gemeente Antwerpen (2011). Actieplan Lokaal Cultuurbeleid Antwerpen 2012. Antwerp: Municipality of Antwerp. [pdf] Available at:
Source link (Accessed: October 8, 2020).
10. Gemeente Antwerpen (2016). Tuin in de stad - Verderzetting Biodroom 2016 - Goedkeuring. Antwerp: Municipality of Antwerp. [pdf] Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 8, 2020).
11. Vanden Bergh (2013). Biodroom: Tuinbouw met artistieke zaailingen (en omgekeerd). Antwerp: Municipality of Antwerp. [pdf] Available at: Source link (Accessed: October 8, 2020).
12. Culture for cities and regions (n.d.). "Study visit in Antwerp – Local context and cultural policies". [pdf] (Document attached).