Slanci, Belgrade (FUA), Serbia
City population: 1685563
Duration: 2013 – 2014
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Project area: 1800 m2
Type of area: Vacant or abandoned land
Last updated: May 2025

Baštalište is an organic community garden initiative located in the town of Slanci, some 20 minutes from the city centre of Belgrade (Ref. 3). It is one of the first initiatives of its kind in Serbia, emerging after organizations such as WWOOF Serbia and the Belgrade Flower Festival, along with activists and citizens, united with the goal of growing vegetables for their own needs. Additionally, they aimed to highlight the numerous neglected and abandoned urban spaces in the city that could be repurposed in this manner (Ref.1). Even though more and more people would like to join Baštalište, the community has been struggling to grow beyond their original plot of 1800 m2, shared between some 30 people of mixed demographics (Ref. 3). They have turned to the municipality to provide more such spaces for urban community gardening but their appeals bear little success (Ref. 2,3). Despite their spatial constraints, the initiative remains open to anyone who would like to visit and help while being financed by membership fees (Ref. 1,2,3). The initiative hopes to eventually scale this type of activity, drawing inspiration from the example of Zagreb, where over 2,000 garden communities were established within 2.5 years after the city decided to repurpose its neglected areas (Ref. 2).

Garden View with Plots
Garden View with Plots
https://www.agromedia.rs/agro-teme/organska-proizvodnja/bastaliste-svi-urbani-poljoprivrednici-na-jednom-mestu/

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
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Enabling opportunities for physical activity
  • Improving physical health
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Social interaction
  • Environmental education
  • Sense of community and community engagement
  • Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
  • Sustainable production
  • Food scarcity / security

Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)

  • Land use and Socio-economic change
  • Unequal availability and access to public green spaces
  • Health, Well-being and Social cohesion
  • Disconnection from nature
  • Other

Key priorities

Social Justice and community

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Creation of areas for food production (community gardens, allotments), Transformation of previously derelict areas, Transformation of vacant land into green spaces, Knowledge creation and awareness raising, Sustainable use of natural resources to improve livelihoods and food security (eg. community- based wildlife or forest management), Educational and awareness raising programs

Project objectives

Goal 1: Turning neglected (urban) spaces into community gardens (Ref. 1,2,3) Goal 2: Creating closer human-human and human-nature relationships (Ref 2,4) Goal 3: Spread awareness and educate on community gardening (Ref. 2,3) Goal 4: Taking steps towards food autonomy/self-sufficiency to improve food security (Ref. 1,3,4) Goal 5: Promote community and urban gardening towards municipal authorities to provide more spaces for such projects and officially recognize their activities (Ref. 1,2,3) Goal 6: Being open to anyone who likes to visit or participate (Ref. 1,2,3) Goal 7: Improve physical health by provding organic and nutrious food and activities around gardening (Ref. 2,4)

Implementation activities

- Clear the plot for planting over a two-month period and plant the first seeds to prepare the garden for cultivation (Ref. 2). - Divide the garden into smaller units of approximately 40 square meters, allowing each member to have their own individual plot. (Ref. 2) - Launch a public call for members at the beginning of each season, inviting anyone interested to apply for a garden plot. (Ref. 3) - Establish a waiting list to manage demand. (Ref. 3) - Provide members with access to garden plots, tools, water, an irrigation system, and a selection of seeds and seedlings to support their gardening efforts. (Ref. 3) - Participate in festivals such as the Belgrade Flower Festival to raise awareness and share insights and experiences from the community (Ref. 1, 2). - Organize workshops on-site that are open to the public, regardless of membership in the gardening community, to promote knowledge sharing. (Ref. 3) - Advocate to municipal authorities for the creation of additional urban gardening spaces (Ref. 3). - Organize annual calls to action in the garden, welcoming new members and fostering community engagement each year (Ref. 1).

Main beneficiaries

  • Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
  • Citizens or community groups
  • Food producers and cultivators (i.e. farmers, gardeners)
  • Young people and children

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

  • Dissemination of information and education
  • Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
  • Co-management/Joint management

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

"The garden was founded last winter by the organizations WWOOF Serbia and the Belgrade Flower Festival, eco-activists and enthusiasts with the desire that its members grow vegetables for their own needs"

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? No
... a national policy or strategy? No
... a local policy or strategy? No

Type of enablers

NGOs/Community groups driving the implementation

Financing

Total cost

Unknown

Source(s) of funding

  • Private funding by citizens

Type of funding

  • Membership or entrance fees
  • Other funding types are unknown

Non-financial contribution

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

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Achieved increased green space area
  • Increased number of species present
  • Achieved increased number of species present
  • Restoration of derelict areas
  • Achieved restoration of derelict areas

Economic impacts

  • Generation of other type of work opportunities (e.g. voluntary, work for rehabilitation)
  • Achieved generation of other type of work opportunities (e.g. voluntary, work for rehabilitation)
  • Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
  • Achieved increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
  • Other

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved social cohesion
  • Achieved improved social cohesion
  • Improved liveability
  • Achieved improved liveability
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Achieved improved access to urban green space
  • Increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
  • Achieved increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Achieved increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
  • Achieved increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
  • Increased access to healthy/affordable food
  • Achieved increased access to healthy/affordable food
  • Increased sustainability of agriculture practices
  • Achieved increased sustainability of agriculture practices
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Achieved gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Cultural heritage and sense of place
  • Improvement in people’s connection to nature
  • Achieved improvement in people’s connection to nature
  • Education
  • Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
  • Achieved increased knowledge of locals about local nature
  • Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
  • Achieved increased awareness of NBS and their benefits

Type of reported 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

Potential risks of implementation and trade-offs

Unknown

References

1.
Nezavisno Domacinstvo (n.d.). Baštalište – Beogradska Bašta - Organska Oaza . Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
2.
Al Jazeera (2014). Baštalište – poljoprivreda u srcu Beograda. Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
3.
Organska Proizvodnja (2016). Baštalište – svi urbani poljoprivrednici na jednom mestu!. Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
4.
Ama - Centar za negu čoveka i prirode · (n.d.). Baštalište. Accessed on August 13, 2024, [Source link];
5.
Prvi Prvi Na Skali (2014). Baštalište - Slanci, Beograd. Accessed on August 14, 2024, [Source link];
Bastaliste sign
Bastaliste sign
https://www.agromedia.rs/agro-teme/organska-proizvodnja/bastaliste-svi-urbani-poljoprivrednici-na-jednom-mestu/
naturescapes bannerInformation about this nature-based solution was collected as part of the Naturescapes project funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement No 101084341.