Last updated: October 2021
The woodland community garden is the main project of the Woodland community. Since 2010 they have transformed a derelict urban waste dumping site into a thriving community garden and ‘outdoor community centre’. Since then it has become an important local space where people make new friends and feel part of the community. It’s also a great place to unwind from the everyday stresses and strains of city life. Each year, around 50 households grow their own fruit, vegetables and herbs in the garden’s raised beds. The garden has over 50 raised beds where local people can grow their own food with beds allocated on an annual basis. For people who do not have raised beds there are still plenty of opportunities to get involved, including via twice-weekly volunteer sessions. The garden is a wonderfully therapeutic space that helps people to recover from the stresses and strains of everyday life. (Ref 1)
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Community gardens and allotments
- Community gardens
Key challenges
- Climate action for adaptation, resilience and mitigation (SDG 13)
- Climate change mitigation
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Green space creation and/or management
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Social interaction
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Improving mental health
- Creation of opportunities for recreation
- Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
- Economic development: agriculture
- Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
- Sustainable production
Focus
Creation of new green areas, Transformation of previously derelict areas, Knowledge creation and awareness raising
Project objectives
(a) Shaping the future of Woodlands in ways that are sustainable, environmentally friendly and innovative.
(b) to include supporting community-based education activities.
(c) promoting the health and well-being of our community.
(d) encouraging participation in community arts.
(e) the advancement of environmental protection.
(f) to produce locally grown vegetables.
(g) to transform an unused space into a community garden. (Ref 1)
Implementation activities
In 2010 the Woodland community have transformed a derelict urban place into a thriving community garden and “outdoor community centre”. The volunteers with the help of the locals cleared the space, planted trees and built raised beds for food production. They created over 50 raised beds where local people can grow their own food, with beds allocated on an annual basis. The locals had grown their own vegetables and fruits. Each year, around 50 households grow their own fruit, vegetables and herbs in the garden’s raised beds. They organize a weekly meeting with the locals to help them in food production. The community also built a community meeting room and a cafe. The meeting room is used for activities to engage the locals and is provided to other organizations and charity for different events. (Ref 1)
Climate-focused activities
Climate change mitigation:
- Increase green urban nature for carbon storage (wetlands, tree cover)
Main beneficiaries
- Citizens or community groups
- Marginalized groups: Elderly people, People with functional diversities
Governance
Management set-up
- Led by non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Citizens or community group
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
- Citizen science
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
The entire project was led by the Woodland Community.
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Unknown
Financing
Total cost
€10,000 - €50,000
Source(s) of funding
- Public regional budget
- Public local authority budget
- Private Foundation/Trust
Type of funding
- Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)
- Donations
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of land
- Provision of goods
- Provision of labour
- Provision of expertise
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
- Other
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Environmental quality
- Improved air quality
- Green space and habitat
- Increased green space area
- Enhanced support of pollination
- Restoration of derelict areas
Economic impacts
- Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Improved social cohesion
- Fair distribution of social, environmental and economic benefits of the NBS project
- Improved access to urban green space
- 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
- Improved mental health
- Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Cultural heritage and sense of place
- Improvement in people’s connection to nature
- Education
- Increased support for education and scientific research
- Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
- Increased awareness of NBS and their benefits
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. Woodland Community Garden website. Available at: Source link. Accssed on 29th July, 2020.
2. Byrne Pat (2020) Nurture through Nature-one to one support Woodlands community. Pat’s Guide. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 29th July, 2020.
3. Woodland community facebook page. Available at: Source link
. Accessed on 29th July, 2020.
2. Byrne Pat (2020) Nurture through Nature-one to one support Woodlands community. Pat’s Guide. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 29th July, 2020.
3. Woodland community facebook page. Available at: Source link
. Accessed on 29th July, 2020.
Woodland Community garden
https://www.woodlandscommunity.org.uk/community-garden
Woodland Community garden
https://www.woodlandscommunity.org.uk/community-garden
Woodland Community garden
https://www.woodlandscommunity.org.uk/community-garden