Last updated: October 2021
As part of the title Green Capital of Europe, Ljubljana planted the first public orchard. The public orchard is open to citizens and visitors of the city, where fruits are available from mid-summer to late autumn. One part of the orchard includes a plantation of old varieties of apple, plum and pear, while the other includes trees species little known. The public orchard and nectar garden are intended for residents, passersby, volunteers, groups of pre-schoolers, families and educational organisations. The nectar garden is enriched by an innovative didactic adventure trail that winds around the nectar garden. Next to the nectar garden is a hotel for insects and bird feeder intended to promote biodiversity and raise awareness about nature conservation. Nearby is also a renovated playground for children. Three such orchards have been created in Rakovi jelši, Savski naselj and Puhtejeva ulica. The arrangement of the public orchard is one of the goals set in the environmental protection program for the City of Ljubljana 2014 - 2020. (1, 2 and 3)
Public Orchard and Nectar Garden
City of Ljubljana Photo Archives, retrieved 09/04/2018 from Alja Bebar (Office for Public Relations)
Overview
Nature-based solution
- Grey infrastructure featuring greens
- Green playgrounds and school grounds
- Parks and urban forests
- Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
- Community gardens and allotments
- Allotments
- Other
Key challenges
- Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
- Habitat and biodiversity conservation
- Green space creation and/or management
- Regeneration, land-use and urban development
- Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
- Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
- Environmental education
- Health and well-being (SDG 3)
- Enabling opportunities for physical activity
- 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
Project objectives
1. Education on the local and foreign types of fruits.
2. Support for the urban bees and other insects in the nectar garden.
3. Entertainment and recreation for children and parents.
4. School-visit of the orchard for the purpose of learning more about nature.
5. Self-sufficiency and re-connecting with nature. (2)
Implementation activities
Rakovi jelši: Planting fruit trees and flowers, refurbishing children's playground. The orchard is open to citizens and other visitors to the city, while providing a pleasant environment for bees and other animals.
Savski naselj: The arrangement of the urban orchard and the renovation of the children's playground is part of a broader project to revitalize the Sava settlement, which began in 2014 at the initiative of Milesa Štambergar. As part of this project, the basketball court was first renovated, paved paths and benches were set up. During the renovation of the children's playground, all the toys were preserved, which are now color-coded into a single story and enriched with new accessories.
Old Slovenian apple and pear varieties are planted in the orchard.
Puhtejeva ulica: It consists of 2 parts. In the southern part there are 48 fruit trees of apple trees, 18 fruit trees of pears and 6 fruit trees of plums, and in the northern part there are 36 fruit trees of mulberry, nettle, skorša, partridge, quince, persimmon, asimina, walnut, chestnut, black elder, smarna pear and euodia. Both parts are separated from the landscaped paths by a series of ornamental apple trees. (1 and 2)
Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities
Biodiversity conservation:
- Protect and enhance urban habitats
- Create new habitats
- Protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect species
- Undertake specific measures to protect valued species
- Means for conservation governance
- Raise public awareness
- Public engagement
- Create and use scientific knowledge for conservation
Main beneficiaries
- Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
- Researchers/University
- Citizens or community groups
Governance
Management set-up
- Co-governance with government and non-government actors
Type of initiating organisation
- Local government/municipality
- Non-government organisation/civil society
- Citizens or community group
Participatory approaches/ community involvement
- Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
- Dissemination of information and education
- Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
- Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)
Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project
Joint planning of the area between the municipality and the Prostoroz civic initiative (1)
Project implemented in response to ...
... an EU policy or strategy?
Yes
(7th Environment Action Programme (EAP) - as it underpins the EGCA as a policy tool which is directly mentioned in the documents. (1))
... a national policy or strategy?
Unknown
... a local policy or strategy?
Yes
(Ljubljana Vision 2025 - it was part of a wider strategy to develop more green area and to improve places for children to play, as well as provide educational areas and bee-friendly zones. It directly corresponds to the Environmental Protection Programme 2007-2013 (EPP) (revised version 2014–2020) which sets a target for land use in the city for food production and local self-sufficiency.(4) The orchard and nectar garden is not explicitly mentioned as future projects in the strategy.)
Financing
Total cost
€10,000 - €50,000
Source(s) of funding
- Public local authority budget
Type of funding
- Earmarked public budget
Non-financial contribution
Type of non-financial contribution
- Provision of labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
- Public authorities (e.g. land, utility services)
- Citizens (e.g. volunteering)
Impacts and Monitoring
Environmental impacts
- Climate change
- Lowered local temperature
- Green space and habitat
- Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
- Increased number of protection areas
- Increased green space area
- Increase in protected green space areas
- Increased number of species present
- Increased protection of threatened species
- Enhanced support of pollination
Economic impacts
- Increase in agricultural production (for profit or not)
Socio-cultural impacts
- Social justice and cohesion
- Increased access to healthy/affordable food
- Increased sustainability of agriculture practices
- Health and wellbeing
- Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
- Education
- Increased support for education and scientific research
- 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. Ljubljana Municipality. (2020) Public Orchard. available at Source link. accessed on 4th November, 2020.
2. Green Ljubljana. (2016) Public Orchard. available on Source link. [site under construction as on 4th November, 2020].
3. Green Ljubljana. (2016) Nectar Garden. available on Source link. [site under construction as on 4th November, 2020].
4. Municipality Ljubljana. (2014) Integrated Environmental Management.
available on Source link. accessed on 4th November, 2020.
5. Source link (2015) ProstoRoz. available on Source link. accessed on 4th November, 2020.
6. Prostoroz (n.d.) Urban Orchard and Playground in Savsko Neighbourhood. available at Source link. accessed on 4th November, 2020.
2. Green Ljubljana. (2016) Public Orchard. available on Source link. [site under construction as on 4th November, 2020].
3. Green Ljubljana. (2016) Nectar Garden. available on Source link. [site under construction as on 4th November, 2020].
4. Municipality Ljubljana. (2014) Integrated Environmental Management.
available on Source link. accessed on 4th November, 2020.
5. Source link (2015) ProstoRoz. available on Source link. accessed on 4th November, 2020.
6. Prostoroz (n.d.) Urban Orchard and Playground in Savsko Neighbourhood. available at Source link. accessed on 4th November, 2020.
Prostoroz
https://prostoroz.org/en/portfolio/items/urban-orchard-playground-savsko-neighbourhood/