Mobile, AL , Mobile (FUA), United States
City population: 431472
Duration: 2020 – 2020
Implementation status: Completed
Scale: Sub-microscale: Street scale (including buildings)
Project area: 2900 m2
Type of area: Public Greenspace Area
Last updated: March 2025

The project consists in creating an urban orchard at a juvenile detention center. Strickland Youth Center welcomes troubled youth with the final aim of the intervention is to ensure a successful reintegration of youth into the community (Ref 4). The orchard is aimed to be maintained by the youth of the center, providing them with skills and preparing them for the job market (Ref 2). The orchard harvests will provide healthy food options for low-income and minority residents (Ref 1) in the surrounding neighbourhood that has been identified as a food desert (lack of nutritional options available) (Ref 2). The project also has an educational purpose on healthy food for the youth and residents (Ref 3). Besides, the orchard's green space aims to contribute to beautification (Ref 1) and to sequester carbon dioxide (Ref 1).

Aerial view of the urban orchard part of the Keep America Beautiful project
Aerial view of the urban orchard part of the Keep America Beautiful project
News WKRG, Urban orchard growing in Mobile to help troubled youth, 26/09/2019 (Ref 3)

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 justice and equity
  • Environmental education
  • Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
  • Economic development: agriculture
  • Sustainable consumption and production (SDG 12)
  • Sustainable consumption
  • Sustainable production

Principal problems in Functional Urban Area (FUA)

  • Land use and Socio-economic change
  • Agriculture/ crop production
  • Resource Scarcity and Competition
  • Food insecurity due to disruptions in food production and distribution

Key priorities

Social Justice and community

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Creation of areas for food production (community gardens, allotments), Knowledge creation and awareness raising, Educational and awareness raising programs

Project objectives

1) the project aims at providing skills to youth from the center and preparing them for the job market (Ref 2) 2) the orchard harvests will provide healthy food options for low-income and minority residents (Ref 1) 3) educational purpose on healthy food for the youth and residents (Ref 3) 4) to contribute to improved aesthetics of the area (Ref 1) 5) to sequester carbon dioxide (Ref 1).

Implementation activities

- Plantation of over 100 fruit-producing trees - Organization of the management of the orchard with an educational purpose: the orchard is to be maintained by the at-risk youth of the Center (Ref 2), in order to train them in horticulture and agriculture and obtain certifications (Ref 3). - Establishment of food distribution: the harvests will be distributed across the disadvantaged communities in the neighbourhood to provide them with healthy food options (Ref 3).

Climate-focused activities

Climate change mitigation:

  • Increase the availability of green urban space for carbon storage (street tree cover)
Communities vulnerable to environmental hazards or climate change impacts
Yes

Specification of climate or environmentally vulnerable communities

Coastal communities, Communities near industrial areas, Other

Main beneficiaries

  • Public sector institution (e.g. school or hospital)
  • Citizens or community groups
  • Marginalized groups: Children, young people or youth groups , Socio-economically disadvantaged populations (e.g. low-income households, unemployed), Other

Governance

Management set-up

  • Led by non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Public sector institution
  • Non-government organisation/civil society

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The project is led by - Keep Mobile Beautiful (KMB) (NGO) - Strickland Youth Center (SYC) (public institution) Funds for the project come from: - Keep America Beautiful (KAB) (NGO) - United Parcel Service (UPS) (private sector) - Alabama Power Foundation’s Grass Roots Program (foundation) Educational components on healthy eating are made through collaborations with - Alabama Cooperative Extension Service (outreach and engagement organization for the land-grant mission of Alabama A&M University and Auburn University) - Mobile Master Gardeners (educational volunteer recruitment program offered through the Alabama Cooperative Extension System) - Mobile Urban Growers (a network of community gardeners and urban farmers) (Ref 3).

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

Unknown

Financing

Total cost

Less than €10,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Corporate investment
  • Funds provided by non-governmental organization (NGO)
  • 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 labour
Who provided the non-financial contribution?
  • Citizens (e.g. volunteering)

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Enhanced carbon sequestration
  • Expected enhanced carbon sequestration
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Expected increased green space area

Economic impacts

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

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Expected improved access to urban green space
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Expected increased opportunities for social interaction
  • Increased access to healthy/affordable food
  • Expected increased access to healthy/affordable food
  • Education
  • Increased support for education and scientific research
  • Expected increased support for education and scientific research
  • Increased knowledge of locals about local nature
  • Expected increased knowledge of locals about local nature
  • Other

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.
Collins, K. (2019). Urban orchard growing in Mobile to help troubled youth. Mobile, AL: WKRG News, p. 1-3 Accessed on August 6, 2024, [Source link];
2.
Lane, K. (2020). Keep Mobile Beautiful to plant urban orchard at Strickland Youth Center. Mobile, AL: NBC News, p. 1-2 Accessed on August 6, 2024, [Source link];
3.
Keep Mobile Beautiful (2019). Keep Mobile Beautiful Receives Grants to Establish an Urban Orchard at Strickland Youth Center. Mobile, AL: Keep Mobile Beautiful, p. 1-3 Accessed on August 6, 2024, [Source link];
4.
Strickland Youth Center (n.d.). Strickland Youth Center. Mobile, AL: Strickland Youth Center, p. 1-2 Accessed on August 6, 2024, [Source link];
5.
CityData.com (2022). CityData.com - Carver neighborhood. Mobile, AL: CityData.com, Accessed on August 6, 2024, [Source link];
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.