ECO-GARDENS

ECO-GARDENS

Project period: December 2021 – June 2023
Target group: Community gardens, their users and all public in general
Coordinator: KOKOZA (Czech Republic)
Partners of the project: On Projects Advising (Spain), Gartenpolylog (Austria), Klimabündnis Oberösterreich (Austria), Kortars (Hungart), Pistes-Solidaires  (France)

The context

Community gardens are the first witnesses of climate change.
For example, higher temperatures mean a greater need for irrigation, as plants dry out more quickly. Weeds also grow faster, and certain pests can thrive. With this in mind, Eco-Gardens aims to help community gardens adapt to this phenomenon and to make them places of education.

Community gardens can help reduce these changes in several ways:
– The temperature is several degrees cooler in a garden or greener area than in asphalt and concrete streets.
– The production of fruit and vegetables directly from the garden allows for local consumption, with a reduced carbon footprint.
– Harvesting rainwater for garden use can reduce the risk of flooding in neighbouring areas.
– The gardens can become a place of information and training for schools and the general public.

The objectives

Analyse the training needs on climate change in community gardens.
Strengthen and promote the role of community gardens in climate change education and information by creating an online training course.

The results

The Eco-Gardens projected has yielded 20 Best Practices examples, that include gardens, inspirational stories, and educational and awareness-raising tools.

EcoGardens has also created a Climate Action Toolkit, consisting of 4 modules, that contain all the practical training needed to implement education and awareness-raising actions about environmental and climate change challenges in a community garden context.