Social Organic Garden of Petroupoli

TOPIC:

Initiative

Social Organic Garden of Petroupoli

SUBMITTED FROM:

Organization Earth, an award-winning Greek NGO, is a citizens’ initiative founded in 2010.

Our mission is to deliver community-driven change towards a fair and resilient society, as anchored in the UN SGDs

We do this by engaging local authorities and other levels of government, civil society and grassroots communities, philanthropic foundations, the private sector, and academia.

Our work focuses on promoting nature-based solutions for climate-neutral and inclusive cities, including pocket parks, urban forests, community gardens, green roofs, and implementing development programs for vulnerable social groups.

For over ten years, Organization Earth has been operating the Center of the Earth, an education hub for green skills, which offers active learning programs and community-based activities.

Objective Action

Current food consumption patterns are unsustainable, both environmentally and nutritionally, and food insecurity has been exacerbated amid the challenges of the times. Organization Earth in collaboration with the Municipality of Petroupoli, created an organic vegetable garden of 2 and a half acres with social and environmental benefits.
The main purpose is to strengthen the resilience of the local community, promoting healthy eating and sustainable farming. The vegetable garden functions as a space for experiential education for citizens who, under the guidance of Organization Earth, have undertaken its cultivation, while they have been selected based on socio-economic criteria. Part of the harvest will be distributed through the municipal social grocery store and the shelter for homeless. Citizen education includes experiential urban farming workshops and activities such as collective cooking and film screenings.

Target Audience

Duration

Description

The innovation of the action lies in the fact that the garden has been designed with the participation of the community through co-design workshops in order to host collective actions, with appropriate infrastructure, after mapping of interested parties (local businesses, groups of active citizens, etc.) has been completed.

The expected benefits are the improvement of the quality of life, the support of vulnerable groups, the development of environmental awareness, the strengthening of "green" skills and the social ties of the community and the upgrading of the neighborhood identity.

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