Bujna Warszawa: Community Garden Support Programme - Warsaw

Bujna Warszawa - Community Garden Meeting

Bujna Warszawa ("Lush Warsaw") is a programme established in 2017 to support the inhabitants of Warsaw (Poland) in setting up and managing community gardens. The citywide program offers access to knowledge, materials, capacity building educational events and networking opportunities around community gardens. The programme aims to increase the environmental and social benefits generated by promoting certain standards and best practices aimed at supporting biodiversity, increasing access to quality green space, promoting social cohesion and supporting participatory governance of the gardens. Bujna Warszawa was initiated by the Warsaw Green Spaces Authority and is being implemented in cooperation with community organisations.

Overview

Type of instrument:

Knowledge, communication and innovation instruments›Knowledge and/or innovation

Challenges addressed

Green space management (e.g. accessibility)
Social cohesion
Social equity
Nature appropriation / stewardship
Reconnection to the biosphere / environmental education
Other, please specify

Biodiversity conservation

Consideration of nature-based solutions:

The goal of the instrument is to increase the number of community gardens being established in Warsaw, and thereby to increase the number of high quality green spaces in the city overall. The instrument also promotes standards and rules that improve the environmental and social benefits created by community gardens. Those standards include, among others, a requirement to make gardens available to the public; ban on non-organic pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers; anti-discrimination practices. The initiative also promotes non-compulsory best practices such as sustainable farming and growing methods such as e.g. permaculture; creating structures to support insects and wildlife; saving water and energy and recycling rainwater; improving accessibility; building partnerships with local institutions such as schools; promoting participation and democratic self-governance in the gardens.

Targeted (peri-)urban areas:

Allotments, community gardens or agricultural areas

Derelict areas

Good practice characteristics:

Effective

Support multifunctional NBS

Locally appropriate

Potential to be replicated / upscaled

Inclusivity

Governance

Government body/bodies

Initiating body:

Warsaw Green Spaces Authority (Zarząd Zieleni miasta stołecznego Warszawy)

Instrument design:

Details about how the instrument was designed:

In 2017, the Warsaw Green Spaces Authority began a process of researching the needs of the capital's community gardeners. As part of the process, it organised workshops with founders and caretakers of the city's community gardens. The aim of the meetings was primarily to jointly develop solutions to support community gardening in Warsaw and the Bujna Warszawa programme was developed based on the recommendations gathered in those workshops.

Involvement of non-governmental actors:

Citizens or community groups / NGOs

Type of actor involvement:

Civil society consultation through e.g. workshops, surveys

Instrument implementation:

Type of involvement:

Bujna Warszawa is implemented together by an NGO Pracownia Dóbr Wspólnych and the Warsaw Green Spaces Authority. In addition, different community organisations are invited to support implementation of the programme. For example, the the Foundation for Public Consultation (Fundacja Konsultacje Społeczne) supports new garden communities in developing communication and cooperation rules. A Community Garden Board, bringing together representatives of Warsaw's gardens was established as part of the original design process of the instrument. The board members take part in implementing some parts of the program, for example the evaluation of applications for material support.

Type of non-governmental actors involved:

Citizen oversight (e.g. boards, advisory role)

Implementation of NBS (e.g. with government funds)

Implementation of the instrument.

Targeted actors:

Citizens or community groups (CBOs), NGOs

Financing

Sources of funding:

Public local authority’s budget

Budget:

Unknown

Details about instrument financing:

The instrument is financed from the budget of the Warsaw Green Spaces Authority, but no specific figures were able to be found.

Monitoring, evaluation and impacts

Is a monitoring framework in place?:

Did an evaluation take place?:

Achieved outcomes and impacts:

The number of community gardens that joined the programme increased from 13 in 2017 to 29 in 2022, with some of the gardens being newly formed in this period and supported by the programme. Between 2017 and 2019 (the period of time for which data is available on the website), the programme organised 31 workshops for 15 community gardens. It offered material support to 10 gardens (in form of seeds and seedlings, tools and materials), dedicated expert support and advice to 11 newly forming community gardens, organised 3 festivals for community gardeners and created publications and guidance to support the establishment and development of community gardens as well as organised webinars.

Success factors and lessons learned:

Thanks to the fact that Bujna Warszawa programme is implemented in cooperation between the Warsaw Green Spaces Authority and local community organisations active in community gardens, it can better consider the realities and needs of community gardens and better respond to those needs. This is supported by the instrument's design, which includes a Board comprised of representatives of community gardens who contribute to implementing some parts of the programme. Bujna Warszawa programme comprises of a wide variety of activities (workshops and webinars, material support, consulting and advice, publications) which means it can flexibly address various needs of community gardens at different stages of development - and contribute to developing high quality, community-managed green spaces across the city.

Sources and further information

References

List of references:

Bujna Warszawa (2022), Czym jest program Bujna Warszawa, Available at: http://bujnawarszawa.pl/o-programie/ Miasto Warszawa (2022), Ogród społeczny, https://um.warszawa.pl/waw/sasiedzka/ogrod-spoleczny1 Pracownia Dóbr Wspólnych (2017), Facebook post, Availablet at: https://www.facebook.com/pracowniadobrwspolnych/posts/pfbid0mNqUmpXkD6mP9X1AM1wJjetMjk32x3S1rS5QweZaEM74jfroj6fFQXZJe7vBWb9Cl Kaliszewski, A.,(2019), "Bujnie i społecznościowo", Available at: https://www.panskaskorka.com/bujnie-i-spolecznosciowo/ Frątczak, N. (2017), "Bujna Warszawa" - nowe wsparcie dla ogrodów społecznościowych, Available at: https://warszawa.wyborcza.pl/warszawa/7,54420,22436753,bujna-warszawa-nowe-wsparcie-dla-ogrodow-spolecznosciowych.html Zarząd Zieleni m.st. Warszawy, "Wsparcie merytoryczne działań Zarządu Zieleni m.st. Warszawy w tworzeniu warunków rozwoju ogrodnictwa społecznościwego...", Available at: https://zzw.waw.pl/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/wsparcie-merytoryczne-w-tworzenieu-ogrod%C3%B3w-spo%C5%82eczno%C5%9Bciowych-i-udost%C4%99pniania-przestrzeni-ogrod%C3%B3w-dzia%C5%82kowych-2.pdf Inspekty (2018), Bujna Warszawa – jak to się robi w stolicy, Available at: https://inspekty.pl/bujna-warszawa-jak-to-sie-robi-w-stolicy/

Further documents

Weblinks:

http://bujnawarszawa.pl/o-programie/

Photos

@bujnawarszawa.pl