Edible City Solutions

This autumn, UNaLab joined the social media campaign #EdibleCitySolutions where seven H2020 projects working on nature-based solutions came together to raise awareness of the positive ecological, social and economic impact of green urban food system innovation. The campaign aimed to highlight interventions, products and services that bring the food city dwellers eat closer to the cities they live in, while contributing to the development of sustainable, healthy and liveable cities. The campaign offered an occasion to bring the community gardens implemented in Tampere into the spotlight – highlighting how they support social cohesion.

In 2019, the City of Tampere awarded innovation vouchers for the development of small-scale nature-based solutions to two housing cooperatives in the Vuores area. These vouchers were used to develop common garden areas where the residents planted fruit trees and berry bushes and installed planter boxes, as well as developed areas to compost gardening waste and structures to harvest rain water for garden irrigation. The aim was to create safer, nicer and more social areas for all residents to use and enjoy.

The residents of the buildings adjacent to the garden areas did most of the work themselves and used the funds from the innovation vouchers to purchase materials and transportation services needed for the construction work. Both housing cooperatives were very happy with the end results and agreed that these collective projects have further enhanced the relations between the residents.

If you are interested in learning more about the edible city solutions featured in the social media campaign, look up the hashtag #EdibleCitySolutions on Twitter and Instagram.