Educational community garden / Art Playground

General Description

Aiming to increase biodiversity and provide environmental education to school children and the local community, NbS interventions and citizen engagement activities were undertaken. An ecological playscape and community garden were implemented to improve health and well-being of both children and adults. Social engagement is realised through pop-up initiatives involving mostly children and their teachers, but also general public, promoting a co-creative attitude towards local planning and development.

Timeline to reach full potential

0-2 years

Co-benefits & spatial impact assessment

Co-creation roadmap

Lessons learnt

Co-creation process

Format: Workshops with “hands-on activities” proved to be more engaging and well received.
Mutual Benefits: Inviting local event organisers and musicians to the workshop, who would then play music, was an innovative way of getting a greater attendance and shaped community engagement in a fun way.
Stakeholder Fatigue: Initial interest can fade rapidly; engaging people from start to end required more creative solutions.

Implementation process

General

Need to sign official agreements directly with the government
Memorandum of understanding should be in place to avoid issues
Ensure support from decision makers.
Start conversations with Ministry of Education from the early stages of the co-design process
Technical details to be specified ahead of implementation
Take into account the cost of delays