Implementation in a community area of an urban community garden following the guidelines of syntropic agriculture. This type of agriculture offers solutions and systems that are different from the traditional form of cultivation. More respectful of the ecosystem and in many cases, more efficient.
The garden will be maintained on a communal basis so that all gardeners will be able to observe the results of other cultivation methods.
Biodiversity
Giardino di Aguzzano
Association
2015
Via Fermo Corni snc, 00156, ROME, Italy
Created in 2015 as a non-profit association on public land. There are usually 85 people participating in both the individual gardens and the community synergic garden.
Among its main objectives is to preserve the green area so necessary in the urban landscape. It also promotes healthy lifestyles based on growing vegetables for personal consumption, avoiding sedentary lifestyles and contact with nature.
An important part of the project is the creation and dynamisation of a community of market gardeners willing to share knowledge among themselves as well as with visitors and educational institutions interested in the values of the association.
As for the syntropic garden activity, the association is responsible for providing the land, the tools and the staff with the necessary knowledge to ensure that it is maintained over time and is effective.
First, we must define what syntropic agriculture is. To summarize, it is a type of agriculture that takes into account all the elements of the garden as an ecosystem and tries to optimize the resources necessary for it to balance and function as autonomously as possible. To this end, it “imitates” the natural processes in ecosystems such as forests or meadows.
It is precisely this support for natural processes that makes it very interesting as a green space preservation and at the same time inclusive for all types of gardeners who are elderly, physically handicapped or simply have little time to devote to the garden.
Agriculture in urban gardens can be considered within the framework of domestic agriculture in the sense that it is aimed at self-consumption and enjoyment of space. This means that aspects such as production, economic compensation and competition are ruled out.
Within urban gardens it is very common to observe traditional practices aimed at large-scale production in commercial agriculture that require a great deal of physical effort and the use of biocides which, although within ecological limits, are very harmful when used in such a systemic way as is normally observed.
The benefits of the activity are based on knowledge that has great advantages mainly along two lines. The first is the enjoyment of the gardener and the safety of the activity, as it requires less physical effort, creates more complex gardens and requires a richer and more varied diversity of species.
On the other hand, at the heart of syntropic agriculture is the observation of and deep respect for nature. Taking into account all elements of the ecosystems. That is why it is so interesting not only for the community, but also for other visitors and for the environment as a haven of biodiversity.
The objective of the Gardeniser Academy project is to support the development of community gardens in Europe by offering online training contents tailored to the needs and expectations of gardeners all over Europe.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
We are currently building the GARDENISER ACADEMY E-Learning Platform – a space designed to provide free to use training for gardeners all around Europe.
To ensure you don’t miss out on the launch, be sure to join our mailing list.