Huertos Kinegarten

Citizen's community garden

Introduction

This is a set of urban gardens developed in gardens belonging to the Austrian national film library. This institution gives them to a citizens’ cooperative for their use, and this space contains places for theatrical performances, open-air cinema, etc.

Activity Topic

Implementation of cultural activities in the garden

Organisation

KinoGarten

Legal Status

Cooperativa

Year of Establishment

2011

Location

Leopoldstadt, 1020 Viena, Austria

These gardens are located in what is the rest of the riverside woods that were saved from destruction for the construction of a concert hall. Its 7,500 m2 are home to a series of small plots where local people can grow their vegetables. The most significant aspect of this space is the communion achieved with the cultural activity developed by the film library, especially with the existing open-air cinema. Everything is decorated with mud-style paintings and posters, and there is also a marquee for performances and cultural activities. Special mention should be made of the beehive area, where an interesting and important environmental education activity takes place, in which children can get to know and understand first-hand how beehives work. All of this is decorated with portraits of the ‘Queen of the Bees’. The whole environment reflects this concern to merge culture with cultivation.

Activity Description

Aims and Outcomes

The aim of the creation of this space was, on the one hand, the need to provide the neighbourhood with urban garden infrastructures in which residents who so wished could satisfy their needs and concerns to cultivate the land, produce their own food and embark on a path of learning in common, in contact with other people in their environment.

But in addition to this, Kinegarten had the vocation from the beginning to present the look of a place in which to create the representation of a utopian world, in which the arts are developed in the middle of the garden itself. Everywhere you can see this attempt to provide the orchards with cultural activity, especially cinema. The Filmoteca Nacional, owner of the space, shows a special sensitivity towards urban ecology since, although it is not its specific function, it has committed itself to the development of the orchard project, providing what in principle would be a garden, one of the many in Vienna, with a vitality and an engine of community activity that elevates the public utility of the space.

The project is based on the agreement between the neighbourhood community and the Filmoteca Nacional for the creation of the allotments. Subsequently, the creation of the cooperative and its management is what keeps the gardens in use.

The result is positive, it is clear to see. The gardens are cared for, and there is a continuous flow of people, gardeners and visitors, who want to be in the place, whether growing, learning or simply spending time in a pleasant corner of their city.

Advantages and Benefits

The benefits of this activity for its users are obvious:

Development of outdoor activities
Learning cultivation techniques
Consumption of healthy products
Social contact and community life

For the surrounding neighbourhood community:

Creation of an attractive space for walking and staying.
Access to cultural activities.

For its part, the National Film Library fulfils a social role that exceeds its original function but which results in public service and a good social image.

Required Competences and Skills

The organisation of an urban garden such as Kinegarten requires the presence of a core group of organisers capable of managing the cooperative in its economic aspects, maintenance, attention to agricultural aspects, etc. It is also important to have the right skills to coordinate the cultural and educational activities that are based in Kinegarten, and sensitivity to make the space a territory that demonstrates the connivance between culture and urban cultivation. On the part of the managers of the Filmoteca Nacional, a degree of commitment is required for the maintenance of this urban garden, fulfilling social and environmental functions that are so important for its urban environment.

Evaluation

In my view, Kinegarten is a valuable civic space with a very positive impact both on its social and neighbourhood environment and on the role of public institutions such as the National Film Archive. Although it had recently been hit by a severe storm in Austria, Kinegarten looked very healthy and well cared for, reflecting a great commitment on the part of its managers and also its users.

Conclusions

In large European cities there are a large number of institutions (administrative, health, educational, cultural, etc.) that occupy a large number of buildings and urban space. Their presence represents an opportunity to promote urban sustainability if their commitment is achieved through actions such as the creation of urban gardens in the spaces available to them. It is also an opportunity to increase their involvement with the neighbourhood, which in general tends to be limited as their objectives and functions tend to be on a larger scale than that of the neighbourhood. For my part, I see possibilities of applying a similar model in my city (Seville), starting with the existence of spaces such as the Museum of Contemporary Art, which occupies the old monastery of La Cartuja, and which even has in its gardens the spaces occupied by the monks’ old vegetable gardens. It would be a perfect space to recover their use as urban orchards.

Advice / Recommendation

It is a very original and interesting garden model, which could well have a greater presence on the Internet, which is the best way to disseminate the philosophy and activities of this space, which can serve as a model for many communities and institutions in Europe.

It is also advisable for the Filmoteca Nacional itself to value this activity and disseminate it as an achievement of the institution and part of its social responsibility. Even the creation of some kind of promotional material or merchandising, such as T-shirts and other Kinogarten memorabilia, would also be a good way of publicising the existence of this very special urban garden.

The existing baroque-style painted panels that decorate the space, including that of the ‘queen of the bees’, are of great artistic and communicational interest, and could therefore be reproduced and disseminated as part of the garden’s communication materials.

Project Number: 2023-1-FR01-KA220-ADU-000153638

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.

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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.

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