The trail was created by Têtes de pioches

Citizen garden

Introduction

The hiking trail connects 6 of Pau’s community gardens and aims to facilitate the access to the gardens for the citizens, tourists and occasional visitors alike. Signs at the entrance of the participating gardens show a map of Pau and the trail with the location of the other points of interest along the way. The signs also give some information on the gardens.

Activity Topic

Environmental education, education to sustainable development, leisure activity

Organisation

City of Pau

Legal Status

Non governmental organisation

Year of Establishment

2015

Location

64140 BILLERE

Têtes de pioches is a collective that organises hiking / walking trips in Béarn with a poetic background. The aim is to reconnect people with their environment and make them more sensitive to nature. During the walks the focus is on being curious about the surroundings and to encourage the participants to use their own senses to discover their surroundings. Part of this is getting in contact, getting to know the other participants and oneself.

The collective started with the idea of organizing a walk through the city of Pau to get to know the different gardens and at the same time to learn about the different players in food production. The event was called ‘Pau, ville comestible’ (‘Pau, the eatable city’). Out of this developed the idea to organize a seasonal walk together with a scientific, environmental and cultural approach. 2018 the collective installed a project that would make the trails visible to a broader public. As part of ‘Diagonales Perdues’ (‘Lost diagonals’) there was a hiking trail developed in 2022 that connects 6 of Pau’s community gardens. The map together with some information on the garden can be found at the entrances of the participating gardens and online – Tous aux jardins was born.

Activity Description

Aims and Outcomes

The trail leads visitors across Pau with community gardens as the main attraction. Not monuments, churches and shopping malls are the exciting places to discover, but tomato plants, composts and improvised garden sheds. In my opinion, the idea is to make Pau’s community gardens visible and to offer an alternative way to get to know the city, for people who are interested in urban green space and community projects. Even for people who do not explicitly search for gardens in a city, they can come across the signs by accident and through the information become curious to discover the other gardens.

Short term outcomes are an appreciation of the gardens. To make them visible by dedicating a trail to them, is a great way to show appreciation for their work and to acknowledge their important role in making the city what it is, just like ancient chapels and churches do.

At long term, it offers visitors the possibility to discover Pau’s gardens by accident or on purpose and to get information on how to get in contact with the people responsible. It makes the gardens visible and easier to find. The hike can be found through different platforms, there is a QR-code on the signs and a link on the website of Têtes de pioches.

Advantages and Benefits

I see two things complementing each other in this project: a collective that aims to reconnect people with their environment, to encourage them to stay curious and use their senses. On the other hand, community gardens that often have just this effect on people – grounding them, connecting them with each other and the environment. With the trail a broader public can get to know these advantages gardens can provide. The hike can make gardens visible to a broader public and reach people who otherwise have no touchpoint with gardens.

Required Competences and Skills

To successfully develop such hiking trail, it is important to have a good knowledge of the area, including its geography, parks, trails, and landmarks, and of course the community gardens. Understanding accessibility, transportation options, and safety considerations helps in designing routes that cater to different difficulty levels, time constraints, and interests. GIS (Geographic Information Systems) and mapping skills are also essential for analysing spatial data, creating maps, and identifying optimal routes. These skills help visualize geographic features and make informed decisions.

Evaluation

For me it is difficult to assess if the garden trail is successful or not. I would call it successful if a lot of people knew about it and walked the trail. I did not have the chance to talk to a lot of people about it, but the gardeners of two of Pau’s garden, which are not part of the trail, did not know about it. When looking online for the hike, it is quite difficult to find if you don’t know the exact name. On the official website of Pau tourism, it is not listed, even though there is a section where hikes across the city are presented. On the website of Têtes de pioches you can find the trail, so if you are interested the kind of events, the collective organises it is easier to discover. The signs at the garden entrances are big enough to attract the attention of passers-by. I got the impression that you must be already interested in gardens or in poetic hikes, like the collective organises to be able to find the trail online. If you walk around the city of Pau in an attentive way you will be able to spot the signs next to the gardens.

Conclusions

For me ‘Tous aux jardins’ is a great project to acknowledge gardens and their important role in a city. It makes the gardens visible. The hike facilitates the access to the gardens, provides information and a way to get in contact with them. It offers visitors an alternative way to discover the city of Pau, for citizens it can also be a way of learning something new about their hometown. Attentive tourists who are interested in urban gardens can discover the signs and like this the trail while walking around Pau. Otherwise as a tourist it is quite difficult to find. There is no information provided on the official tourism website and by online research you will not find the trail unless you know it’s exact name. I got the impression, that in terms of visibility and public awareness there is still some work to do, to give this project the attention it deserves.

Advice / Recommendation

I think the popularity of the trail would be greatly enhanced, if it was communicated through the official tourism website. There is already a section where walks through parks and greens space in the city are recommended – that would be the perfect place. Also, the city could offer guided tours along the trail. The gardens could use the trail to connect with each other by organizing community walking events together with some programme in the gardens. For example, a shared equinox event or planting in spring.

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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