Greening the City: Jardins Participatifs d'Etterbeek

By Erwan Guenec and Fábio Gouveia

The Jardins Participatifs d'Etterbeek seek to achieve environmental justice goals and provide several ecosystem services in a participatory manner. The initiative is a joint collaboration between the Etterbeek municipality, residents, and a number of associations, it seeks to provide a wide range of services that respond to the social and environmental needs of the community. Its programme is composed of spaces for organic farming, learning, natural ecosystems, leisure, and composting.

The project saw three successive waves of development since its 2010 inauguration. The original 2700 m² of garden stretching alongside the railway, hosting multiple types of green spaces, activities and workshops, was later on extended to include an additional 1000 m². This new space was fully dedicated to organic agriculture and offering professional training courses to promote urban farming. With the coordination of both the Sustainable Environmental Development Department of the municipality and its CPAS (Public Centre for Social Action), the project ‘Légumes Bio d'Etterbeek’ was founded. A social grocery shop was created to sell vegetables cultivated in the garden at a discount for the socially disadvantaged community living nearby. The last phase of the project offered an adapted space within a part of the garden which aims to be more inclusive to people with a handicap.

Social and environmental associations, such as Natagora, for instance, play a key role within the project, since they manage some of the plots, but also run activities and training (e.g., in beekeeping, composting, grafting, etc.), as well as managing ecosystems or promoting people’s interest in nature.

In order to get a better sense of the actual functioning of the gardens, as well as the impact it has on the neighbourhood, we spoke to one of its users, who kindly agreed to guide us through the space and talk about her experience. We were curious to know more about the perceived benefits from the participating gardeners, their difficulties, and the relationship between them, the associations, and the Etterbeek commune.

We were led first through the publicly accessible section, a narrow park with a few benches facing the railway, which is open to the general public during weekdays, even functioning on an extended schedule during the summer months. Since the park sits on the side of a steep slope, which is left in a fairly wild condition, it was quite apparent that a large variety of plants, birds, and insects were all concentrated in this small space. At the end of the path, we reached a gate, which our guide unlocked, so we could enter the areas reserved to members and accompanying persons.

The first of these areas is devoted to the communal plots and other shared utilities. This is the section where our guide was allotted her planter bed, which she had shared with other members for the last seven years. In the case of the collective plots, the yield is rather symbolic due to their small size. Nevertheless, the participants seem to remain actively engaged in the upkeep of the parcels, organising themselves to delegate tasks and cooperating to maintain the gardens in good condition. In conversation with our interviewee, she confirmed the importance of the social aspect of the project, highlighting the real sense of community she experienced by partaking in the activities.

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent containment measures exposed the degree of inequality in terms of access to green spaces and safe places to socialise in many cities. But, for the users of the Jardins Participatifs and the residents of the adjacent social housing units, these issues were not felt to such a great extent, as the gardens provided a green space where people could still meet. Members of the community could keep in touch and coordinate access to the gardens, attenuating many of the ails felt by large parts of the population who found themselves isolated from social contact and proximity to nature. The mental health benefits should not be underestimated, especially since some of the users are elderly and/or vulnerable individuals, who would otherwise be alone, including a case described by our guide, of a member with mental health issues, to whom the community has become a crucial support network.

Beyond the communal planters section, follows an area where each plot is individually attributed, then various rows of different fruit trees, where our escort proudly taught us how to cut certain branches to allow more fruit to grow. It was clear from her description that the gardens were a place of learning – the associations bring their expertise and share it through trainings, which anyone can enrol in, but the gardeners also exchange the knowledge they acquire amongst themselves and with visitors on a regular basis.

We then made our way to the end of the section. Here another gate separates the part which is kept by Natagora as a small-scale biodiversity reserve. Just before the gate, a beehive and a pond seek to encourage and foster the presence of pollinating insects and other animals.

We made our way back, reflecting on the benefits and challenges of the project. Some of the equipment was visibly in need of maintenance, such as a rainwater collection system, or a few of the planters. Rain had also caused small landslides on the slope and the current retaining walls clearly required upgrading. Furthermore, the tool shed had become too small to adequately shelter all the materials and an expansion was planned. When we asked about who was to solve these issues, we were told the municipality would be taking care of it. We might have assumed there was some neglect by the part of the local government, but we were made aware not only that workers from the municipality enable the functioning of the gardens by doing regular maintenance, and supplying water, mulch, etc., but also that staff from the sustainable development office visit the site on a weekly basis, coordinating with members and assessing their needs. The major issue seems to be, not the lack of engagement by the authorities directly responsible for the project, but rather budgetary constraints at a higher level.

Considering the number of ecosystem services that are generated by the presence of these community gardens (related to biodiversity, air quality, waste management, health, culture, community, etc.), it seems like the Etterbeek municipality could afford to invest further into such programmes. In creating a space that is “just green enough”, they seem to have struck a balance in creating socially and environmentally beneficial green infrastructure, without immediately perceivable adverse effects sometimes associated with such programs.