A CORUÑA TRANSFER STORY

The most significant ambitions of the Coruña participation were:

• Strengthen management capacity of stakeholders involved in UG local policies.
• Explore transferability of local regulation from LP to city partner.

Our journey in the transfer process

Throughout all these months of implementation, Coruña has been able to respond to two key elements:

• What services and policies should be implemented to enhance urban gardens?
• And how to manage them in the long term?

A Coruña transferring has been structured around five main solutions objectives:

• Consolidation of the ULG as a joint Decision-making workspace for the UG local policy. Beginning of a new down-up decision-making model.
• Definition of shared goals and the ex-change of knowledge and experiences in the ULG.
• Development of the Gardeniser, as a key player in the implementation of the Local Urban Garden Policy.
• Creation of the Urban Garden Information Point, the local service to support UG.
• Development of  new a local regulations of urban gardens.

Initial objectives in the Ru:rban project:

• Multiply the number of functioning urban gardens.
• Networking with stakeholders and the community
• Define a municipal urban garden strategy:
• Better communicate urban garden activities.
• Raise the capacity building of our ULG members.
• Professionalize the figure of the monitor of urban gardens.
• Explore the transferability of government and regulations aspects of the LP for the regulation of our city.

New expectations have emerged during the transfer process:

• Expand the ULG with new public and private partners.
• Create the Information Point for Urban Gardens
• Pilot project to expand school gardens
• Create the Urban Garden Network
• Involve the Department of Urban Planning
• Conduct more Gardenisers training in A Coruña

The participation in the Ru:rban project has been key to:

• Promoting a new policy for urban gardens.
• A policy structured around the new Urban Gardens Information Point and the Gardeniser.
• Implementing the ULG as a new joint-work space.
• During the transfer process, this policy has evolved. Today, it addresses two large types of gardens:
  • School gardens
  • Municipal gardens.
  • In both urban gardens, the figure of the Gardeniser emerges as a key element for its management and dynamization.

A Coruña urban garden local strategy for the long term:

The process of transferring the good practice from Rome has been key to developing another key element of our future urban garden policy: the regulatory framework for the management and allocation of municipal gardens plots.

Another fundamental objective is to contribute to the professionalization of the figure of the Gardeniser. This will be regulated through the following mechanisms:

• The definition of the pilot project for school gardens.
• The preparation of a new call for the allocation of municipal urban gardens for associations.
• Promotional Campaign in social media networks: we have created a Ru:rban section in the Municipal website. This section includes news, which we will update. We intend to use the other broadcast channels of the city council: Twitter and Facebook. We have to improve our communication policy.

Key successes

• Throughout these months we have managed to expand the ULG incorporating different points of view (gardeners, schools and NGOs). The ULG has become an important support of the project.
• The Project has promoted the implementation of new internal project management mechanisms (internal coordination procedures, weekly monitoring meetings, budgetary control instruments, etc.) and new communication mechanisms (Trello, online information exchange platforms. , etc.) with private and social agents. These learnings will have a lasting impact beyond the project.
• Ru:rban has contributed to the generation of new dynamics of management of urban gardens, based on collective work with citizens and social partners. The initial situation (top-down) of policy definition has been reversed, and synergies of collective decision-making have been generated.
• From a local administration perspective, it has also contributed to improve coordination between areas that did not work together before the project.
• Collaboration between Ru:rban and Horizon 2020 Connecting Nature project has been achieved.

The project has been fundamental for the development of a long-term urban gardening strategy.

• It has facilitated internal awareness and the exchange of knowledge between cities, that is essential for tackling change.
• It has been key for the implementation of a public-private network of stakeholders and the definition of instruments to implement policies to support urban gardens (through "Information point", the pilot project for urbans gardens in schools and the Gardenisers figure and the local network of ULG).
• It has promoted the creation of a new urban garden association (De Leria na Leira) made by gardeners of Agra, Novo Mesoiro and Eirís, that will be resposible of managing the new garden of Oza following the Roma model.
• It has represented an institutional lever of change and promoted internal collaboration and coordination between areas of the City Council.

The transfer results in the 3 Elements

E1 - Capacity Building

The Ru: rban has had a key impact on the training of local administrations and their professionals for the development of an effective urban garden policy:

• It has facilitated internal awareness and the exchange of knowledge between cities, that is essential for tackling change.
• It has promoted the constitution of the ULG, that will be active beyond the implementation period and which be the basis of the future network.
• It represents an institutional lever of change. Having behind us an European project has helped to introduce internal changes.
• It has promoted internal collaboration and coordination between areas of the City Council.

E2 - Vocational Training

From a learning and training perspective, the Ru:rban has been essential to increase the capacities of the members of the ULG:

• So far, the Gardeniser training has been attended by 5 members of the ULG and 2 people from the local administration (the local person in charge of the project and a technician from the Horizon 2020 Connecting Nature project).
• Through the exchange of knowledge and experiences among the members of the ULG, both in the ULG meetings themselves and in the local activities of the project (in schools, municipal gardens, etc.).
• Increased knowledge about the dynamic and social function of urban gardens. Two business initiatives have been created. In the second edition of the Huertas Urbanas Monitored course (June 2019 - March 2020) the dynamization and social aspects have been worked on in a more profound and effective way.

E3 – Governance

The main result obtained in dimension E3 has been the preparation of the first draft of local regulations, based on the experiences of Rome and the other cities of Ru:rban. This regulation is characterized by its adaptation to the local context:

• UG are located in public lands.
• City administration responsible of the UG management
• Plots assigned to individual citizens, NGOs or associations.
• The City administration defines social criteria to promote the access of vulnerable groups to plots.
• Duration of the assignment is limited to 4 years.
• The municipality does not charge fees/taxes for the assignment of the plots.
• The garden must be cultivated using organic farming techniques.
• UG products cannot be sold. Only direct consumption.
• Urban gardens may be visited by schools and community groups.
• Definition of educational, social and therapeutic gardens is introduced
• Soil quality control.
• Regulation of social events in common areas of the gardens
• Possibility of marketing the products in events authorized by the City Council
• Possibility for the user community to request the City Council to reserve a plot for communal cultivation.

Main next steps

• Establish a Network of Urban Gardens, made up of public and private agents, which gives continuity to the ULG as a space for coordination and joint work. This objective will be achieved with the support of the “Connecting Nature Project” (Horizon 2020).
• Launch the "Information Point" service and professionalize the figure of the Gardeniser, starting in late 2021 / early 2022.
• Support the creation and consolidation of new urban garden associations.
• Strengthen the professionalization of Gardenisers with new training actions (Gardeniser Pro).
• There is a policy of expanding and open new urban gardens (new Adolfo Suárez municipal urban garden in 2021, which will built thanks to European funds).

Epilogue

The main success of Ru:rban in A Coruña has been the definition of a new local strategy regarding urban gardens within the framework of the ULG.

The great challenge for A Coruña for the future is to consolidate a comprehensive strategy to support urban gardens, based on a public-private network of stakeholders and on the "Information Point“, the pilot project for school urban gardens, and the Gardeniser figure as operational instrument.

The URBACT network has played a fundamental role:

• It has facilitated internal awareness and the exchange of knowledge between cities, that is essential for tackling change.
• It has promoted the constitution of the ULG, that will be active beyond the implementation period and which be the basis of the future network.
• It represents an institutional lever of change. Having behind us an European project has helped to introduce internal changes.
• It has promoted internal collaboration and coordination between areas of the City Council.

The team of A Coruña

• María de Isasí: project coordinator
• Marc Bassols: ULG Coordinator
• Antonio Prieto: Project support from H2020 Connecting Nature
• María Gonzalez: Project support from H2020 Connecting Nature