[ad_1]
“The Ekologika social backyard idea is just copied from different examples around the globe. One of many imperatives — ecology, which is integral to the Montenegrin structure — is apparent from its identify,” explains Aleksandar Novovic, founding father of the Ekologika social backyard.
Novovic has been engaged on the concept for the final seven years, at the least, when he’s not working within the backyard in Mareza, a small village close to Montenegro’s capital Podgorica, the place he owns a 1000-square-meter plot of land. The plan is to supply fellow residents a chunk of his land at no cost if they’re ready to domesticate and work on it. Identical to he does — and he enjoys each minute of it.
“Socially, residents get a public house the place they’ll arrange their actions and begin new initiatives, which naturally will increase cooperation, cohesion and inclusion. By spending time in a inexperienced house, they get to eat extra healthily and lift their very own stage of leisure exercise,” Novovic provides. Economically, people can enhance their state of affairs as customers by producing a few of their very own meals, both alone or in collaboration with others. That is why he phrases them social or group gardens — the emphasis is firmly on group.
Ekologika shouldn’t be the one social backyard in Montenegro. There are presently two, every positioned in a special metropolis. With some 70 folks actively concerned within the annual planting and tending of every backyard, it appears prone to show the following massive factor in a rustic with a inhabitants of simply 620,000 residents.
Plantadun — the youthful, however no much less profitable cousin
Operating for 2 years, the “Plantadun” social backyard within the coastal metropolis of Bar is predicated on a barely totally different idea. In contrast to Ekologika, which is self-funded and depends solely on Novovic’s personal initiative and involvement, Plantadun is a pilot mission funded by Montenegro’s ministry of science, with the extra help of three organizations: RaccEduco and Kadar Plus from Bar and New Web page from Podgorica.
The “Plantadun” social backyard within the Montenegrin coastal metropolis of Bar
Mission supervisor Darko Pekic says the main focus of their mission are passion gardeners — plantaduns in Montenegrin — who get the chance to domesticate uncared for agricultural land inside city areas. “Each plantadun is allotted a backyard of 25 sq. meters.
Every backyard is surrounded by paths on all 4 sides, forming one thing of an entry highway, in order that neighbors, the planters, can perform their agricultural actions with out hindrance,” says Pekic. He provides that the passion gardeners are given full inventive rein in the case of cultivation.
80% for the gardener
On the subject of yield, 80% of the produce harvested belongs to the gardener in query, 10% — within the type of produce or cash — goes to the proprietor who ceded the land and 10% is donated to a joint planting fund to cowl the acquisition of seeds for subsequent season. Primarily, the mission supplies folks with all the pieces they want: a plot, seeds, water, instruments and a software shed.
Darko Pekic is the mission supervisor of the “Plantadun” social backyard close to Bar
“The land utilized by the gardeners was beforehand plowed and fertilized. What’s extra, our agricultural engineer prepares pure preparations, utilizing nettles for example, for the remedy of vegetation. The purpose is to encourage folks to return and take part — then we’ll all be taught and progress collectively. In essence, we operate as a group, serving to one another as the necessity arises,” says Pekic.
Collaboration equals assist for these in want
Ekologika and Plantadun additionally present one another with mutual help. Collectively, they’ve arrange an progressive greenhouse. sponsored by the American Embassy in Montenegro, within the Plantadun backyard. Product of black plastic barrels that may be moved round, the construction additionally permits for optimized planting. The greenhouse was donated for a very good trigger and is utilized by the “Girls of Bar” affiliation, which supplies over 250 meals for the town’s socially deprived every single day.
A greenhouse on the “Plantadun” social backyard in Bar
“Initiating social gardens revitalizes many broken or uncared for social and interpersonal ties. One such backyard in any considered one of our cities not solely has the potential to appropriate the present social distance brought on by COVID-19, but additionally to foster a way of inclusion, restoring all these ties which have didn’t develop in latest many years,” says Aleksandar Novovic.
Darko Pekic hopes the pilot mission that’s flourishing in Bar will quickly discover acceptance in different Montenegrin municipalities. Whether or not the initiative is taken up additionally relies on the state and municipalities, the place curiosity has thus far been muted.
Overcoming challenges
Plantadun was hit exhausting by the late adoption of the state finances in 2021, which prevented the mission from accessing funds. The way forward for the mission was on a knife-edge. However then the group of gardeners got here up with its personal answer.
“Luckily, we have been capable of agree a payment with the members of the gardens — a token quantity of €3 per 30 days — to cowl a few of the important prices regarding the preparation of the gardens. What’s extra, plans for the following planting season have been easily applied, displaying the sustainability of the entire thought,” reveals Pekic.
Work on the “Ekologika” social backyard in Mareza
However this was not the one problem to implementation. Novovic’s Ekologika backyard is positioned on his personal land. This happened as a result of the authorities refused to acknowledge the potential of the initiative, blocking the usage of state land by the group. “We’ve got been engaged on this for seven years. In that point, no particular person in authority has appeared or responded adequately to our requests for land,” says Novovic.
However, Novovic refuses to surrender on his concepts for the mission in Mareza. Each he and Pekic consider in a greater tomorrow and a greener future for his or her nation and their group. Nor do they appear to be alone on this — their concepts are steadily gaining floor.
Plantadun, which boasted a mere 19 plots earlier than the COVID-19 pandemic, now has 60.
This text is a part of Deutsche Welle’s “Balkan Booster” mission. Balkan Booster was arrange in 2017 and goals to convey younger folks from totally different nations within the Western Balkans collectively.
Edited by: Aida Salihbegovic, Rüdiger Rossig, Lucy James
[ad_2]
Source link