De Paradijsvogeltuin
About this good practice
A former vacant lot of the municipality where local residents are given the opportunity to give the place a temporary purpose according to their own ideas. The possibilities are endless as long as it benefits the neighbourhood of the place with sustainability, community and circularity as the main drivers. The inhabitants of the Paradijsvogeltuin are called Paradijsvogels. The goal of the Paradijsvogeltuin is plural; creating a space for the community to meet like-minded people, organize events and be inspired about sustainable living. The Paradijsvogeltuin has several inhabitants who prefer an alternative way of living. The context and reason for introducing the Paradijsvogeltuin was to give a function to undeveloped land from the municipality of Groningen. Also, to answer to the wish of citizens to live alternatively in a community off-grid and to increase liveability of the neighbourhood by organizing events, workshops and providing an accessible community garden. Moreover, this involves small-scale events such as flea markets, neighbourhood parties, training courses or theatre performances. There is also room for local residents to create vegetable gardens, a sculpture garden or initiatives such as a public bicycle workshop.
Resources needed
The land was made available by the municipality of Groningen. The Paradijsvogeltuin is funded by donations and maintained by volunteers. The stakeholders are the inhabitants of the Paradijsvogeltuin and the citizens of the neighbourhood Oosterparkwijk in Groningen.
Evidence of success
The initiative can be considered good because of the actual physical change of the location, compared to the beginning of the project (see youtube) and the current state (see photo’s), a big difference has been made. Now there are houses developed for residents and a lot of room to play, interact and organize events. Moreover, the activities organized such as the Oogstfeest (harvest party) become more well visited and appreciated by the neighbourhood.
Potential for learning or transfer
It is innovative to be experimental with vacant lots of the municipality where local residents are given the opportunity to give the place a temporary purpose. It has potential for transfer as undeveloped land on the edges of cities is something which is probably also a phenomenon in other cities. The owners of the land and the new users of the land can make this land (temporary) more liveable and experiment without strict restrictions. In other words, doing things differently. Moreover, the initiative shows a significant growth in popularity for the community garden and the community events. It increases liveability in the neighbourhood and allows the inhabitants of the Paradijsvogeltuin to experiment with living and housing in a different way, more sustainable and circular. Also this gives opportunities for learning transfer, for the Paradijsvogels themselves, citizens and others who are curious.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.