Youth Eco WP3 Urban Green Care (EN).pptx

Eco-entrepreneurship and development of Green sector
skills for inclusive employment of NEETs and women
Youth Eco Online HUB
Training Course for youth
workers and educators
Title: Urban Green Care

Learning Objectives of the Module
Estimated Duration: 60-70 minutes
 To have an overview of the current European context
 To have an insight on the benefits of urban green care
 To raise awareness regarding the challenges that urban green care
initiatives face
 To have an overview of the EU policies pertaining to urban green
care
 To learn about 3 case studies on urban green care and get inspired
by those
Source: https://www.pexels.com/@bertellifotografia/

Table of contents
Keywords
1. Introduction-The bigger picture in EU
2. What is Green Care, and which are its benefits
3. Challenges in the implementation of Urban Green Care
Initiatives
4. Policies promoting Urban Green Care in EU
5. Case Studies on Urban Green Care
References

Keywords
Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/person-holding-a-green-plant-1072824/
Urban Green Care
Green Spaces and Green areas
Physical and mental health and well-being
Therapeutic interventions
EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030
Green City Accord

Steadily increasing urbanisation is one
of the most important challenges
facing the EU today.
In 2021, about 75% of EU citizens live
in cities, an increase of 16% compared
to 1960.
Citizens
living in
cities
75%
Citizens
living in
non
urban
areas
25%
Urbanisation in EU-27 [2021]
Citizens living in cities
95
80 78
67
55
0
20
40
60
80
100
Malta Greece Germany Cyprus Slovenia
Urbanisation in YOUTH ECO partner countries
Urbanisation in YOUTH ECO partner countries
In the partner countries of YOUTH ECO
project, the urban population is highest
in Malta (95%), Greece (80%) and
Germany (78%), and lowest in Cyprus
(67%) and Slovenia (55%) (The World
Bank, 2021).

Cities, their infrastructure and population in the EU are growing
But are urban green spaces also growing?
And are these spaces available to the public to improve their daily
lives and health?
Currently, green infrastructure covers about 42% of the cities of the 38
EAA members, while publicly accessible green spaces make up only 3%
of cities.
Largely disconnected from nature and its benefits, there is therefore a
need to increase both the quantity and quality of green spaces and to
develop actions and practices in which greenery and nature are key
factors.
Photo by Verne Ho on Unsplash

Green care is a person-centered range of activities designed to improve
physical &mental health and well-being through interaction with nature.
The range of Green Care activities can include social and therapeutic
gardening, animal assisted therapy and care agriculture, green exercise,
community food growing and environmental conversation, as long as
they are designed as therapeutic interventions based on the needs of the
individual rather than a larger target group.
In Green Care activities nature and greenery must be key elements and the
individual must actively interact with them. In the urban environment
these activities are considered Urban Green Care activities and have
multiple benefits for the citizens such as improving well-being and mental
health through reducing stress and encouraging physical activity and social
interaction.

Benefits of Urban Green Care
*
Benefits for the individual:
Meeting multiple health needs through the holistic and person-oriented approach of green
care
Learning and education
Skills development
Job opportunities
Reduced reliance on health and social care services
*
Benefits for society as a whole:
Less pressure on the health system and social care services
Addressing unemployment
Support for disadvantaged social groups
Enhancing social cohesion

Examples of Urban Green Care Activities
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgbSPRH2WB8 SDSU Extension

Examples of Urban Green Care Activities
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8eApavjuns National Recreation and Park Association

3. Challenges in the implementation of Urban Green Care Initiatives
Limited accessible green spaces in cities, particularly in areas and
neighbourhoods where lower-income people, a large proportion of whom
are also immigrants, live.]
The low quality of green spaces, small size, no sunlight, poor accessibility,
due to indifference of local authorities or community and high building
rate and density.
High Building Density of urban areas, especially in low-income
neighborhoods.
Lack of policies to develop, organize, and fund public free and open quality
green spaces.

3. Challenges in the implementation of Urban Green Care Initiatives
The lack of social and psychosocial support policies in all urban areas as
well as organised housing policies and adequate subsidies for rental
housing, particularly in areas where green spaces are being developed
and property values and rents are increasing.
The high cost of maintaining green spaces, particularly when their use is
for the well-being and health of citizens rather than for financial gain.
Heavy bureaucracy and inhospitable way of communication/service
between municipal and local authorities handling green spaces and
citizens for permitting green care initiatives. E.g., slow & complicated
application, proposal, permit, etc. processes.

EU has developed important policies and strategies to promote, among other things, environmentally
sustainable development, nature-based solutions and urban greening, which provide a framework for the
development of green initiatives such as urban green care.
These strategies include:
EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030
Green City Accord
Both of them are part of
the European Green Deal
adopted in 2020 and aim
to make the European
Union climate neutral by
2050.

EU Biodiversity Strategy 2030
Source: https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/video/I-191439?language=EN
Is a long-term plan to combat climate change and
environmental degradation and includes, among many others,
the objective of "Greening urban and peri-urban areas".
In the EUBS 2030 context the European Commission invited
European cities with at least 20,000 inhabitants to prepare by the
end of 2021 Urban Greening Plans, on the basis of which the
European Green Capital 2023 will be selected, which should
include measures to create biodiversity and accessible urban
green spaces such as parks and gardens, urban farms, green roofs
and walls, etc. In addition, the European Commission will provide
support to local authorities through technical guidance and
assistance in mobilizing funding and capacity building.
Learn more about the Biodiversity Strategy for 2023 here

Green City Accord
It is a movement of European mayors dedicated to improve the
quality of life for all Europeans by making cities cleaner and
greener, and to accelerate the implementation of relevant EU
environmental legislation.
By joining this initiative, cities are committing to address five
areas of environmental management: air, water, nature and
biodiversity, circular economy and waste, and noise. The Green
City Accord will in turn provide technical support for the
planning, implementation and monitoring of a city's actions and
access to materials that include best practices, existing tools,
guidance documents and information on how to seek financial
support from the EU. More than 100 cities (over 20,000
inhabitants) have already joined the Green City Accord.
Learn more about the Green City Accord here
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wL1fU2hSXI

Garden on the Track at Skanstull in Stockholm, Sweden [Trädgård på spåret’]
Source: https://vimeo.com/312079141
A community initiative transformed
a forgotten train track into a green
and vibrant urban cultivation space
with the support of local authorities
and stakeholders.
Garden on the Track provides leisure
and well-being activities to the
participants and members on a
voluntary basis. It is a community
shared garden, as such the boxes are
everyone’s and participants share the
gardening activities and the crops.
This green space is accessible to all
and can reach more people.

Room to Heal’s community allotment in Stoke Newington (North London) helps war refugees cope with
anxiety and psychosocial problems while promoting their social inclusion
Room to Heal was born out of the wish
of five refugees desperate for some green
space in which to feel free.
A corner of the beautiful Culpeper
Community garden was found, where
each week, they would sit and talk in a
therapy group, eat together and work on
the allotment.
This community initiative, a grassroots
charity initiative, uses urban farming as a
therapeutic method and as a method of
social inclusion helping nervous asylum
seekers and refugees to recover from the
trauma of forced flight through gardening
& greening activities.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWFqjMxgMiw

The Municipal Vegetable gardens of the Municipality of Agios Dimitrios (Athens, Greece)
This urban greening project started with the
initiative of the Municipality. Today, through
the gardens, 45 families, residents of the
Municipality manage to meet their needs in
fruit and vegetable products. In addition,
they give 10% of their harvest to meet the
needs of the Municipality's Social Grocery,
which supports many other families facing
difficulties. The 2.5 acres of land on which it
was decided to implement the project,
owned by the City, was undeveloped, off the
grid, in a fairly run-down neighborhood on
the edge of town.
Source: https://dad.gr/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/laxanokhpos_2021.jpg

References
Source: https://www.pexels.com/photo/green-succulent-plant-with-brown-pot-103637
Bonow, M., Normark, M. (2017). Community Gardening in Stockholm: participation, driving forces and the
role of the municipality. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. Retrieved February 6, 2023 from
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322507500_Community_gardening_in_Stockholm_participati
on_driving_forces_and_the_role_of_the_municipality
Cicea, C., Pîrlogea, C. (2011). GREEN SPACES AND PUBLIC HEALTH IN URBAN AREAS. Theoretical and
Empirical Researches in Urban Management, 6(1), 83–92. Retrieved February 2, 2022 from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/24873277
Culpeper Community Garden (n.d.). Supported Activities and Partnerships. Culpeper Community Garden:
a little oasis in the city. Retrieved February 7, 2023 from
http://culpeper.org.uk/projinstall/projects/partners/
European Commission (n.d). Biodiversity strategy for 2030. European Commission: Environment.
Retrieved 4 February, 2023 from https://environment.ec.europa.eu/strategy/biodiversity-strategy-
2030_en
European Commission (2020). COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN
PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE AND THE COMMITTEE
OF THE REGIONS – Biodiversity Strategy 2023 – Bringing nature back into our lives. Retrieved February 4,
2023 from https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52020DC0380&from=EN
European Commission (n.d). Green City Accord: A European Commission initiative to make cities greener,
cleaner, healthier. European Commission: Environment. Retrieved 4 February, 2023 from
https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/urban-environment/green-city-accord_en

References
European Environment Agency (2021). Urban Sustainability in Europe – opportunities for challenging
times. European Environment Agency. Retrieved February 3, 2023 from
https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/urban-sustainability-in-europe
European Environment Agency (2021). Who benefits from nature in cities? Social inequalities in access
to urban green and blue spaces across Europe. European Environment Agency. Retrieved February 3,
2023 from https://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/who-benefits-from-nature-in
European Environment Agency (2021). How green are European cities? Green space key to well-being –
but access varies. European Environment Agency. Retrieved February 3, 2023 from
https://www.eea.europa.eu/highlights/how-green-are-european-cities
European Platform for Urban Greening (2022). European Platform for Urban Greening: Case Studies
from Year One. Retrieved February 3, 2023 from https://platformurbangreening.eu/wp-
content/uploads/2021/12/European-Platform-for-Urban-Greening_Case-Studies-from-Year-
One_2021.pdf
De Haas, W., Hassink, J., Stuiver, M. (2021). The Role of Urban Green Space in Promoting Inclusion:
Experiences from Netherlands. Frontiers in Environmental Science. Retrieved February 2, 2023 from
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fenvs.2021.618198/full
Green4C (n.d). Green Care: meaning and background. Green4C. Retrieved February 2, 2023 from
https://www.greenforcare.eu/news/green-care/

References
Green Care Coalition (n.d). What is green care?. Green Care Coalition. Retrieved February 1, 2023 from
https://greencarecoalition.org.uk/about/
Green Care Coalition (n.d). Benefits of Green Care. Green Care Coalition. Retrieved February 1, 2023
from https://greencarecoalition.org.uk/why-does-green-care-matter/
Mammadova, A., O’Driscoll C., Burlando C., Doimo, I., Pettenella, D. (2021). EU Blueprint on Green
Care: Nature for Health, Well-being and Social Inclusion. Erasmus+ Green4C project, Deliverable 3.3:
EU Blueprint on Green Care. Retrieved February 4, 2023 from https://www.greenforcare.eu/wp-
content/uploads/2021/05/Green4C-Blueprint.pdf
O’Driscoll, C., Biasin, A. (n.d). Financing urban green care. Green4C. Retrieved February 3, 2023 from
https://www.greenforcare.eu/news/financing-urban-green-care/
Roitsch, D., O’Driscoll, C., De Vreese, R., Devisscher, T., van den Bosch, M., Fraccaroli, C. (2021). Urban
green care Market Outlook. Erasmus+ Green4C project, Deliverable 3.4: EU Market Outlook. Retrieved
February 4, 2023 from https://www.greenforcare.eu/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/UGC-market-
outlook_2911.pdf

References
Room to heal (n.d.). About Room to Heal. Room to Heal. Retrieved February 6, 2023 from
https://www.roomtoheal.org/about/
Sempik, J., Hine, R. and Wilcox, D. eds. (2010). Green Care: A Conceptual Framework, A Report of the
Working Group on the Health Benefits of Green Care, COST Action 866, Green Care in Agriculture.
Loughborough: Centre for Child and Family Research, Loughborough University. Retrieved February 1,
2023 from http://www.umb.no/statisk/greencare/green_carea_conceptual_framework.pdf
The World Bank (2022). Urban Population (% of total population) – European Union. The World Bank.
Retrieved February 1, 2023 from
https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS?end=2021&locations=EU&start=1960
Towards the Human City (n.d). Garden on the Track, Stockholm, Sweden – Transforming unused public
space into a community urban garden. Towards the Human City. Retrieved February 5, 2023 from
https://towardsthehumancity.org/initiative-86-garden-on-the-track-stockholm-sweden/
Urban Nature Atlas (2021). Municipal Urban Garden of Agios Dimitrios. Urban Nature Atlas. Retrieved
February 7, 2023 from https://una.city/nbs/athens/municipal-urban-garden-agios-dimitrios

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