Madrid – reclaiming unused space for a socio-ecological transformation through urban gardening
Data released by Madrid through CDP-ICLEI Track have shown that extreme heat and the loss of biodiversity are major risks for the city.
Among the interesting projects that Madrid has adopted to counter these risks is the promotion of urban horticulture - “Huertos de Madrid” with agro-ecological criteria through the creation of a network of community gardens. The idea arose from the desire of citizens to reclaim unused plots of land, many of them municipal, with the premise of practising self-managed ecological agriculture.
This desire was positively received by Madrid City Council, which, together with the Madrid Urban Gardens Network and the Regional Federation of Neighbourhood Associations, set up a Municipal Community Gardens Programme. Several municipal departments participate, coordinated by the Department of the Environment and Mobility, with the aim of supporting citizens' initiatives to develop sustainable urban agriculture community projects.
The project is growing exponentially, having started in 2014 with 17 community urban gardens, and now reaching a total of 66 directly supported by the City Council. This means that almost every neighbourhood in Madrid has its own garden.
Various projects are often created around the activities, such as consumer groups and the promotion of local agro-ecological production, community composting or education in healthy eating habits, as well as activities for other groups such as schoolchildren from neighbouring schools, mental health centres or centres for the elderly.
The Madrid City Council creates the basic conditions for people to start their own gardening by preparing the soil, providing the growing medium, and water supplies. It also facilitates the training and delivery of vegetable seedlings, fruit trees and aromatic plants, and the supply of mulch produced in the Migas Calientes composting plant from pruning waste from city parks.
“This programme has interesting connections with the Network of Sustainable School Gardens, in which 221 infant, primary, secondary and special education centres already participate, educating in sustainability through the gardens, and with the Municipal Programme of Therapeutic and Educational Gardens, which currently includes more than 34 urban gardens in municipal centres (Senior Citizens' and Youth Centres, Madrid Health and Drug Dependency Centres, Cultural Centres and Environmental Education Centres), with a growing demand. Urban gardens thus become spaces for environmental education, Schools of Citizenship, from the neighbours and for the neighbours, where citizens actively participate in the process of urban naturalisation. Madrid City Council is proud of the Community Urban Gardens Programme, which provides a new approach to urban agriculture, giving it a social and participatory component that goes beyond the concept of a "leisure garden" to give a leading role to neighbourhood and cultural associations, school parents' associations, NGOs and other citizens' organisations that manage these gardens, in a pioneering experience of shared management of public space.” Deputy Director General for Sustainability: Angeles Cristobal Lopez
Direct benefits linked with the development of urban gardens are the possibility for Madrilenians to connect with nature, a tool to educate in sustainability, the increasing relationships between neighbours, learning about community management and food security.
This example shows the commitment of Madrid members of C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, Race to Zero, EU Mission NetZero Cities and the Covenant of Mayors Europe to increase resilience and mitigate climate extreme features while fostering more sustainable behaviours.
CDP-ICLEI Track 2022: https://data.cdp.net/
Huertos de Madrid: https://diario.madrid.es/huertos/#12/40.4141/-3.6988
C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group: https://www.c40.org
Race to Zero: https://unfccc.int/climate-action/race-to-zero-campaign
EU Mission NetZero Cities: https://netzerocities.eu/mission-cities/
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability: https://iclei.org/
Covenant of Mayors Europe: https://www.globalcovenantofmayors.org/region/european-union-and-western-europe/