August, 2013

Contributor: City of Athens

Identifying the land available for cultivation and agricultural production is the first step in order to proceed with communal gardens and to get agricultural production into daily life.

Identifying the available land for agricultural use is something that has never before been discussed in Athens. Hence it is an entirely new project in for elected officials and for the administrative structure of the municipality.

As such it involves the coordination and cooperation of different departments in the municipal administration, and in particular the Department for Green Spaces, the Environmental Service, the City Planning Bureau and of course the relevant elected vice mayors.

The objective we prioritize in this action is the production and dissemination of the necessary knowledge regarding the available land in general, and the available land for cultivation in particular. Having this knowledge, municipal elected officials, municipal communities and the inhabitants shall be able to decide in an educated manner, which land to use for agricultural production in relation to educational and cultural purposes mostly.

What are the context/initial motivations? 

The initial motivation for this initiative lies in the fact that until now there has been no such action, and thus municipal officials, municipal communities and all interested parties have had zero knowledge regarding the available spaces and the related difficulties – such as soil degradation. This in turn leads to uninformed discussions that have no specific and measurable result.

What is the result (describe the solution/project/practice…)?

The expected end-result is the production and dissemination of knowledge regarding the available “agricultural” land in Athens.

In order to get there we need first to get the responsible municipal services into cooperation and coordination, and diminish any bureaucracy that may function as an obstacle to this coordination.

Once we get there – which is forthcoming in the following two to three months, municipal officials shall be informed and a proposal for the use of particular plots of land will be advanced in the municipal council. Hence we expect to get at the necessary political decisions that will enable the use of the proposed plots of land for agricultural purposes.

What are the benefits (environmental/social/economical…)

The benefits derived are multifaceted. On the one hand the issue of available land for cultivation shall be public knowledge.

As public knowledge it will initiate bottom-up procedures with respect to the use of land. This involvement on behalf of the immediate stakeholders- the inhabitants- creates a sense of political responsibility with regards to common interest irrespectively of political affiliations.

At a practical level this knowledge is a necessary condition for the use of land for cultivation and the creation of communal gardens – which is a specific action in the growing theme. However until this knowledge is definite and public all kinds of obstacles may appear for valid or invalid reasons.

Pro:

• The cooperation and coordination of different municipal departments.
• The production of public knowledge on land use.
• The ability to achieve well-informed political decisions.
• Dissemination of this knowledge to Athens inhabitants.