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NaturaShare: Launch of the Citizen Data Collection Week

17 June 2022

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Format
Hybrid
Open to
All
Date
17 June 2022
The recording of the NaturaShare kick-off event will be available soon.

Shared vegetable gardens are a feature of cities across Europe. Whether you call them allotments, community gardens or vegetable plots, there is possibly one near you right now! What is the potential of these pocket plots to support biodiversity? Can our shared gardens be a kind of urban oasis?

That's what we hope to explore with NaturaShare, a Europe-wide BioBlitz that will be launched across the CIVIS territories. We're getting started with a launch event followed by a coordinated Citizen Data Collection Week from 17 to 24 June 2022. We invite you to join us on the journey!

The Citizen Data Collection Week

One thing is already sure: in recent years European cities have been talking ever more about local agricultural production. Some of this agricultural production is professional market gardening, but collectively managed and citizen maintained vegetable gardens also play a major role in urban agriculture.

Local production shortens supply chains and supports greater food independence, but what does it mean for wildlife and nature in the city? Biodiversity in cities is crucial for all of us, offering benefits in terms of pollination, heat management, and recreational & cultural activities. So let’s explore urban biodiversity together through the lens of our shared vegetable gardens!

Launch event

On 17 June 2022, a hybrid event will launch the Citizen Data Collection Week!

Schedule

  • Glasgow: 14:30–16:00 GMT
  • Brussels, Marseille, Madrid, Rome, Stockholm, Salzburg, Tübingen: 15:30–17:00 CEST
  • Athens, Bucarest: 16:30–18:00 EEST

Programme

  • Introduction to NaturaShare: CIVIS Open Labs, intentions and scope of NaturaShare (Etienne Toffin, Brussels)
  • Local stories: showcase videos by local actors of different urban gardens & biodiversity contexts (Bucharest, Marseille, Rome, Tübingen)
  • Sharing and inspiration: discussion panel about challenges, tensions, and perspectives of urban gardens & biodiversity (Jolein Bergers, BRAL, Brussels; Silvia Cioli, Roma; Sophie Gachet, IMBE, Marseille)
  • How to, guidelines, tips & tricks for Bioblitz (to be confirmed)

Requirements

The NaturaShare project is participatory and open to all: city residents, vegetable gardeners, naturalists, families, students, teachers, and researchers.

Contact point: etienne.toffin@ulb.be