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Residents that create and maintain their own green spaces with the assistance of a landscaper. Why is this so effective, especially in so-called priority neighbourhoods? Project leader Carmen Aalbers of Wageningen University & Research uses her expertise to answer these questions in the Nieuwe Hovenier (New Landscape Contractor) project. Now that this project is nearing its conclusion, she shares the successes of this collaborative research project.
The Zilvermeertje, a pond in Venlo, is smack in the middle of a neighbourhood, enclosed by busy streets and tall apartment blocks. Up until a few years ago, the space around the pond was difficult to access, which kept it from being an attractive feature of the neighbourhood. Nowadays, it is a green, open park with vegetable patches and a meeting place for the neighbourhood. Once a month, the landscape contractor joins the residents as they plant, hoe and trim to maintain the park. To help us understand how this change came about, Carmen Aalbers tells the story of a collaboration between research and practice. Aalbers is a senior researcher of Green cities at Wageningen Environmental Research. In the Nieuwe Hovenier project, her focus is on meaningful green spaces for residents. Green spaces in a neighbourhood have a variety of climate benefits, including water storage and cooling, and also contribute to biodiversity. They also serve as a place of enjoyment and recreation. ‘Children develop a bond with nature. They’ll start to recognise plants and animals. This way, green spaces become meaningful to everyone,” she explains.
Residents want to choose their own plants
Usually, municipalities take care of the construction and maintenance of public green spaces. The costs and the maintenance required are often deciding factors in the design process. Citizen participation meetings are held to involve residents in these decisions. However, few people are actually motivated to participate, as Aalbers found out during her doctoral research into the interaction between municipalities, residents and companies. ‘On top of it all, despite these participation meetings, there’s the persistent feeling that residents only have limited influence on the decisions made.’
'These new gardeners therefore fulfil a social role.'
In green parks and urban gardens, residents and the gardening company come together monthly to plant, weed, and prune. Photo: WUR
Aalbers wanted to use this knowledge to develop a solution. What if landscapes were given a more significant role as a link between the municipality and its residents? If landscapers and residents cooperated, commissioned by the municipality? She started the Nieuwe Hovenier project, aimed specifically at neighbourhoods that stood to benefit most from this approach, like priority or deprived neighbourhoods. These areas often feature fewer green spaces and lower social cohesion compared to other neighbourhoods.
Start of four projects
In 2020, Aalbers presented her idea to the landscaping company and to the Koninklijke Vereniging van Hoveniers en Groenvoorzieners (Royal Association of Landscapers and Gardeners), the trade association for entrepreneurs in the landscaping sector, like landscapers, gardeners, interior landscapers, roof and facade landscapers & tree specialists. She managed to spark the enthusiasm of the director and policy advisor Ingrid Sangers, who helped establish contact with landscapers that fit the projects’ requirements. This resulted in projects in four municipalities: Almelo, Venlo, Almere and Ridderkerk. Later on, four more landscapers took on this new, social role, in the Hague, Dordrecht and Arnhem. Huizen recently joined the project, too.
Green areas are an important part of the living environment. They offer pleasant locations where people can meet, says Carmen Aalbers, researcher of Green Cities at Wageningen University & Research. In cooperation with municipalities and landscape contractors, she sets up projects in which residents make their neighbourhoods greener and more social.
The neighbourhood in Venlo is a diverse one, with a low average income and issues with crime. Aalders visited this location with the housing corporation and the landscaper, NLG Buitenkansen. ‘The green space looked rather sad. Messy, and with signs of disuse. Residents did not like the area.’ One of the residents already had plans to fix up the area around the Zilvermeertje. However, a healthy collaboration with the municipality had yet to come about. Thanks to the Nieuwe Hovenier project, this collaboration was established after all, and the landscaper and residents could get to work.
Social landscaper in social neighbourhoods
The project broadens and strengthens the domain of social landscapers’. Sangers: ‘Landscapers are often already skilled in coaching people new to their profession. This social aspect is now extended to residents.’ The landscapers talk to residents about their wishes for the neighbourhood, and offer their landscaping knowledge, such as advice about what plants thrive in what locations. They supply machines and tools, and help the residents to use them. ‘It is a process of long-term cooperation’, Aalbers says. ‘The municipality does not know what results the project will yield at the outset. This calls for a certain degree of trust.’ If the landscaper can keep the municipality enthused and the neighbourhood active, Sangers believes the benefits can be significant. ‘The neighbourhood will stay cleaner and more tidy. Residents get more exercise and may be less lonely. Neighbours that hardly knew each other now build up a connection. On top of that, social control will increase, too.’ They believe this will positively impact the welfare and social cohesion of the neighbourhood, which may, in turn, increase safety in the area.
'This way of working has a future, because it improves the quality of life in the neighbourhood'
Left: Green companies and WUR researchers exchange experiences. They also do so with the municipality and the water board. Photo: WUR Right: One of the demonstration projects within De Nieuwe Hovenier, bij Weverling Greenproviders. It illustrates a variety of different planting types. Photo: WUR
Over 60% of the staff of NLG Buitenkansen in Venlo consists of people with a distance to the labour market. As such, the landscapers are used to looking beyond somebody’s challenges and taking personal circumstances into consideration. That is exactly what is necessary to get people involved in their neighbourhood through green spaces. Sometimes, that social approach goes even further. A landscaper may spot a resident with a green thumb who has trouble finding employment. This resident may then receive the opportunity to learn a trade and find employment with the landscaper.
Spreading scientific insights
According to Aalbers and Sangers, the projects are running smoothly in all municipalities. There are challenges, however, such as issues with working processes, contracting and the collaboration with the municipalities. As such, Aalbers and her colleagues are keeping an eye any questions and issues that arise among the landscapers and the municipalities. They then try to address these issues through insights gained from scientific literature and post the results to a wiki on Groen Kennisnet, written at the intermediate vocational education level. ‘Other landscapers and intermediate and higher vocational education institutions are making significant use of this. Since the end of 2023, the website has attracted over 1,600 unique visitors.’ On top of that, Aalbers and Sangers are working on updated standards that municipalities can use. The project is nearing its conclusion, and they both look back on it with a sense of satisfaction. ‘The residents of the neighbourhood around Het Zilvermeertje are happier, the communal space has become greener and is properly maintained. Residents are contributing – still in cooperation with the social landscapers – and apparently have fewer complaints about the municipality’, Aalbers says. ‘This approach definitely has a future,’ Sangers adds. ‘as it improves the liveability of the neighbourhood.’ What is the next step in Venlo? Aalbers: ‘Improving the front yards in cooperation with the housing corporation.’
The Kennis op Maat project 'De Nieuwe Hovenier' is subsidised by the Horticulture & Starting Materials Top Sector and receives a contribution in kind from the horticultural companies and the Royal Association of Gardeners and Landscapers (VHG). Wageningen University & Research cooperates with landscapers in an increasing number of municipalities. Together, they make the concept more versatile, allowing for a greater scope. The participating landscapers contribute in kind and municipalities, housing corporations and water boards fund the activities that take place in the neighbourhood.
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