Green transformation of modern city environments to support community building and development of soft skills

<< Background >>The project aimed in the green transformation of city environments by using non-formal outdoor activities of urban gardening in order to develop a creative instructional approach of soft skills such as interpersonal contact and teamwork, social inclusion of disadvantaged groups, and promote environmental consciousness and eco-friendly way of living. We successfully informed the local communities and encourage them to use urban gardening for social integration of thedisadvantaged groups. Through this project we intended to help solving several issues that exist in the local environments such as the phenonmenon of cities that look like urban jungles, the isolation of citizens and the exlusion of marginalised groups from the participation in local events. << Objectives >>The objectives were: -To propose urban gardening as a tool of non-formal outdoor education for the active participation and mobilization of local residents, especially those who are disadvantaged and at risk of exclusion, such as refugees, elderly, long-term unemployed people, people with disabilities and others. -To develop an innovative instructional approach to soft skills such as interpersonal communication, collaboration, management, and planning, through outdoor activities practice.-To improve the values of active citizenship, socialization, and volunteerism. -To use urban gardening as a vehicle for intergenerational and intercultural discourse.-To combat mental exhaustion due the pandemic. COVID-19, since reports show that many people are suffering from psychological and physical symptoms.-To create and preserve urban gardens to promote an environmentally conscious lifestyle.<< Implementation >>We have delivered a Manual on urban gardening and how it can be used for equal access, social harmony, and the growth of soft skills during the course of the project.We have held workshops in our local areas after the Manual has been implemented to demonstrate the value of urban gardening in practice, as well as to validate the Manual and gain input from participants. All organisations have held five workshops with a minimum of 10 participants in each one, ensuring that everyone had fair access. In that way we have managed to include more than 200 local people in our workshops. The great success of the project is that the gardens continue to operate even after the project end and are managed by the local residents/neighbors.<< Results >>The most concrete result of the project was the development of the manual in English and in national languages which was used for the implementation of local workshops as well as provided useful knowledge and a good starting point on the concept of urban gardening and its utilisation as a tool for social inclusion. An other output was the creation of a set of social media posts that aimed to visually attract people that are interested in the project and inform them regarding the concepts of green cities, urban gardening, inclusion etc.The results were to promote active engagement and education of local community residents, especially those who are disadvantaged and at risk of exclusion, such as refugees, seniors, and long-term unemployed people, people with disabilities, by establishing and sustaining urban gardens and operating in this shared space. We also had the local authorities and other NGOs to adopt the concept of urban gardening in their regular activities and use the Manual, through dissemination and contact making events that create synergies for cooperation.