Project Detail

Green Gentrification Project: ?Learning Garden?

The main goal of the project is to create new modern learning gardens in three schools across Tbilisi, in order to develop healthy habits and widespread theoretical and practical knowledge of organic gardening and good nutrition.

Project Snapshot

Grantee:

NGO Child and Environment

Country:

Georgia

Area Of Work:

CapDev

Operational Phase:

OP6 -Y4 (Jul 18 - Jun 19)

Grant Amount:

US$ 25,468.00

Co-Financing Cash:

US$ 7,000.00

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 3,000.00

Project Number:

GEO/SGP/OP6/Y4/CORE/CD/19/01

Start Date:

5/2019

End Date:

11/2020

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Photo Gallery

View photo gallery

Project Characteristics and Results

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

From the initial stage of the project a Facebook page was created and reflecting all the activities. All parents at schools involved in the ?learning garden project? were invited to join the Facebook page. The administration of Saburtalo district was promoting the project and its results as well. Information about the project was regularly published on the website of the district administration and city hall. At the beginning of July 2020, learning gardens of two schools were presented to all stakeholders. The event was attended by: the leadership group of UNDP and GEF in Georgia, the head of the Saburtalo district administration, the head of the greening department of the Tbilisi City Hall, the director and headteacher of school No. 161, the president of Child & Environment, the director of the construction company, an agrobiology teacher, other school teachers, project participants and most importantly the children who participated in the project. Children presented their achievements to all guests.

Notable Community Participation

Kids of three schools had additional opportunities to enjoy special classes in the learning garden as part of their learning process. They were able to develop healthy habits and acquire theoretical and practical knowledge of organic gardening and good nutrition. During the educational process with children the motivated teachers gained practical gardening skills and familiarised themselves with international learning garden programs.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

Project «Learning Garden» promotes a dialog between public and government bodies, with the main objectives of creating modern green area and educating children about organic gardening. Children from socially unprotected families, homeless or disabled teens also were involved in the project. All children received skills and knowledge vital for their development and adaptation in their future lives. Ways of working were specifically tailored for the children with the complicated background.

Gender Focus

The idea of the project is to create new modern learning gardens in three schools across Tbilisi. Each learning garden will be tailored according to the chosen school territory. The objective is to create a modern green area, which will consist of raised beds for vegetables, fruit trees and a small greenhouse. Each learning garden will also have a tent with a seating area for conducting the classes. Additionally, there is a plan to create a rooftop garden at each school. The learning garden will be environmentally friendly and safe outdoor classroom for pupils, where they will be able to develop healthy habits and acquire theoretical and practical knowledge of organic gardening and good nutrition. Project says that there are no observable gender inequalities in the community in the context of our project. However, mainly mothers of the children are involved in the process of receiving information about the educational processed. Accordingly, it is crucial to involve fathers in environmental activities that will also help to break down gender stereotypes.

Policy Impact

The project was carried out jointly with the administration of the Saburtalo district and under the supervision of the Tbilisi City Hall. It is obvious that in case of successful implementation, the experience will be extended to other schools in the city. We already have a great example of it - our previous project ?Tbilisi New Yard?, where green-gentrification of the yards was picked up by city administration and carried out in other districts of Tbilisi. The intended result of this project is to turn ?a learning garden? project into concept widespread throughout Georgia

Capacity - Building Component

To implement the project, it is necessary to double the amount of funds that can be provided by the grant. Therefore, for the second time our NGO was collaborating with the administration of the Saburtalo district and the Department of Ecology of the Tbilisi City Hall. The named administrations coordinated and carried out certain types of work at all stages of the project.

Inovative Financial Mechanisms

Within the project, for one year several hundred school-aged children acquired active gardening skills, such as planting, growing, watering, harvesting, tasting and eating. They planted and grown organic vegetables with their own hands and got better understanding about food quality. Passionate teachers gained practical gardening skills and familiarized themselves with international programs of learning garden. This knowledge pull subsidized a development of new programs for schools in Tbilisi.

Project Results

In several months, learning gardens were created at the territories of three schools. Total area of the green gentrification was 1,530 square meters The gardens were developed by modern park landscape architectures, made up from modular, raised beds with clean soil for planting vegetables. Seating area made it an attractive place to teach. An hour a week gardening sessions was compulsory for all elementary/primary school kids. These kids are now better educated on organic gardening process and on healthy nutrition.

The project turned out to be beneficial for different categories of children - healthy, disabled and socially unprotected. Everyone showed interest, passion, positive emotions, a willingness to study and work in the garden. Individual program and personalized approach were used, for each group of children. The project brought joy and health to children!

The Learning garden project turned out to be more relevant to the new reality than we imagined when signing the contract. Outdoor classrooms and the ability to divide children into groups during the lesson - became a necessity in the context of a pandemic. The skill, to grow a garden in a small plot of land, near a house, on a balcony or even on a windowsill, improves mental health and physical state of the nation.

+ View more

Indicators

Empowerment

Number and type of support linkages established with local governments/authorities 1

Livehood

Number of individuals (gender diaggregated) who have benefited* from SGP project 50

Back to search results

Countries

Regions

Project Snapshot

Photo Gallery

SGP Country office contact

Address