Crowdplanting for the community of the Cemetery

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Finished 27 / 02 / 2022
Funded!
Received
€ 4.611
Minimum
€ 4.000
Optimum
€ 9.000
74 Backers
  • Contributing € 20

    Give a push

    Promoters who "give us a push" to the project will receive:

    • A thank you message with news about the progress of the transformed spaces.
    • Sponsorship of a plant or shrub in the new "Jardines del Cura".
    > 20 Backers
  • Contributing € 50

    Give a boost

    Promoters who "give us a boost" to the project will receive:

    • A thank you message with news about the progress of the transformed spaces.
    • Sponsorship of a tree in the new "Jardines del Cura" .
    • An invitation to the kick-off event in the neighborhood.
    > 17 Backers
  • Contributing € 100

    Give projection

    The promoters who "give projection" to the project will receive:

    • A thank you message with news about the progress of the transformed spaces.
    • Sponsorship of a tree in the new "Jardines del Cura" .
    • An invitation to the kick-off event in the neighborhood.
    • An individual invitation to a participatory construction day .
    • A3 illustration with the transformation project.
    > 09 Backers
  • Contributing € 200

    Great collaboration

    Promoters who make a "great collaboration" to the project will receive:

    • A thank you message with news about the progress of the transformed spaces.
    • Sponsorship of a tree in the new "Jardines del Cura" .
    • An invitation to the kick-off event in the neighborhood.
    • An individual invitation to a participatory construction day .
    • A2 illustration with the transformation project.
    • A copy of "Chronicles of a forgotten neighborhood" (history from below of the Cemetery District in Spanish).
    > 03 Backers
  • Contributing € 400

    Unconditional support

    Promoters who give us "unconditional support" to the project will receive:

    • A thank you message with news about the progress of the transformed spaces.
    • Sponsorship of a tree in the new "Jardines del Cura".
    • An invitation to the kick-off event in the neighborhood.
    • An individual invitation to a participatory construction day .
    • A2 illustration with the transformation project.
    • A copy of "Chronicles of a forgotten neighborhood" (history from below of the Cemetery District in Spanish).
    • Potted tree to extend the promotion of green areas wherever you want.
    > 02 Backers

About this project

Promote community gardens for an excluded and degraded neighborhood

Needs Material Minimum Optimum
Trees
Purchase of trees for planting on the plots.
€ 2.000
Seedlings: vegetable, vegetable and aromatic cuttings
Purchase of plants for productive gardens.
€ 1.000
Building materials and tools
Purchase of construction materials and tools for the transformation of spaces.
€ 1.000
Needs Task Minimum Optimum
Mural painting
Contracting of the Doble13 cooperative to create a mural painting in the neighborhood.
€ 2.000
Trainers remuneration
Hiring specialized trainers to coordinate transformations from a training and professional insertion perspective.
€ 3.000
Total € 4.000 € 9.000
Necessary
Supplemental

General information

The Barrio del Cementerio de Alicante, like many of the run-down neighbourhoods in our city, is in increasingly worse condition. Many of its streetlights do not shine, many of its sidewalks are raised and are not easily circulated, and of course, it does not have gardens. The empty lots, which have been waiting for decades for the arrival of a new urban project, accumulate in a cyclical way the waste resulting from the illegal dumping of companies. The neighbourhood cleans the plots adjacent to its houses from time to time, spending its own money. The City Council cleans the area once a year for All Saints' Day. But the problem remains, and urban vulnerability continues to strengthen with each passing year without an improvement in public spaces.

Our project wants to join forces with neighbours motivated to give new uses to these abandoned spaces. We support the promotion of new programs for these plots, which arise from the interests of the neighbourhood itself, and which bring dignity to the area. Through stays and participatory works, a group of inhabitants will be consolidated that will lead the transformation of the spaces, generating a route that crosses and connects this degraded area of the city of Alicante, and opens it through an inauguration event.

The project presented is a continuation of the collaborations carried out through the Asertos program since 2017 in the Cemetery Neighbourhood, led by ARQUITECTURA SIN FRONTERAS and QUATORZE. During 2019, 2020 and 2021, members of DOBLE13 and GRAMA collaborated in actions in the public space, such as the landscaping of facades, the creation of an urban community garden or the conception and execution of a mural in the neighbourhood. During these collaborations we were able to participate, together with the neighbourhood, in positive reflections on the identity of the community, the recovery of its history and the projection of desired future scenarios.

Throughout 2021 it has been possible to transform the first plot, "El Huerto del Cementerio", a community garden in a plot that was abandoned and that generated health problems with accumulation of garbage and the presence of vermin.

Thanks to this CROWDPLANTING we will be able to carry out the transformation of a new plot in the area known as Barrio del Cura. Work has been done with the neighbourhood to define the future uses of "Los Jardines del Cura": a space with areas dedicated to vegetation and agriculture, shaded spaces, play areas and defined paths to avoid risks with the passage of vehicles. The neighbourhood’s own positive imageries will be taken into account, visiting history and reflecting it through a wall painting.

This funding will give a good boost to a neighbourhood initiative that has been underway since June and that will progressively transform the Cemetery Neighbourhood.

Description of the project. Main features, strengths and differentials.

If we manage to put the necessary means at the disposal of a motor group, made up of residents of the neighborhood and technicians from the Asertos team, the project will follow the following objectives:

GENERAL OBJECTIVE
Promote the reactivation of empty lots in the Barrio del Cementerio through the creation of "productive gardens": quality outdoor spaces linked to the resources present in the community.

Specific objective 1
Physically improve the neighborhood by cleaning abandoned lots where rubble is dumped, and transforming them into community spaces linked to a positive imaginary of the neighborhood.

Specific objective 2
Encourage the employability of young people in the neighborhood through participatory gardening works: planting and maintaining new orchards and gardens; and the pruning and production of the 40 abandoned olive trees in the neighborhood.

Specific objective 3
Encourage the creation of a motor group and work tables to discuss the positive values, the existing resources and the objectives for improving the neighborhood.

Specific objective 4
Bring the citizens of Alicante closer to the Barrio del Cementerio from a positive identity transmitted by their own neighborhood, through the creation of an opening event for these spaces.

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Why this is important

The Barrio del Cementerio is a particularly degraded area of the city of Alicante with a significant presence of sub-housing. Inhabited by about 200 families, it is highly vulnerable, taking into account the degradation of housing and public spaces, the high unemployment rates and the percentage of the population without studies. However, cultural and community invisibility are added to the social and historical invisibility, since being part of a peripheral district, occupied mainly by industrial facilities, the area does not have close access to facilities. In addition to the industries, the area is connected to the city due to its proximity to the Nuestra Señora de Gracia Cemetery, becoming a stigmatized transit area due to its physical degradation and the presence of activities linked to the informal economy.

For its part, residential vulnerability affects both homes and the neighborhood environment, in which a large part of social life takes place. The substandard housing would be its maximum expression, understood as a lack of decent living conditions, either due to the poor state of conservation of the buildings, overcrowding or the lack of basic facilities. Other aspects that contribute to vulnerability are those that affect subjective perceptions, such as the presence of outside noise, pollution, bad smells, crime, vandalism, lack of communication with the rest of the city or lack of green areas . In the case of housing, the presence of humidity, the lack of resources to maintain an adequate temperature or the scarce natural light increase the risk of respiratory problems, difficulties in falling asleep or the appearance of musculoskeletal disorders. In addition, the residential situation has a determining impact on mental health and conditions the provision of social support networks.

The extreme situations of citizens have been worsening, with an increasing number of people who come to social services with critical situations, especially after the Covid crisis19. After decades of neglect and responding to the demands of citizen platforms and social entities, the City Council began in 2017 the realization of a dedicated program of socio-community care, which includes a group of women, leisure workshops and free time for minors and the creation of an external figure for mediation and social support. The neighborhood has reacted with solidarity to the health crisis and an assembly movement for the improvement of the area and dialogue with the institutions has been started. As a result of these last interventions, resources present in the community and in the history of the neighborhood have come to light, which we collect in documents such as the [Socio-spatial Exploration] (https://issuu.com/asertos/docs/abc_exploracio_n_socioespacial) or the [Chronicles of an Olivdado Neighborhood] (https://issuu.com/asertos/docs/abc_cro_cc_81nicas_20de_20un_20barrio_20olvgido) edited by the Asertos project of the Arquitectura Sin Fronteras and Quatorze associations.

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Team and experience

This initiative is the result of the efforts of many people and entities, here are some of them:


[SOLCIR] (https://solcir.wixsite.com/solidaritycircle/about-us)
Platform for solidarity initiatives that helps to generate resources for social projects. We are a group of people organized around the development of solidarity activities in international cooperation and local development projects. It seeks an impact on improving the lives of the most vulnerable people and on the environment, reducing inequalities in search of social justice.

Caroline Hetterschijt
Dutch worker at the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), she founded together with a group of colleagues the Solcir association for the development of solidarity activities and collaboration in international cooperation and local development projects. Caroline is the project ambassador for Solcir and is in charge of strategic coordination.


We Art - EUIPO art club
We Art is an official EUIPO social club for the purpose of promoting the creativity of staff members and their families and organizing art events and exhibitions on and off the EUIPO premises. It organizes different types of actions and activities: presentations by favorite artists, visits to art exhibitions and concerts, and collaborative solidarity projects with SOLCIR.

Kari Kivinen
Dr Kari Kivinen, expert in educational outreach at [EUIPO Observatory] (https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/european-observatory), leads the project and the IP in education network, which promotes creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship and responsible digital engagement among young Europeans. He has created teaching materials and shared resources under the IdeasPowered@school brand.


[ARCHITECTURE WITHOUT BORDERS] (https://www.levanteasfes.org/)
NGO-D for the defense of the right to a decent habitat, promoting equitable and sustainable human development. It promotes participatory processes by carrying out effective, sustainable, appropriate and appropriate interventions.

[QUATORZE] (http://quatorze.cc/?lang=en)
French non-profit organization that promotes, experiments and transmits a social and supportive architecture to achieve agile and resilient territories and communities. Through participatory methodologies, we accompany processes that generate empathy and commitment that respond to the specific needs of the groups.

Daniel Millor Vela
Architect with experience in participatory projects for the resorption of shanty-towns in France and the regeneration of vulnerable neighborhoods in Spain. He coordinates the Asertos program and is doing a doctorate in Public Health at the University of Alicante, with the aim of combating urban vulnerability and avoiding its negative effects on the health and well-being of the population.

Emi Verdú Poveda
Technician at the headquarters of the Levante de ASF demarcation. Training in biology and international cooperation, experience in coordinating local development projects, international cooperation and education for development.

Myriam Gutiérrez Gildemuro
Architect specialized in bio-construction, self-construction and bio-habitat, collaborator of Okambuva.coop for a healthy and sustainable construction.

Nasreddine Bouyahia (Dino)
Expert builder in work at height. He is responsible for active trainings, combining tradition and innovation by making his expertise in masonry, welding and agriculture available across various companies and countries.

Raquel Pérez Belmonte
Architect by the University of Alicante, her TFM was oriented to urban regeneration. She works on the diagnosis and transformation of homes and common areas.

Darío Vilana Palomino
Architect from the University of Alicante, he works as a technician in the diagnosis and transformation of spaces. Experience in the preservation of historical memory.

Neus Maronas Morant
Technical architect with experience in renovations and interior design in Spain and Australia. Volunteer at ASF in Local Development and Education for Development projects.

Internship students
Elisa Rodríguez San José, Chloé Hugon, Abdelkrim Arezki and Gwennan Lebreton.


[G.R.A.M.A. (Grup de Recerca Agrícola Metropolitana d'Alacant)] (https://redhuertosalicante.wordpress.com/)
Convinced that urban agriculture entails innumerable positive effects that revert to its citizens and environment, promote the increase of green areas and its positive environmental effect, recover abandoned plots and promote recycling and environmental awareness. Working from community participation, they create social bonds based on sharing, mutual help and cooperation, promoting assemblyism and group decision-making.

Vicent Oncina i Climent (Sento)
Agricultural Technical Engineer and Official University Master in Management and Restoration of the Natural Environment. Linked for years to ecological agriculture projects in urban and peri-urban areas, he collaborates in the management of urban gardens and is a founding member of G.R.A.M.A. He is involved in various studies on ecotones related to anthropized areas and monitoring of urban fauna.

Manuel Castelló Bañuls
Agricultural Technical Engineer, founding member of G.R.A.M.A and the "Red de Huertos Urbanos de Alicante", collaborates in various projects of social change, citizen empowerment and environmental sustainability. He is a defender of the conservation and recovery of urban and peri-urban natural spaces for the improvement of the quality of life in them and as fundamental spaces for environmental education.

Tino Cuenca Sánchez
Degree in Environmental Sciences and Official University Master's Degree in Management and Restoration of the Natural Environment. Akin to the principles of the economic proposal of the so-called Ecological Economy and defender of the social conception of the Environment, he is in favor of a comprehensive restoration model that considers not only environmental factors, but also socio-economic, historical and cultural factors, and that, therefore, it is built around public participation.


[DOBLE13] (https://doble13.com/)
Cooperativa Valenciana, a multidisciplinary team made up of people who make a transformative entity a reality capable of creating living spaces that connect, inspire and provoke emotions. Develops creative projects to transform, regenerate and humanize spaces through wall painting and the arts. His team has been working since 2013 to echo and give visibility to social and environmental problems, promoting positive values in connection with his vision and way of understanding the world.

Miguel Ángel García Álvarez and Sergio de Lamo
Miguel Ángel is a self-taught artist, since 2013 he carries out artistic commissions in which he investigates and creates documentation for each project. He develops creative techniques and solutions together with Sergio de Lamo, specialized in audiovisual communication, and a multidisciplinary team with people who share his philosophy, knowledge and generate new collaborative synergies.


[Neighborhood of the Cemetery Neighborhood] (https://cementerioparticip.wixsite.com/cementerioparticipa/blog)

Dozens of people involved in improving their environment, who are able to connect the resources available to their neighborhood and community to face the challenges of this vulnerable area.


PHOTOGRAPHY
© Asertos Project // Architecture Without Borders and Quatorze Association
Xisco Serra / Raúl Sánchez / Timoteo Zaragozi

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Social commitment

Sustainable Development Goals

  • Good Health and Well-Being

    Ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being for all at all ages is essential to sustainable development.

  • Reduced Inequalities

    To reduce inequalities, policies should be universal in principle, paying attention to the needs of disadvantaged and marginalized populations.

  • Sustainable Cities and Communities

    There needs to be a future in which cities provide opportunities for all, with access to basic services, energy, housing, transportation and more.

  • Climate Action

    Climate change is a global challenge that affects everyone, everywhere.