Aplec d’Agricultura Urbana

01/2014

Several urban agriculture projects have been developed in Barcelona in recent years. In 2013, the City Council initiated the “Pla Buits” programme, which transferred about 12 empty spaces to citizen initiatives, half of them being urban gardens. The need arose to network these projects and link new with older ones. Aplec was created with this purpose, as well as to raise public awareness on urban agriculture.

Contact details

Josep Maria Vallès Function / Organisation : Coordinator of Aplec for Tarpurna , Aplec d’Agricultura Urbana

E-mail : info@agriculturaurbana.cat
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/AplecAgriculturaUrbana/
Website : http://www.agriculturaurbana.cat

Location
Barcelona, Spain

Stakeholders

∙ Coordinator: Tarpuna cooperative
∙ Other organisers: Conreu Sereny, Connect Hort, Ecohortus, Educahorts, Associació Nafent and Punt Eco
∙ Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Catalan Open University), as a scientific partner∙ Barcelona City Council, Barcelona Provincial Government and Barcelona Metropolitan Area, which provide official and financial support
∙ Private sponsors: Compo Iberica S.L.

Objectives

∙ Increasing the visibility and public awareness on urban agriculture and related projects
∙ Stressing the environmental and social value of urban agriculture projects
∙ Setting up a network of urban agriculture projects and stakeholders to share knowledge and experience

Legal framework & Budget

Aplec is coordinated by the Tarpuna cooperative and organised through the collaboration between various organisations.

Activities

Aplec is an annual event dedicated to raise awareness and communicate on the technical, social and environmental aspects of urban agriculture through fairs, hands-on workshops, seminars, guided tours to projects, etc. It takes place in Barcelona every year in October and lasts 2 weeks. The gathering enables very diverse projects to go beyond their own reality, share knowledge and initiate new collaborations. School gardens also participate actively in Aplec. Dedicated experience-sharing activities for school teachers are organised.

>Innovation & Outcomes

The main focus of Aplec is to bring together very diverse stakeholders and projects. Every year, the event gathers around 500 participants, with a satisfaction level of about 75%. Impact on professional and social media is high. The support of the municipality is key to bringing this issue to the attention of the general public. The coordination of the event by Tarpuna, which promotes, designs, manages and trains individuals and families on urban agriculture is another key factor of success.

People reached
2 000

Project budget
12 000

Main obstacles & Next steps

Lately, some similar networking initiatives have been launched. So, the most pressing challenge for Aplec is to differentiate, increase participation and position as the one and only event on urban agriculture in Catalonia. Another issue is to ensure long term financial sustainability as funding depends too much on a subsidy paid by the Barcelona City Council through its annual call for projects. Aplec aims to get a more stable financial support on the basis of its positive impact and response to participating entities’ needs.

More on :

http://www.agriculturaurbana.cat