04/2018
Urban associative gardens are, under various names, statutes and forms, expanding rapidly in many industrialised countries, particularly in France. From 2013 to 2016, the JASSUR research project (Urban Associative Gardens and Sustainable Cities) studied the functions, uses, modes of operation, benefits and potential dangers of these associative gardens in 7 French cities, including Marseille.
Contact details
Christophe Schwartz
Function / Organisation : Université de Lorraine - INRA / Laboratory of Soil and Environmental Sciences
, JASSUR
E-mail : christophe.schwartz@univ-lorraine.fr
Website : http://www6.inra.fr/jassur
E-mail : christophe.schwartz@univ-lorraine.fr
Website : http://www6.inra.fr/jassur
Location
7 French cities: Marseille, Lille, Lyon, Nancy, Nantes, Paris and Toulouse
13284, Marseille, France
13284, Marseille, France
Stakeholders
- Laboratory of Soil and Environmental Sciences (UL – INRA), TELEMMe (AMU – CNRS), EcoLab (University of Toulouse III), EcoSys (INRA – AgroParisTech), LGCgE (Lille ISA), IRSTV (Research Institute on Science and Technology for the City), Rural Studies Laboratory (Isara Lyon), NORT (INRA), SAD-APT (INRA), Plante&Cité
- Associations: PADES (Self-Production and Social Development Programme), National Federation of Family and Collective Gardens
Objectives
- Studying practices, functions and risks associated with urban associative gardens with a transdisciplinary approach
- Creating a database with environmental, socio-technical and socio-political parameters
for 7 cities - Identifying the modes of action necessary to maintain, restore, develop or upgrade these associative gardens in urban areas faced with the challenges of sustainability
Legal framework & Budget
JASSUR is a research project involving 13 partners from research and associations. Its management was based on 3 levels: city level, task level and overall level. JASSUR was funded by the French National Research Agency (ANR) with € 950,000 for a total cost of around € 1,300,000. The project is labelled by Advancity and Végépolys clusters.Activities
JASSUR was based on a central question: what services provide urban collective gardens? To answer this question, the project evaluated soil fertility and gardens’ biodiversity, as well as environmental and health risks due to potential pollution. Gardening practices were also analysed to assess the contribution of gardens to families’ food supply and nutrition. In parallel, the governance of gardens and their place in urban planning was studied to come out with recommendations of renewed management practices and biological soil remediation processes. In total, 104 gardens were investigated, including 36 in Marseille. In the latter city, a sub-study on the impact of urban gardening on nutrition and food consumption in disadvantaged neighbourhoods was conducted (Opticourses).>Innovation & Outcomes
JASSUR has produced several articles, book chapters and communications in national and international research publications. Results were also disseminated in 6 technical journals, 10 conferences, 2 workshops and recommendations to stakeholders and gardeners. The project has shown that, in view of their significant positive externalities, urban associative gardens need to be more integrated into urban policies. Its main innovation of was its transdisciplinary approach.
Investment amount
1 300 000
1 300 000
