Pop-up garden comes to residents of the BAR municipalities


Several BAR organisation staff have constructed a mobile pop-up garden: a garden that comes to residents. The pop-up garden shows that green gardens do not cost much time and money at all whilst, what’s more, they are climate-proof.

Pop-up tuin

What is the reason?

Increasingly, Dutch gardens have become paved. The municipalities of Barendrecht, Albrandswaard, and Ridderkerk intend to reverse this trend. The mobile pop-up garden has been constructed in a half-open cargo container. With this garden, the initiators aim to show their residents the benefits of a green garden in a direct and tangible manner. For example, green gardens provide better protection against extreme weather compared to paved gardens, whilst enhancing biodiversity.

Why a mobile garden?

A mobile pop-up garden is more efficient than communicating through leaflets or the Internet. Residents appreciate the originality and are attracted by the contrast between the “soft” green and the “harsh” nature of the half-open cargo container. At the same time, the pop-up garden provides a low-threshold space for the municipal authorities to enter into a direct dialogue with their residents regarding, for example, climate change, climate adaptation, biodiversity, and sustainable living.

Green garden improves municipal climate resilience

With this project, the initiators aim to improve the climate resilience of their municipality. All the private gardens combined account for a huge surface area. These gardens offer a great many opportunities for further municipal greening. Green gardens add to the climate resilience of the environment in several ways:

  • During torrential rain, rainwater can infiltrate the soil, which prevents major waterlogging;
  • During periods of drought, plants can draw from the water reserves in the soil;
  • The cooling effect of greenery prevents heat stress.

Pop-up tuin1

Is the garden effective?

Before long, the initiators will be monitoring the impact of the pop-up garden using satellite maps. These maps show how the green/paving ratio is changing through the years. The initiators are now working on a pop-up garden 2.0, which will be focused on “water-friendly gardens”.

Contact person

Edo van Baars
BAR-organisatie
e.v.baars@bar-organisatie.nl
06 – 12000638


Project type
Completed measure
Participant
BAR Organisatie (gemeentes Barendrecht, Albrandswaard en Ridderkerk) & Waterschap Hollandse Delta
Scale
Region
Theme
Drought, Heat, Waterlogging