Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen
Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen
Green Care: A Conceptual Framework - Frisk i naturen
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Ecotherapy is more about urban green space access and conservation of<br />
biodiversity, however some of its by-products can include permaculture<br />
and organic food production or the proliferation of wild plants for urban<br />
gardens.<br />
Allotment gardening<br />
Allotments or ‘allotment gardens’ are small parcels of land which are<br />
rented out to tenants for the main purpose of cultivating food. Fields of<br />
allotments are a familiar sight in many European countries, for example, in<br />
the UK, Germany and the Netherlands. They enable city dwellers with little<br />
or no land around their houses to grow their own produce and also, very<br />
importantly, to engage with others doing the same. Thus, they serve not<br />
only the green but also the social agenda and in some cases are settings for<br />
green care programmes.<br />
Gardens and allotments used to be vital sources of food for the population<br />
in several European countries. In the UK, for example, in the early 20th<br />
century one and a half million hectares of allotments produced about<br />
half of all fruit and vegetables consumed domestically (Pretty, 2002).<br />
The prominence of allotments in urban landscapes appeared after the<br />
industrial revolution and peaked during the two World Wars when people<br />
were encouraged to grow food in the time of shortage which lasted into the<br />
1950s.<br />
Allotments achieved a unique place in the culture of urban life which<br />
is eloquently described by Crouch and Ward (1997). However, their<br />
popularity declined during the times of plenty in the 1960s and as a result<br />
many sites were sold off by local authorities. Vacant allotment plots have<br />
also been rented to community groups for use as community gardens and<br />
for social and therapeutic horticulture. Hence they serve as settings for<br />
green care.<br />
Recently, the area under allotments in the UK has fallen to less than fifteen<br />
thousand hectares (Pretty, 2002) but still three hundred thousand families<br />
garden these allotments. One estimate in 1996 showed production in excess<br />
of two hundred thousand tonnes of fresh produce each year, worth five<br />
hundred and sixty million pounds (Garnett, 1996). However, the popularity<br />
of allotment gardening has once again increased, particularly among young<br />
people. This has been aided by low rental costs and in some places there are<br />
long waiting lists<br />
63