TOOLBOX / RECLAIMING PUBLIC SPACE

The Toolbox is a production of the Human Cities Network. It has been created and developed to inspire everyone to undertake projects and actions in the public space. The Human Cities Toolbox is proposing a selection of European existing examples, inviting those who wants to reclaim public space to start action. The entire Toolbox can be browsed on the website

www.sustainable-everyday-project.net/ humancities-toolbox/

UIRSLjubljana, Slovenia

ContactMr. Marjan Špegel, IT researcher, retired

Ulica Bratov Učakar 4, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

email: marjan.spegel@ijs.si

Biba Tominc, researcher

Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia

Trnovski pristan 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia

email: biba.tominc@uirs.si

Mr. Marjan Špegel /Ljubljana, Slovenia

2008

MELLOWROOF /rooftop garden in residential

neighbourhood

NAME OF THE CASE / P/2

TOOLBOX / RECLAIMING PUBLIC SPACE

Project leader Starting motivation Users & contextFor the moment an on-going experiment MellowRoof is pure bottom-up project with significant experimental dimensions. The project is running by one gardener with the help of a few residents from the building including a Human Cities project member (UIRS). Planning the rooftop garden requires the consideration of various parameters. One of the future planned activities in the coming season is an execution of systematic testing of soil and plants for key fertility elements as well as for heavy metals. This activity will be carried out as laboratory exercise work. Chemistry graduate students of the University of Ljubljana will be supervised by neighbour who is teaching there.

An enthusiastic resident gardener comes up with an idea of MellowRoof experiment. It represents an endeavour of developing a rooftop gardening as one of the alternatives of urban agriculture. The experiment is devoted to create an idea of self-organised vegetable production on the rooftops of the residential buildings from many different reasons, such as hobby, an answer to contemporary crises, empowering social cohesion among the residents living in the neighbourhood and adding a new meaning and beauty to the rooftops of the residential buildings.

Mr. Marjan Špegel, IT researcher, retired, Ljubljana, Slovenia

Planning the rooftop garden requires the consideration of various parameters such as general characteristics of the rooftop, construction, conditions and access, sun and wind conditions, available time for maintenance, costs calculation, etc. in order to select suitable plants to achieve the desired results. MellowRoof experiment is a prototype which successfully shows social innovation in terms of local production for partial supply of involved residents, socialising and microclimate changes.

Scenario of use

In situ such roof provides vegetables boxes, collect-water canes and places to sit.

Toolkit components

Communication support

The experiment MellowRoof is a stimulating example for empowering residents and public authorities along with professionals such as agronomists, landscape architects, architects, urban designers and planners, biologists, technicians, etc. to develop an interdisciplinary creative process towards roof gardening. Buildings’ flat rooftops are often unnoticed and unused in spite of their attractiveness and usability. The MellowRoof example shows that such roofs have the potential for creative activities.

Benefits

There is no digital communication strategy available so far for the rooftop gardening based on the experiment of MellowRoof. At the moment this project is a domain of the residents of the building.