Context
The Passe Jardins project was first launched in the United States through a community garden. Later, it was implemented in France, mostly as allotment gardens. All the gardens are federated under the charter ‘Le Réseau du Jardins dans tous ses états ‘.
Project
In the 2015-2020 project, the aim of Le Passe Jardins is to transform gardens into a common property that cannot be privatized.
As such, their mission is to:
- represent shared gardens among elected officials, institutions, citizens, and their partners etc.
- to expand the network of shared gardens in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region
- create new spaces, engage with new associations and adopt new agricultural methods in the garden.
Le Passe Jardins works towards sharing knowledge and awareness on gardening from seed to plate. They offer support to networks and gardens according to a shared economy concept, collecting initiatives to train new gardeners and monitor new practices.
Implementation : To create shared gardens, the association offers five sessions and a range of activities to implement this project around the city, particularly on public land. Communities and public actors benefit from this service which also relies on local associations, such as Le Bol and La Légumerie.
The ideas promoted by Le Passe Jardins:
- Reinforce social connexions, mutual aid and dialogue;
- Ensure no cultural, ethnic or social discrimination in this project;
- Support people with difficulties by providing social integration;
- Increase connection with the Earth;
- Promote pleasure of creating, tasting, sharing new forms of freedom
Means: the association is financed by the city of Lyon (until 2017, it was also financed by the Region), and provides service for social housing, municipalities, etc.
Le PASSE-JARDINS devient donc membre du Réseau National. C’est sur la base de sa réflexion et de ses valeurs que l’association a su fonder sa légitimité et qu’elle a créé des jardins partagés et d’insertion sociale sur toutes la région Auvergne Rhône-Alpes.
Results: In Lyon, there were 191 gardens for a total of 3878 plots on an area of 87.9 ha and 648 people attended the training offered since its creation in 2003.
The project has proudly generated a lot of enthusiasm among property developers who started to install more and more gardens in urban areas.
Key success factors:
- Build a network of political and institutional actors;
- Apply for grants, join the national network;
- Look for multidisciplinarity in the team;
- Promote social mediation component.
Needs and services to offer
Needs: Potentially available to accept volunteers at any time.
Service: Open to any training proposal, such as the creation of a shared garden, introduction to permaculture for communities, citizens etc.
Team and history
Le Passe Jardins was created in January 1998 by three volunteers following the first National Gardening and Citizenship Forum that took place in Lille in October 1997. The content of the debate and wide range of experts who joined this forum and shared the same principles fueled the project launched by Le Passe Jardins in Lyon. In line with the forum in Lille, there was another network organized nationally called “Le Jardin dans tous ses états”, based on the historic charter “La Terre en Partage”.
In June 2019, the association has five employees and two volunteers.
L’association regroupe en juin 2019, 5 salariés et 2 services civiques.
The Little Extra
Le Passe Jardins promotes shared garden projects and provides trainings on site. This association has become leader of shared gardens network in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes. The aim is to foster shared gardens and make them have an impact on the territory. More specifically:
- By presenting the network to politicians on various occasions;
- Being an active member of national network, by participating in seminars and national meetings and sharing experiences related to gardens in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region;
- By building partnerships;
- By animating shared garden networks and supporting the creation of local networks;
- By mobilizing individuals to join collective events on shared gardens in the region.
Written by Alice Deshons, LFC volunteer - January 2019.
Last modification : 30 Mar 2020.
Le Passe-Jardins
The association facilitate the creation of new shared gardens in Lyon, and animates the regional Auvergne Rhône-Alpes network of shared gardens.