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International Congress in Berlin 2024

The International Congress of the Fédération Internationale des Jardins Familiaux took place in Berlin on 27 and 28 August. ‘Allotment gardens in Europe: Green for all’ was the theme of the 39th congress organised by the Bundesverband der Kleingartenvereine Deutschlands e. V. (BKD). The guests from national organisations, politics and science exchanged views on biodiversity, urban planning and climate change.

At the same time, the Bundesverband der Kleingartenvereine Deutschlands e. V. (BKD) opened its new federal centre. To mark the occasion, the international organisation planted a tree as a symbol of the bond between the international allotment garden family. This ornamental cherry (Prunus hillieri Spire) is intended to grow and blossom in the same way as the exchange between the international allotment garden federations.

Words at the end of 2023

Dear allotment gardeners!

I have the great honour of addressing you for the first time in my function as Secretary General at the end of the year.
After our dear Malou Weirich stepped down in the middle of the year after more than three decades in this position, I was appointed new Secretary General by the General Assembly of the International Federation. A task that fills me with a great deal of pride, but also with a great deal of awe and respect, as the shoes I have to fill are truly big.
Nevertheless, I am very much looking forward to taking up this challenge for the benefit of the international allotment garden family.

We allotment gardeners have always played an important role in the cities, even if this has been forgotten at times. In times of war and after the war, we were the guarantors for the supply of the population and allotment plots could be found everywhere in the cities. After the great hardship of the wars had been overcome, the allotment gardens also changed and over the decades became more recreational and leisure gardens in many countries. But this form is also changing more and more.

Today our allotment gardens are so much more and cannot be pigeonholed:
They are refuges for many different species of animals and plants that would have a much harder time without allotments in the cities.
They are the green lungs of cities, and their very existence helps to reduce urban warming.
They are classrooms that bring our children closer to nature.
They are supermarkets where the best and healthiest fruit and vegetables can be grown.
They are fitness centres and life counsellors in one.
They are places of recreation for the entire urban population.
They are places where people meet.

Our allotment gardens are all this and much more and we must not forget this.

Allotment gardens provide a habitat for a large number of animals and plants because we allotment gardeners make sure that our gardens are managed in an environmentally friendly, pesticide-free and sustainable way. On the one hand, of course, for ourselves, but also for the generations after us in order to leave them an environment worth living in. It is no coincidence that the biodiversity in allotment gardens is far higher than in other publicly accessible areas of cities. We have been cultivating our allotment gardens for over 100 years and therefore have expertise in how to manage our gardens in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.

By giving a variety of plants space to grow in our gardens, the allotment gardens contribute to a better climate in the cities. Especially in times of climate change and global warming, the contribution we allotment gardeners can make here is irreplaceable. This is one of the most valid arguments to prevent allotment gardens from being pushed out of the cities to the periphery. Because it is precisely in the cities, where greenery is often not so easy to find, that our allotment gardens can make their contribution against the warming of the cities.

Our allotment gardens give us the opportunity to grow our own fruit and vegetables and to pass this knowledge on to our children. Knowing exactly where the harvested produce comes from and what it has been treated with is a value that is almost priceless. Along with the harvest, we also know how to preserve this food, which is often referred to as "ancient" knowledge. But even in times of crisis, allotment garden yields can bring relief in difficult situations.
Not to mention the health benefits of allotment gardening. Exercise in itself is already healthy and doing this in the fresh air increases this value enormously. Numerous studies have shown that gardening not only has a positive effect on physical health, but also on mental health.
In the allotment garden, this effect is multiplied by the environment that the allotment garden association offers.
Because we must not forget one thing:
The allotment garden associations are part of a profoundly social movement. People meet in the association, come together to chat, exchange experiences and also to help each other. What many people lack in the anonymity of the big city can be found in allotment gardens. A neighbourhood where people take care of each other, where they help and support each other, a place to meet and live together.
We must not lose sight of this fact, even in times like these, when buzzwords such as climate change, global warming, but also price rises and inflation are spreading terror everywhere.

Co-operation is also one of the many positive aspects of the meetings of the international allotment gardeners within the framework of the International Federation. The international meetings are characterised by a positive drive to work together to advance the allotment garden movement.
As different as our allotment gardens may be in the various countries, we all work hard to make our allotment garden movement visible on a national and international level and to make its value obvious to non-allotment gardeners.
Together we can achieve so much more for our allotment garden family than alone.

In the spirit of this reflection on what we have in common, I wish you and your loved ones a Merry Christmas and all the best and health for the New Year 2024.

Sylvia Wohatschek
Secretary General, Fédération Internationale des Jardins Familiaux

Call from NGO members of the Environmental and Health Crisis Committee From the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe

Please find attached the resolution adopted by the NGOs involved in the Environmental and Health Crisis Committee of the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe as a contribution to the Summit currently taking place in Dubai (UAE).

Call from NGO members of the Environmental and Health Crisis Committee
From the Conference of INGOs of the Council of Europe
in the run-up to COP 28
to be held in Dubai from 30 Novembre to 12 Decembre 2023

For urgent, local and systemic action

COP28 will take stock of the implementation of the Paris Agreement, halfway through the 2030 Agenda, at a time when global temperatures and greenhouse gas emissions are breaking records. Natural disasters caused by extreme weather events are worsening, combined with the threat of ice cap collapse and melting permafrost, releasing methane and pathogens. They increase the loss of natural resources due to reduced biodiversity, air and water pollution, and slow degradation of soil and subsoil.

Now alarmed  by the low commitment of States Parties confirmed  by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Emissions Gap Report  of 20 November 2023, which raises fears of a temperature increase of 2.5 to 2.9°C, well beyond the 1.5°C limit set by the Paris Agreement,
The NGOs that are members of the Environmental and Health Crisis Committee call for urgent local and systemic action based on 4 priorities :

 

1. Think globally and act locally, in a transversal way, with a strong mobilisation of civil society

Currently, cities account for 80% of the world's wealth. They will be home to nearly 70% of the population by 2050, making urbanisation a historic challenge. They are now responsible for the consumption of two-thirds of the world's energy, and 70% of annual global emissions. It is therefore in the cities and regions that the challenge is being played, and that it must be won.

The vast majority of local and regional authorities are calling for decisive action to protect people and their living environment. All are ready to play their part in containing the immediate effects of climate change in the short term, and in the medium and long term in favour of responsible development. All agree that they are the protagonists of the actions and policies undertaken and planned at the global level. The role of local government is essential because it is the layer of government closest to the people, who often have significant decision-making and spending power. All must act in conjunction with civil society.

 

2. Promoting systemic action and synergy between prevention and adaptation

Sustainable Development Goals 11 and 13 recommend accelerating the energy transition and reducing emissions before 2030 through an approach that "embraces nature, people, lives and livelihoods at the heart of climate action".

Our NGOs call for adoption of

regional and local risk prevention plans that develop a synergy between mitigation and adaptation, in conjunction with the population to strengthen the resilience of territories;

- a systematic component of adaptation to the most pessimistic forecasts, in development and urban plans, prevention  plans against natural, industrial and health risks, construction and housing renovation projects, safeguarding agriculture combined with the protection of biodiversity;

- a permanent focus on climate issues in education and training to build a citizen climate culture and develop the skills necessary for the climate transition.

- a portal to pilot measures, which brings together all the relevant services and operators, to make it the one-stop shop for a public and individual adaptation service;

- a statistical tool for monitoring sectors such as industry and tourism, in order to build prospective analyses, an effective adaptation, and safeguarding strategy.


3. Basing the transition on sobriety and the implementation of a circular economy


The economic and financial difficulties of most states call for the production of wealth generated  by limiting energy waste, but also by a circular economy that rejects social and environmental dumping and that mobilises the entire population.

Our NGOs call for

- greater involvement of fundamental and applied research on sobriety, systematic dissemination and popularisation of the work and good practices carried out, with the use of qualified professionals to guide the transition in a transversal way;

- choices and policies, designed with the active participation of users to support an effective circular and social economy, promoting new forms of employment and development;

- coordinated and integrated cross-cutting actions at all levels of territorial administration, bringing together the public and private sectors, policy makers and citizens.

 

4. Promoting a health-centered paradigm shift

Our NGOs welcome COP28's dedicated day to health and call for adopting

- coherent legal tools able of promoting resilience through joint action at all levels of governance, in all sectors of human and environmental health impacted by climate change, in accordance with the "One Health" principle,

- anticipation of the health risk based on the most pessimistic forecasts for the sick and persons with disabilities, young children and the older persons who suffer more intensely from heat waves, energy poverty and increased air pollution. Its systematic inclusion on the agenda of all the organs of the health ecosystem.

- support for the design of inclusive cities based on strengthening families to respond to health risks (cf. Venice Declaration Global Alliance)


Every moment gained is crucial. Concrete actions and agreements are needed at the global level, but they can only be effective at the local level, with the support of civil society, according to the principle of subsidiarity.

This is our call to the negotiators and the Heads of State and Government meeting in Dubai.

Committee on Environmental and Health crisis : Governance and solidarity challenges
Environmental and Health Crisis Committee: Governance and Solidarity Issues

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