Prags Urban Garden (Prags Have) started in May 2011 with a desire to become a model and an urban experiment for a sustainable way of life, aesthetic utilization of an urban vacuum, as well as a different way of meeting each other in the local neighborhood. Two hundred people showed up for the first garden weekend, planting everything from shrubs and cuttings to seeds from all over the world. The garden grew on a 900 m2 old industrial plot that was located at the head of the PB43 site and was a gathering point for both the tenants and users of the working community PB43, the local community on Amager, and the rest of Copenhagen.
The garden became a strong visual marker for the impressive change that volunteer forces can create in just a few years. An industrial plot was transformed into a different space filled with life, plants, and togetherness. There were communal meals, construction workshops, talks, plant days, music, sound art, water fights, and more. Things grew and changed during the process and that was how it continued until the garden closed in 2014.
In September 2011, Prags Urban Garden won the KPH AWARD “Nordic Award” for being a pioneering project by young cultural and social entrepreneurs, and in the spring of 2012, the garden won the Ibyen Award “Edge of the Year”. In addition, Prague Garden was awarded the Volunteer Award by the Amager East Local Committee and nominated for the City of Copenhagen’s Environmental Award 2011.
Prags Urban Garden was built on volunteers and local initiatives, where all interested, children, young people, and the elderly could come and help plant, water, weed, and together make the garden even more beautiful!
Steen Andersen was a co-initiator and co-coordinator on the project together with a group of resourceful urban pioners and local volunteers.
See more: www.facebook.com/PragsHave
Photos: Majken Hviid, Steen Andersen with more.
