Starting with the first steps taken in 2023, Kapnikos Stathmos Katerini has been developing the Civic Ecology Garden as part of its broader effort to extend the stock of its social warehouses and to strengthen sustainable, community-based action. Transforming an abandoned lot into a green and productive space, the garden serves as a visible example of how unused urban land can be transformed into meaningful spaces that benefit both people and nature. From our collaborations with organic farmers, to our collaborations with schools for organized tree plantings: Our garden works as connection link between people of all ages and backgrounds.

The Civic Ecology Garden functions both as a productive garden and as an open community space. It supports the values of sustainability, reuse, and responsible food production, while offering hands-on involvement in activities such as planting, composting, soil care, water-saving techniques, and seasonal maintenance. Part of the garden’s output is linked to the organization’s solidarity actions, reinforcing the connection between ecology and social support.

The vision of the project is to create a living classroom in the heart of the city, offering educational training for people who want to learn about gardening, vegetable production, and sustainable farming practices. Looking ahead, the project has the potential to expand to additional urban or suburban locations, become a study case, inspire similar initiatives in other cities, and gradually grow into related fields such as broader sustainability education and urban agriculture as experience and expertise development.