Dorpstuun: a multifunctional green meeting place
The green meeting place where a flower/picking/experience/learning/school/vegetable/ folk/butterfly/bee and moving garden come together. The garden is used as a means of improving the quality of life and strengthen the social cohesion in the town of Grootegast (the Netherlands).The place to meet people. The place where people can learn more about fruit, vegetables and plants. The place where children and kitchen garden lovers have the opportunity to grow healthy vegetables. All of this contributes to an improvement in overall health in the village. Around 30 organizations/SMEs are involved.
Meeting place - A community center, but (for a large part) outside. The Dorpstuunis freely accessible, is close to the center and activities are organized so that many people come together. Because of the multitude of functions, there are also many different people and many meetings take place.
Flower & picking garden - A large part of the Dorpstuunis the flower and picking garden. These flowers provide a cheerful look, fresh scents, some are eatable and can be picked in due time.
Experience garden - Thanks to the various functions, the Dorpstuun is also a social playground. By taking a walk in the Dorpstuun you can smell, see, feel and hear nature.
Learn & school garden - In collaboration with IVN and NDCE, we look at how information can be transferred. From placing information signs on the route, information via the "Discover" app, activities such as gardening together to education packages.
Primary schools have responded very enthusiastically to the plans of the Dorpstuun and would like to use the facilities. Secondary school Terra Oldekerk includes a part of the maintenance in the curriculum. In this way, Dorpstuun is assured of extra support during a certain period. For the social work placement, the Dorpstuun is a wonderful place for Secondary schools Terra and the Woldborg. The internships can be very diverse, from maintenance, guidance from primary school visits to organizing meetings.
Vegetable & fruit garden - the Dorpstuun performs the role of vegetable and fruit garden. The vegetables and fruit can partly be used in the kitchen of the neighboring care institution, by the people who use the garden and partly for sales. This is also part of obtaining financial security. For example there are activities where the vegetables will be processed into soup.
Butterfly & bee garden - Because of the presence of the flowers, the garden is attractive to butterflies and bees. When the garden is sufficiently overgrown, there will be a bee hive to produce local honey. This process can therefore become part of the learning and school garden. A local beekeeper has already indicated that she would like to offer her help.
Moving around in the garden - Already in the first stage of the Dorpstuun the garden is inviting to move around, just by walking through it. The garden will be laid out in such a way that people are invited to move even more.
More information:
Maarten Groeneveld
Gebiedscoöperatie Westerkwartier
m.groeneveld@gcwk.nl