Urban agriculture in Hanover/ Germany Daniela Hadem-Kälber, Norbert Elias Center (University of Flensburg) Urban agriculture in Hanover/ Germany

Policies and Governance structures in Hanover Introduction The agricultural program Conventional farming associations Ecological Farming Alliances Key governance actors „Best practices“ Short report on Policies and Governance concerning Urban Agriculture in Hanover. I use the definition of the workgroup which difines gonvernance as „the relationship between the local administration and other actors or constituencies.“ Introduction The agricultural program Conventional farming associations Ecological Farming Alliances Key governance actors „Best practices“

Introduction Hanover is the capital of the federal state of Lower Saxony. It has about 500.000 inhabitants, growing a little bit, but insignificant. Further, it is located in the centre of Germany with good junctions to the North, West, East and South. Hanover is also known as the fourth biggest agricultural region in Germany.

The city is famous for its parks and forestry spaces inside the urban area. On the foto you see the famous “Herrenhäuser Gärten”, the Royal Gardens of Herrenhausen. The Herrenhäuser Gardens are an internationally famous ensemble of garden arts and culture that ranks among the most important historical gardens in Europe. Inside the urban area, about 50 % are identified as green spaces and approximately 20 % are set out for the protection of the landscape. © Karl Johaentges

Allotment gardens Today, about 2816 ha. (13, 80 % of the urban space) are cultivated by agrarian and horticulture companies. 1000 ha. of the agricultural land are owned by the municipality of Hanover. In addition there are approximately 20.000 allotment gardens and a number of gardeners who follow the trend of urban gardening/ urban farming. Behind this battle of figures you can say that: while traditional farming activities and also the number of allotments are declining, urban gardening initiatives are arising.

Agricultural Program Decline of urban area used for agricultural production Since 1994: Agricultural Program: extensive production and marketing support Now I will talk about TYPES OF POLICIES AND GOVERNANCE STRUCTURES IN HANOVER First: TOP-DOWN In the year 1987, 19% of the urban area was used for agricultural production. Five years later only 17, 5% remained. 1994, the municipality of Hanover developed a so called “Landwirtschaftsprogramm” (agricultural program). Its objective is to stop the decline of urban agriculture by developing an ecological agriculture within the urban area. To fulfil this purpose, different methods are used: Mainly, they focus on subsidising traditional farmers. Financial grants should promote the transformation from intensive to extensive land-use. The idea is further, to stimulate a sustainable agriculture and to promote it against the urban population. To this day, positive results regarding the conservation of conventional agricultural activities failed to appear. Still farmers sell their land arguing that the strong competitiveness between the farmers (a result of the industrialisation of agriculture which creates low prices) prevents practising extensive urban agriculture. On the other side, some interesting programs have been set, which promote ecological agriculture and short value chains.

Farmers Markets Cooperation with public canteens 2 EXAMPLES FOR THE SUCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE AGRICULTURAL PROGRAM: Farmers markets in the city of Hanover: On different small markets (once or twice a week) farmers sell their products. The majority is certified with labels for ecological farming, i.e. Bioland, Demeter etc.. 2) Cooperation between regional ecological farmers and public canteens: This project already finished, but still public canteens serve food which is certified with an eco-label. These methods to implement ecological agriculture in the Region of Hanover can be described as exclusively top-down: The farmers have to fulfil rules to receive the financial support from the municipality of Hanover.

Conventional Farming Practices Landvolk (Regional Farmers´Association) Wirtschaftsverband Gartenbau (Association for Horticulture) Landfrauenverband Hannover e.V. (Association of Rural Women) BOTTOM-UP STRUCTURES -> CONVENTIONAL FARMING PRACTICES: ASSOCIATIONS AND UNIONS OF FARMERS The term „Traditional“ is inexact, because it does not refer to any historical or spacial context. For example „traditional agriculture“ is used to describe farming activities of indigenous people in latin america. But also to refer to disciplines of the natural ciences which were developed within the last 100 years. Today, the term traditional agriculture is set to contrast modern and traditional agriculture. Thus it seems, that before the 20th century there was no agriculture. (Vgl. Heistinger 2001: 77)   The Regional farmers’ association (Landvolk/ Landesbauernverband e.V.): has 3.600 members. Thus they represent more than 90 percent of the farmers and property owners in the municipality of Hanover. The domain of the association covers around 120.000 ha of the area used for agricultural production. Association for horticulture (Wirtschaftsverband Gartenbau e.V.): It is an Association of companies who are dedicated to the production and distribution of fruits and vegetables as well as of ornamental plants in Hanover. Association of Rural Women, (Landfrauenverband Hannover e.V.): Association which builds on previous experiences of the agricultural housewives clubs. All three associations do not exist eclusively inside the urban area of Hanover. But they have there own institution which can be understood as being the headquater of the organisation for this specific region.

Ecological Farming Practices Regional Association of ecological agriculture Lower Saxony (Landesvereinigung Ökologischer Landbau Niedersachsen e.V.; LÖN) ECOLOGICAL FARMING PRACTICES Regional Association of ecological agriculture Lower Saxony (Landesvereinigung Ökologischer Landbau Niedersachsen e.V.; LÖN): The objective of this association is to promote nature conservation and environmental protection, i.e. the pollution of soil, water and air within the framework of organic farming. Further it aims to influence on the development of the state legislature and the public sector, to improve the financial and legal framework for organic farming. 10 farmers of the municipality of Hanover are integrated in this organisation.

Community Supported Agriculture (“Gärtnerei Wildwuchs”) This is a merger of one farm with a group of private households. Based on the estimated annual cost of organic agricultural production, this group is committed to pay in advance a fixed amount to the farm. The purchasers can obtain the entire harvest as well as products such as bread, cheese etc. Close to Hanover, to the day only one farm was founded as a CSA.

Distribution alliance („Gemüsekiste“) Distribution alliance („Gemüsekiste“): Around 20 farms are integrated in this distribution collective. Certified horticulture products, as well as dairy and corn products are distributed directly to the consumer via supply service. The consumer pays around 9 EUR for one “vegetable-box” (since 15 years). Consumers can take out a subscription for the weekly distribution.

Association of the Intercultural Gardens (Internationale Stadtteilgärten Hannover e.V.) Association of the Intercultural/ International Gardens in Hanover (Internationale Gärten Hannover e.V.): The association was founded by private initiatives (International Gärten Sahlkamp, Teegarten Hainholz etc.). With the help of a private foundation (Stiftung Interkultur) they were integrated into the network of German intercultural gardens. In the meantime, they are able to finance a half-day job through a public-private-partnership.

12 international Gardens

Transition Town Hanover Founded in 2010, this initiative attracts sufficient private and public funding to enable a great number of activities in order to promote urban agriculture in Hanover. In 2013, eight initiatives are situated inside the urban area, one is located in Laatzen, a small town close to Hanover. Some of the Urban Gardens (which all produce vegetables and herbs in an ecological way) cooperate with schools, others are mainly organised by neighbourhoods (i.e. Kügäli, Pagalino). (some pictures in a minute) Transition Town Hanover also counts on 15 workers who receive unemployment benefit. Now I would like to talk about some specific projects. This Picture shows a brownfield, formally the area of the company Continental. The transition town movement decided in 2010 to break up the ground.

Their objective was to find out how much human force is needed to produce one barrel of oil. After some days of working they calculated something about 20.000 working hours. While doing this work, they discussed what to do with this brown field. Soon the decision was made. It should be a urban gardening project.

KüGäLi What happened? The ground was contaminated. So they built up a mobile garden out of pallets. They became really famous with this action. On this slide, you see some more pictures of this garden, called Kügäli, an abreviation for Küchengärten Limmer (Kitchengardens Limmer)

Wandergarten WanderGardens (Wandergärten): One of the most successful format invented by Transition Hanover are the “Wandergärten”. Built out of recycled pallets, this gardens can be transported from one place to another through pallet lifting trucks various times a year. In this manner healthy food is produced within the urban area. Mainly the fresh products are cooked by the gardeners themselves and directly on-site. Through these “migrating” gardens, a notable part of the cities´ community is reached. They get in touch with the idea of a self-nourishing city.

PaGaLiNo (Hannover) Another mobile garden, in the centre of the city.

To have an idea, what Hanover in Transition means, I will show you now another map, where you can see all activities, raised by the Transition Town Initiative. On the first map, you can see the urban which was colored grey and the more rural area in „yellow“

…a Town in Transition II TTH 06.2013 Umweltzentrum: Sitz des TTH e.V. mit Büro & Sitzungsraum Wandergarten I am Theodor Lessing Platz Wandergarten Light am Weisse Kreuz Platz TTH Nord / UGuL Apfelinsel, Egons Villa Bürgergärten und Vereinshaus (in Gründung) TTH/UGuL/POPS in der Region Hannover Schulgartennetzwerk (SchuGa) - Gärten in Limmer, Linden, List u.a. TTH/UGuL in Bemerode Naschgarten (WG III) am Spargelacker TTH Limmer/Linden BO TTHall mit Projekträumen, kügäli, Gartengruppe TTH Süd/UGuL Wandergarten II am FZH Döhren TTH/UGuL kügäli & Pagalino Bürgergärten auf Palette TTH Süd/UGuL Wülfel BO Bootshaus mit Bildungsgarten TTH/UGuL/POPS in Leveste Bildungsstandort SolaWi Wildwuchs Here, transition town listed all the active projects which were founded from 2011 to the day. There are more stakeholders involved, as you can see for example in the schoolgarden network, or „Egons Villa“, which is a private allotment. TTH/UGuL in Laatzen Internationaler Bürgergarten (in Gründung TTH/UGuL/POPS in Springe/Lüdersen Bildungsstandort Demeter-Hof Wurzelwerk …a Town in Transition II

Key Governance Actors Key government actor: Municipality of Hanover Key social actors: Transition Town Hanover Foundation Stiftung Interkultur. As a resume, there is one key government actor: Municipality of Hanover Key social actors: Transition Town Hanover Foundation Stiftung Interkultur. Stfitung Interkultur: is not involved directly in the city of Hanover. Located in Munich, this private foundation helps to establish community gardens and network structures between intercultural and other community gardens.

Good examples of Governance 3 Good examples of Governance Chamber of Agriculture Lower Saxony (Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachsen/ Hannover) Network “AgriKultur” Garden Network (Gartennetzwerk) Competence Centre Ecologic Agriculture Lower Saxony (Kompetenzentrum Ökolandbau Niedersachsen) GOOD EXAMPLES OF GOVERNANCE WHICH LINK TOP-DOWN OR BOTTOM-UP APPROACHES Chamber of Agriculture Lower Saxony (Landwirtschaftskammer Niedersachsen/ Hannover): The chamber represents the self-government of all agricultural enterprises in rural as well as in urban areas. This organisation is partially financed through charges and other incomes (41%). Around 17% are contributions from enterprises and 42% are payments from the federal state of Lower Saxony. The chamber works closely with municipalities and districts as it is the body officially responsible for agriculture.   Network “AgriKultur”: Inspired by a meeting with a research initiative from the University of Oldenburg, different stakeholders from the local Transition Town Initiative, the Chamber of Agriculture Lower Saxony and the municipality of Hanover decided to build up a working group. Its objective is to inform about existing urban agriculture initiatives in the city/ region as well as to support new projects. Garden Network (Gartennetzwerk): Founded in 2012, different public and private stakeholders, such as NGOs (Wissenschaftsladen, Transition Town) and representatives of the municipality of Hanover exchange their ideas in order to promote Urban Agriculture as well as more traditional forms like small allotments. Also the objective to open the traditional allotments is discussed in this network. Competence Centre Ecologic Agriculture Lower Saxony (Kompetenzentrum Ökolandbau Niedersachsen): Members are the associations for ecological farming (Bioland, Demeter, Naturland and Ecological Horticulture in Northern Germany[LÖN]). The federal state of Lower Saxony supports KÖN in project funding.

Thank you for your attention!