Cebu City Hall Agriculturist Joey Baclayon (left) and Francis Sollano, co-founder of the Youth for Livable Cebu, show an eggplant growing in a pocket park in front of the barangay San Roque sports complex. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Forty urban barangays in Cebu City are being invited to join a campaign to convert idle spaces in their locality into gardens and art parks.
The Great Urban Challenge was launched yesterday by the Youth for Livable Cebu (YLC) and Cebu City Agriculture Department.
“Greens, vegetables and artworks can be used for pocket art parks. The park can be a place where children and the elderly can stay and enjoy,” said YLC co-founder Francis Sollano, a designer known for merging design with recycling and sustainability.
Sollano said the campaign aims to “promote volunteerism and resourcefulness.”
Participants can use private or public spaces measuring 25-square meters for planting greens or converting it into an art park.
“The space should not hamper mobility and reduce safety,” he said.
Abandoned lots and vacant spaces can include walls for vertical gardens. “Decaying” corners in infrastructure areas such as under a flyover also have potential.
Sollano said they encourage using recycled materials like old tires, plastic bottles, crates and so on.
Young people, families and barangay officials are encouraged to participate in creating the green pocket art parks.
Participating barangays will be judged in November and December 2015, and January and February 2016.
They will be evaluated based on criteria like resource mobilization, creativity, innovation, maintenance, sustainability, community-friendly public space and volunteerism of youth and children.
Cebu City Agriculturist Joey Baclayon said urban barangays are the target of the campaign because of the absence of greenery in most of the areas.
“We will help them in providing the plants or fertilizers. There will be prizes too,” Baclayon told reporters.
The press conference was held at the barangay San Roque gymnasium, which is surrounded with ornamental greens and even vegetable plants.
The grand prize winner will receive P30,500, the second prize is P20,000, third prize is P10,000 and consolation prize is P5,000.
Sollano said the project is endorsed by global network organizations like the British Council and 88 Osaka Japan.