Gothenburg blue community garden finalist in New European Bauhaus competition

The Flytevi marine allotment has been selected among 530 applications as a finalist in the Reconnecting With Nature category of the New European Bauhaus Prizes 2024. Among the 50 finalists, a total of 20 winners will be selected in four different categories, and until 20 March the public can vote for the People's Choice.  
 
“It is extremely gratifying that the marine allotment Flytevi is a finalist in the New European Bauhaus Prize for 2024! In the work with Flytevi, we have used the prototype to explore the use of the place, test a new function, and develop the identity of the place together with the people who use the place,” says Johan Rehngren, urban gardener in the City of Gothenburg.

Broad collaboration in the project

The project has been implemented as part of Vinnova's Future Prototypes initiative in a broad collaboration and a close exchange of knowledge between the University of Gothenburg and the City of Gothenburg, where urban planners, architects, marine biologists, researchers, and students have participated. The allotment was inaugurated in November 2022 and is the first urban blue community garden in Sweden.
 
“Exploring new forms of urban food production by looking at marine environments in our cities is both important and hopeful. The world's population is facing perhaps its greatest challenge to date: to make the transition to a sustainable way of life within a short period of time. This has raised many questions about what a sustainable society is and how we want the cities of the future to look and function. Our hope is that Flytevi will be a catalyst in finding some of the answers to these questions,” says Johan Rehngren.

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Teaching school classes

Flytevi now serves as an educational platform where visitors can learn more about ocean farming and blue food. The University of Gothenburg is organising two lesson packages for school classes: “Become an ocean farmer for a day” and “Become an ocean cook for a day”. On site at the marine allotment, students can take water samples, learn more about how ocean farming works, and try cooking with mussels and algae, for example.
 
“Most people who visit us have never been to a marine allotment before. Through Flytevi, we bring the sea into an urban environment and make it accessible to more people,” says Maria Bodin, project coordinator at the University of Gothenburg.

The New European Bauhaus initiative

The New European Bauhaus is an initiative of the European Commission to encourage sustainable, inclusive, and beautiful urban development projects in the EU. This fits well with Flytevi, which was nominated for the competition by the City of Gothenburg's Brussels office.
 
“Flytevi ticks all three boxes, and we look forward to the opportunity to showcase Flytevi in the European arena. For a society to be truly resilient, everyone needs to feel involved and to contribute. Working co-creatively, on a smaller scale, and making urban development processes accessible to more people are important steps in this process. We hope that this final place can inspire others to work in close collaboration between civil society, academia, and municipalities to explore the temporary and site-specific to achieve lasting and long-term values in our living environments,” says Johan Rehngren.