Since 2010, the KÉK Community Gardens Programme has been dedicated to introducing and promoting urban gardening in Hungary. Over more than a decade of operation, we have developed the methodology, legal framework, and models for the local adaptation of community gardens, while creating model gardens to support the initiative's evolution into a self-organising movement.
Community gardens do not merely mean gardening in an urban environment – their mission is far more comprehensive: redefining the relationship between people and nature in the urban space. Our gardens are living green spaces within the city fabric, serving a multitude of functions: they are modern urban venues for community events, environmental protection, health preservation, education, and community culture, while also being areas of relaxation and recreation, living green islands in the inner-city concrete landscape.
Urban gardening, suitable for experimenting with self-sufficiency on a small scale, brings together people of various ages and backgrounds into communities. Through shared gardening, they acquire skills and perspectives that they apply in other areas of life, strengthening collaboration skills, sense of responsibility, and becoming environmentally conscious residents who appreciate each other's work within the city.
KÉK has participated in the creation of numerous municipal and school community gardens both in the capital and in rural areas as a professional partner to various institutions, municipalities, and business entities. We currently operate three community gardens: the Csárdás Garden (since 2014), the Kisdiófa Garden (since 2016), and the Kőris Community Garden (since 2024). Since 2012, the programme has provided gardening opportunities for over 1,000 city dwellers.
The KÉK Klimaplatform programme, which emerged from the Community Gardens Programme, approaches the issue of urban climate adaptation from an even broader perspective, while community gardens and sustainable urban solutions continue to play a central role.
