Photo: from archives of Antakalnis garden, Vilnius
ANTAKALNIS GARDEN (VILNIUS) The garden was established in 2013 by the Antakalnis community, the association Žali.lt and volunteer assistants in agreement with the Antakalnis eldership and the nursing hospital. The purpose of the garden was to promote the sense of community and involvement of Antakalnis residents in joint activities. The idea started with two field beds. In 2014, we started using a greenhouse, which had been abandoned for 10 years at the least. People were constantly invited to lend a helping hand in (collective) assistance to involve the community, to show how social innovations work, to become an example for other communities in Vilnius and in Lithuania of how active residents can use abandoned green urban areas for joint activities. Each year lessons about gardening were held in Antakalnis progymnasium, distributing seeds, which students germinated and later brought their seedlings and planted them in the garden beds. In 2015-2016, the first events, such as the Neighborhood Day, the Restaurant Day, the Harvest Festival and others, were held in the garden for the entire community, and people started changing their approach to community life and new opportunities for communication 48
