Fenix, a therapeutic garden and orchard for drug addicts

Aina Relats on 16 May 2023

Through urban agro-ecology, the Fénix project in the city of Barcelona promotes the social and occupational inclusion of people undergoing treatment for drug addiction. The therapeutic garden and orchard, developed under the slogan “Cultivating new opportunities”, also contributes to destigmatising the group of people with addictions.

The project is located on the grounds of the Care and Monitoring Centre (CAS) in Sarrià (Barcelona), which has become a climatic refuge within the city. It has a total of 10 hectares and works by applying regenerative cultivation techniques, i.e. the approach to plant production is respectful, ecological and sustainable. The facility enables the personalisation of social insertion itineraries that improve the employability of the participants, who take part in the whole process, from the cultivation and maintenance of the plants to the organisation of the tasks and economic planning, in relation to the promotion and sale of the cultivated products. The participants receive basic training in agroecology and gain experience in social entrepreneurship and marketing of the products. The project also enables participants to be self-sufficient in food and promotes responsible consumption and a sustainable food system.

The project has a community aspect, with the garden being at the same time a space for exchange and use by organisations and people from the district who need to meet or carry out outdoor activities. In addition, the resulting food is destined to social services, so that people with addictions who participate in the Garden and Hort Fènix multiply the social impact they receive by helping other people.

Characteristics of innovation

Prediction and prevention, Addictions, Group intervention, Link with the community, New service, Pilot project, Self-management and participation, User empowerment

Localization

Barcelona

Partners / Funders

Grup ABD, Public Health Agency Barcelona ASPB, Col·legi d’Arquitectes de Catalunya (COAC)

Genesis

The Jardí Fènix project was promoted by the drug area of the ABD Group during the Covid pandemic, in 2020, as a way of continuing to support drug addicts in the Sarrià CAS. The aim was to give new opportunities, to bring people back to their former lives, and to accompany the therapeutic process in a dynamic way and in the open air.

Level of implementation

The therapeutic garden and vegetable garden project has been running for more than 3 years now. Fifty-six people have participated and 150 kilos of organic fruit and vegetables have been harvested. The ABD Group has consolidated the project and has become part of the Green for Good initiative, promoted by the Ferrer Sustainability Foundation

More information

Propose your innovation

See our selection of innovations

Banc d’innovacions

Mixed Living, residents who live with and collaborate with highly vulnerable people

Fenix, a therapeutic garden and orchard for drug addicts

iCalidad, a technological tool for the quality of life of people with ASD

Mano, an app for social professionals working on the streets and in shelters

Moods, promoting good screen use among teenagers and young people

Aina Relats on 25 April 2023

Community intervention project with a comprehensive approach to prevent risks in the use of new technologies among adolescents and young people and promote their proper use.

The Moods Project was born from the realisation that, in a modernity governed by social networks and mobile phones that change the way we live and relate to each other, new technologies pose new challenges and risks –such as addiction, pathological gambling, grooming, cyberbullying or social isolation– to be prevented. Specifically, it is aimed at adolescents and young people, as the name of the project indicates: mood is the English word that refers to the state of mind and is a colloquial expression widely used among young people.

The project is developed through a set of workshops and interventions that are carried out in secondary schools with the aim of promoting the good use of screens among students. It is well known that the use they make of social networks and new technologies is diverse and can have consequences on mental health. Through the workshops, participants reflect on and become aware of their use of screens. Thus, the project provides them with tools that allow them to identify risky and addictive behaviours. In addition, the workshops encourage critical thinking –allowing them to reflect on video games and online gambling, for example– and debate on the values that are transmitted through networks and on the need and importance of combining virtual leisure with live leisure. The project includes an impact evaluation plan that allows measuring and assessing the changes produced among participants through questionnaires.

The project has been implemented in the neighbourhood of Horta Guinardó, in Barcelona, and in Quatre Carreres, in Valencia, where a team of professionals has given workshops to young people aged between 12 and 16 in secondary schools in the neighbourhoods. Apart from workshops in secondary schools, the project also includes prevention workshops in leisure and free time organisations and training for families and teaching teams from the schools.