Visit of the garden

Children from the Bercy kindergarten had the pleasure of picking the very first raspberries of the season in the Traversine Bercy garden. Thanks to generous sunshine from the roof terrace, the fruit ripened two to three weeks ahead of schedule. … Read More

At the Jardin de la Traversine Bercy, nursery school children took part in a fun and educational activity designed by the Designing Hope around vegetable plants. A large illustrated board featuring 25 leaves of fruit and vegetables grown in the … Read More

At the Traversine Villiot garden, 12 children from the Paris Anim’ Annie Fratellini center gathered to work on the petals of the vegetable mandala. The children worked enthusiastically together, under the guidance of the Designing Hope educational team. They began … Read More

The Traversine Villiot garden, surrounded by apartment buildings, benefits from an open-ground layout, which is an advantage compared to the Bercy roof terrace, but suffers from a lack of sunlight, especially during the winter period.This makes the garden a breeding … Read More

At the Traversine Bercy garden, school children are actively involved in growing strawberries on the roof terrace. After transplanting the runners into new trays in the autumn and helping with weeding, maintenance and watering throughout the year, they were able … Read More

The Traversine Bercy garden celebrates the first year of its reinstallation on the roof terrace of the Bercy school in its new configuration. The vegetated structures are now all planted, and the plants are in full growth, offering a verdant, … Read More

The children at Bercy school are proud to have grown their own tomato plants ! Back in February, they sowed seeds in cups set up in the school playground. At the end of March, the young shoots were transplanted to the … Read More

To mark the 10th anniversary of the Parisculteurs project, the association Designing Hope was invited to present its educational garden, La Traversine, at an event organized by the DEVE on the Jardin des Traverses.  La Traversine garden, installed on the … Read More

Today, children from the Bercy school took part in a leek planting activity at the Traversine garden, supervised by animators from the Designing Hope association. Before getting started, the organizers explained the essential steps for ensuring good leek growth: cutting … Read More

It’s time to transfer the young plants produced in the greenhouse to the Traversine Villiot garden. Zucchinis, broccoli, cauliflower and leeks take their place on the first petals of the garden’s mandala. The soil has been cleared of weeds, loosened … Read More

La Traversine organizers have built a double-bin composter for the Bercy garden. Specially designed for this above-ground garden, it will enable biomass from vegetable garden maintenance to be recycled. The first bin will receive compostable waste to produce rich compost, … Read More

The Traversine Bercy garden pergola consists of a 3.5m-wide metal structure, surrounded by wooden containers for growing aromatical herbs. In the center of the pergola, Dessine l’Espoir team has just installed a large clover-shaped table, surrounded by 12 metal and … Read More

Dessine L’Espoir association took part in Paris Sème alongside the Parisculteurs. We led fun workshops to raise awareness of sustainable agriculture among young and old alike, presenting educational games used by the association in various schools, whether in Rufisque, Paris … Read More

To accompany the decorated wooden birds hanging from the pergola, children from Bercy school and CLAJE painted wooden flowers to embellish the garden at La Traversine Bercy. The two sides of each flower were painted by two different children, an … Read More

The strawberry plants harvested in September had time to develop over the winter, and were replanted by the kindergarteners in the Bercy school garden, alongside kiwis, vines and other climbers. Elementary school children also helped enrich the garden by planting … Read More

As the weather did not allow us to work in the vegetable garden, we decided to create a memory game with the children. We printed black and white drawings of fruit and vegetables in vegetable gardens or baskets on sheets … Read More

Children from the CLAJE, a community center in the Villiot-rapée area of the 12th arrondissement of Paris, joined the Designing Hope team for an afternoon of gardening in the Traversine Villiot garden, where they transplanted seedlings collected on the roof … Read More

We’re delighted to welcome new groups to the Bercy garden. Curious and full of energy, they were able to explore the garden despite the cold and get a first taste of the plantations and tools they’ll be using in future … Read More

To help birds overwinter in the garden, children from école de Bercy and CLAJE made wooden bird nesting boxes and installed them in both gardens.It’s important for children to become aware of the different species that a garden can be … Read More

To complete the construction and installation of the bird nesting boxes, children from the Bercy school decorated small wooden birds. Once painted and varnished, the children hung them under the garden’s pergola, where aromatic herbs and climbing beans grow alongside … Read More

With the help of our animators, the elementary school students made bird nesting boxes. A nesting box is a small wooden house where birds can safely nest, rest or raise their offspring. The children took it in turns to assemble … Read More

During this creative activity, CLAJE children had the opportunity to express themselves and personalize their own signs by writing their names on them and adding motifs with stencils in the shape of flowers and vegetables. They decorated their signs with … Read More

To complete the nursery, additional seedlings have been placed in traditional seed trays.Regular watering is important to prevent them drying out too quickly.The children at Halfway House take on this task every day! A project undertaken by Designing Hope with … Read More

In the run-up to Christmas, the children at Bercy kindergarten took part in a creative workshop to make their own greetings cards.We started by cutting out pieces of cardboard to obtain blank cards the size of stencils. Using the stencils, … Read More

All set! All the elements are ready to be hung on the Christmas Teepee in the Traversine Villiot garden! Plant balls, stars decorated with fir branches and pine cones, colored bamboo snowflakes, wooden snowmen… Despite the cold, the children enjoyed … Read More

Children from the Bercy elementary school played an active role in decorating the Christmas Tipi in the Traversine Villiot garden.Among their creations, based exclusively on plants, they decorated stars made from strings wrapped around a wire, using Christmas tree branches … Read More

Christmas is approaching, and the garden teepee is being transformed into a festive Christmas tree! Several workshops were organized to bring this metamorphosis to life…Children from CLAJE (Centre Paris Anim de Villiot) made little snowmen from 2 wooden washers for … Read More

Every year, the tipi in the Villiot vegetable garden is transformed into a Christmas tree, adorned with plant-based Christmas decorations! As part of this animation, pupils from Bercy elementary school made stars by assembling bamboo branches with raffia. After painting … Read More

Children from the Bercy kindergarten made unique, colorful maracas by reusing applesauce containers. To begin with, they applied a coat of varnish to the packaging to make it easier for the paint to adhere. They then chose a solid color … Read More

This afternoon, elementary school pupils created a magnificent piece of Land Art in their school garden. Using dried leaves, chestnuts and small sticks, they imagined and assembled a collective work of art. Everyone contributed in their own way, exchanging ideas … Read More

Children from Bercy elementary school drew inspiration from their own interests to create their own paintings. After gluing the dried leaves to the paper, they drew around them to imagine unique shapes. One, for example, formed a soccer player, while … Read More

If there’s one vegetable that amazes children in the Traversine Bercy vegetable garden, it’s the Blauhilde bean from our seed partner : Agrosemens.And yes, this pole bean, which looks so good on our pergola, isn’t green, it’s purple!Its long pods … Read More

After harvesting and preparing the vegetables, we gave them to the kindergarten children at Bercy school to taste, under the garden’s pergola, which was still covered with our climbing beans… They thoroughly enjoyed themselves, with some children preferring the tomato … Read More

Today, children from the school and CLAJE had the opportunity to meet Shapari Behzadi, a visual artist and teacher from Tehran. She organized a creative activity based on natural elements such as branches, leaves, straw and bundles. The activity involved … Read More

We brought back the harvest from the Bercy school garden to cook all the vegetables. We used the tomatoes to make delicious little tarts topped with cheese. Leeks also found their place in our dishes, cooked with onions and olive … Read More

At the start of this mild, sunny autumn, we harvested the last of the vegetables from the Bercy school garden!Leeks, tomatoes, chard, butternut, beans… We harvested a generous basket to cook them for the Semaine du Goût (Taste Week).It was … Read More

Despite a gloomy summer, growing on a roof terrace has the great advantage of capturing 100% of the sun’s rays.So, even if the sun only shows its nose for an hour a day, or plays hide-and-seek with the clouds, its … Read More

Sowing day at Traversine Bercy!As part of our extracurricular activities with the kindergarten, we got 10 children involved in sowing vegetables adapted to the season.Beans, spinach and chard were on the agenda…To sow the seeds with the right spacing between … Read More

In Villiot garden, children from Bercy school and CLAJE had the opportunity to decorate terracotta pots. Using brushes and brightly-colored paints, their creativity was given free rein.  Some chose to decorate their pots with floral motifs, while others preferred abstract … Read More

To mark the annual party at the Villiot residence, the Designing Hope association organised a cooking workshop in the garden to make the most of the produce from the garden.Freshly harvested spinach was cooked with onions to make the main … Read More

To enable schoolchildren to observe vegetables throughout their life cycle,we resist the pleasure of tasting them, to let them go to seed…The artichoke in the center of the vegetable garden’s large star-shaped tub revealed a magnificent blue flower, attracting bees … Read More

At the Traversine Bercy garden, we focus on observing the life cycle of the vegetable from seed to seed.Our pretty cauliflower was magnificent during summer ! After forming a beautiful white head over 20cm in diameter, it began to change … Read More

On the roof terrace of the Bercy school, space is limited… As a result, the planters are never empty!After removing the tomato plants, they were replaced by celery plants grown in the greenhouse.They will finish growing before winter arrives…

Today, the children at Bercy school took part in a fun activity : a Memory game about fruits and vegetables! Our warmest thanks go to the Garden of Skills sewing workshop in Eswatini for making this lovely fabric game, which … Read More

On their first day at Traversine Bercy, the kindergarteners from the Bercy School had the opportunity to visit the garden and discover the different fruits and vegetables that grow there: beans, strawberries, squash, cherry tomatoes… By observing the inside of … Read More

The tomatoes sown by the children of the Bercy school before the arrival of spring have blossomed in the Traversine kitchen garden!Elongated tomatoes, beef hearts, cherry tomatoes – we chose a variety of varieties, and they all flourished during the … Read More

The children of the nursery school of Bercy and the crèche of Villiot met in the garden of Traversine-Villiot. They composted their vegetable waste (mainly peelings) and visited the garden together. Then, in the kiosk around the clover tables, the … Read More

Abdourahman, the head gardener of the Bala garden, is also in charge of three gardens in three outlying villages.  With the support of The Ivory Foundation, stakes and fences have been purchased to delimit market gardening areas operated by about … Read More

Within the framework of a day of training organized by Unis-Cité and bearing on the topic of the environment, the young people in Civic service were able to put the hand to the paste and to collect the last green … Read More

On Saturday, September 24th, 2022, we took part in the Festival of the Residence Villiot. We welcomed children and adults of the Residence Villiot in the shared garden of the residence. The children were able to enjoy the board games … Read More

New structures have just arrived on the terrace, and will make it possible to increase the surface area cultivated on the roof terrace of the inclusive school of the Petits Princes in Rufisque. The children came to discover these new … Read More

The animators of the garden of Yagma visited various schools in the surroundings in order to promulgate the educational project of the garden. As in the Villiot garden in Paris or the Garden of Skills in Malanti, one of the … Read More

During the visit of the Grand Potager of the Domaine de Fontenille, the Lauris preschool children were separated into four groups. Each tribe was associated with a guardian of the elements: Fuoc, guardian of fire; Aura, guardian of air; Terrà, … Read More

The Lauris preschool children came to visit the Grand Potager of the Domaine de Fontenille. All day long, they were able to discover the different parts of the garden by participating in playful activities (sowing, composting, egg hunt, memory, colouring). … Read More

The Lauris preschool children discovered the principle of the compost in the Grand Potager of the Domaine de Fontenille. The children took turns cutting fruit and vegetable peelings into small pieces and throwing them into the compost. This activity allows … Read More

11 leaves and flowers, chosen to be easily identifiable and recognisable, were taken from the vegetable garden, around the aromatic garden. They were placed on a board and presented to the children of the Lauris kindergarten, who then set off … Read More

The exploration of the Grand Potager is not only one to see and to smell. The children were able to taste a couple of fruits and edible flowers, especially marigold and nasturtium. For those who feel unsure about the flowers, … Read More

During a day at the Grand Potager, nursery classes from the Lauris school had the opportunity to be involved in a flower hunt. Near the bioclimatic green house and the aromatics spiral, a lot of flowers are present. The exercise … Read More

During the Mayor of the 12th arrondissement’s of Paris visit to the Traversine garden, we displayed the pedagogical tools which were conceptualized by Dessine l’Espoir, such as the nutrition games. The children of the Bercy school had the opportunity to … Read More

During their visit to the Grand Potager, the students of the Lauris school paid a visit to observe the pond which is located next to the henhouse, so as to learn many things about the biodiversity that can be found … Read More

Track game at the Grand Potager series 5/5 Last step of the discovery day at the Grand Potager. This open-air theatre is a mere frame made of wooden tubes which is fastened between two small trees. Inspired by puppet theatre, … Read More

Track game at the Grand Potager series 4/5 Another step in the discovery day at the Grand Potager. Balance, patience and focus, all of these were required for the children to succeed in the balancing game’s journey. The game consists … Read More

Track game at the Grand Potager series 3/5 Third step of the discovery day at the Grand Potager: land art ! This artform consists in using materials from nature for esthetics purposes. The children had the opportunity to create their … Read More

Track game series at the Grand Potager 2 / 5 Back to the rest of the discovery day at the Grand Potager. The children focused on drawing reproductions of different elements of the garden, like the keyhole, the mandala, or … Read More

Track game series at the Grand Potager 1 / 5 At the Grand Potager of Fontenille, 20 children of the Lauris summer camp came to discover the garden’s track game. During an afternoon, the children had a walk through the … Read More

The children of the Bercy schools have taken part in a treasure hunt in the Traversine garden. During the journey, they discovered different parts of the garden: the mandala, the pergola’s herbs, the insect houses and even the vegetal teepee. … Read More

This week at the Traversine, the treasure hunt was happily inaugurated by the children. For about 1 hour, they  were able to discover the garden and its components (mandala, keyhole, wall, pergola of herbs etc. …) through a fun and … Read More

The last tomatoes have been harvested in the Grand Potager while the autumn vegetable plants make their appearance on the growing beds. Chard and young mustard shoots develop well. During this season, it is also the occasion to harvest the … Read More

During a school outing, children from Lauris’ school were invited to participate in a treasure hunt through the Grand Potager de Fontenille and its forest paths. Small signs were placed in trees amongst the Domain, presenting different kind of birds, … Read More

The South African fashion designer Thebe Magugu, went to Roosboom to visit Desining Hope’s Half Way House in February 2020. He discovered the outdoor exhibition of his creations photographed by Aart Verrips on scarecrows, in the open fields. This exhibition … Read More

Several times a year, technicians from APAF – the Agroforestry Proposal Association, organize visits to the garden with the children of Yagma’s school. A training program has been implemented with the support of The Ivory Foundation.

After providing classroom training at the Yagma school, APAF accompanies the students for an educational tour of the garden.

On April 29, 2019, the garden of la Traversine was inaugurated by Pénélope Komitès, Deputy Mayor of Paris, responsible for green spaces, nature in the city, biodiversity, urban agriculture and funeral affairs, and by Mrs. Catherine Baratti-Elbaz, Mayor of the … Read More

The garden of La Traversine seen from the sky! On this 300m2 terrace on the roof of the Bercy nursery school, Designing Hope has set up an educational garden as part of the Parisculteurs project. This film offers a great … Read More

The Grand Potager welcomed the pupils of the school of Lauris, for a guided tour of the Grand Potager. The children, had a visit to the different garden elements: the composting area, the keyhole vegetable garden, the insect shelter, the … Read More

In the Grand Potager, animals contribute to soil fertilization. Chickens are placed in a mobile hen house that allows them to feed on the culture beds, while weeding, after harvest. Donkeys and sheep provide manure that is directly used in … Read More

One of the objectives of the Macambeni Garden is to produce fresh vegetables for the social preschool, which is home to orphans and underprivileged children, and offers them a hot meal every day. The children are invited to visit the … Read More

Designing Hope has received the support of a team of 18 L’Oréal employees for the Citizen Day. A day dedicated to the maintenance of the garden, and animation of workshops with the preschool and elementary children from bercy school.

A team of French television channel TF1 came to shoot at the Grand Potager of Fontenille in the presence of the children of the village of Lauris. Below Jerome Faure, the chef of the Domaine de Fontenille, in the presence … Read More

25 children from Lauris school visited le Grand Potager de Fontenille. Le Grand Potager, will start its pedagogical vocation, now that the garden is operational. the children visited the various centers of interest of the garden in groups of 5, … Read More