“La Traversine” is the name of an urban pedagogical garden of 300m2 located on the roof of the Bercy school in the 12th arrondissement of Paris. It is one of the 30 projects selected by the City of Paris for its “Parisculteurs” competition.
[Traversine], a name that symbolizes a gateway towards other cultures, as a North-South “agri-cultural” exchange.
Composition of the garden
Animations in the garden
Located on the roof of the Bercy school in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, this terrace, although originally intended only to serve as a passage in the event of an evacuation, has now been transformed into an experimental and educational garden. Designing Hope conceived an urban vegetable garden gathering several approaches to sustainable agriculture (agro-ecology, permaculture), which are already implemented by the association with children in Burkina Faso, South Africa, Swaziland, and Senegal.
By using the program “Communicating Classes” chosen by the Bercy school, and the equipment of relay classes in Africa, the activities around La Traversine encourage the exchanges of experiences, and add value to the activities that are carried out in the garden.
Playful activities for children, organized in small groups during the extracurricular time in collaboration with the educational team, echoe with those carried out in the schools that are located in the other countries.
We approach various themes: the soil, the seed, the cycle of life of a plant, the compost, the auxiliary insects, the methods of culture.
We raise the children’s awareness of the valorization of the school’s resources for the fertilization of the garden (the composting of leaves, branches from the courtyard’s trees and food waste from the canteen).
Finally, we encourage them to try some plantations at home, if they have a balcony, or if they have access to a garden somewhere with a family member, encouraging them to recycle, compost, and giving them seeds or plants, as we do in Africa.
In September 2020, after having taken flight on the roofs of Bercy, Designing Hope was obliged to temporarily move the garden to the ground floor, at the back of the elementary school yard, in order to allow the roof of the building to be waterproofed.
This presence in the courtyard has strengthened the links between the after-school team and the Designing Hope association’s civic services team.
A treasure hunt has been designed by the association to animate this garden.
The return to the roof is planned for 2023.
Click below to contribute to the management of this garden !
A project supported by: