In 2021, Designing Hope has been entrusted by Paris Habitat with the management for 4 years of the development and the animations of a green space of 300 m2 located in the heart of the Villiot-Rapée residence.



The objective is to make it a place of life and discovery of biodiversity and nature for the children of the residence, but also occasionally for young visitors from the neighborhood. Children from the Paris Amin’ Center in the neighbourhood, from the Bercy nursery and elementary schools, and from the neighborhood daycare center are welcomed to participate in nature-related discovery activities (land art, mime, outdoor theater) and to help maintain the garden.

A Mandala, a vegetable garden designed in the shape of a flower, evolves with the seasons and the contributions of the children. A vegetated teepee is a playful space for children. Growing trays, decorated with metal supports to encourage vertical cultivation, are placed in the sunniest part of the garden.


  • Discover bellow the last posts of Villiot Garden!


Potato planting in the Traversine Villiot garden with children from CLAJE

This afternoon, children from the Paris Anim centre (CLAJE) came to the Traversine Villiot garden for a potato planting activity. Potatoes are easy for children to plant: all they have to do is put a tuber in the ground, which … Read More

Inauguration of the Christmas Tipi of the Villiot garden

The tipi in the Traversine Villiot garden was decked out with plant decorations made by children from the Bercy school, nursery school, creche and Paris Anim centre. Mrs Emanuelle Pierre-Marie, Mayor of the 12th arrondissement, came to inaugurate our Christmas … Read More

Planting broad beans and peas with Bercy’s nursery school children

This December, despite the cold, the kindergarten children planted broad bean and pea seeds, which are particularly suited to the winter season.These seeds are ideal for very young children, as they are easy to handle, given their size.After planting the … Read More

Making ivy garlands for the Christmas teepee.

During the summer, the tipi in the Villiot garden is covered with climbing beans and squash. With no vegetation left over the winter, we decided to bring it back to life by transforming it into a Christmas tree! We organised … Read More

Painting bread apples for the “Christmas Tipi” of Villiot Garden

Designing Hope has mobilised all the children who benefit from the Villiot garden to transform the potager’s tepee into a Christmas tree. This morning, 8 children from the Villiot crèche contributed to the project by decorating bread apples with red … Read More

Sowing broad beans in the traversine Villiot garden

Broad beans are one of the few crops that have to be sown in late autumn.Their large seeds are easy for the children to plant, and in a few days they will be able to see the shoots emerge…Another advantage … Read More

Installation of a keyhole of the Traversine Villiot garden

Keyhole of the Traversine Villiot gardenThe Traversine Villiot garden now has a new feature: a keyhole garden.It features a central composter, whose decomposing elements will feed the circular growing tray that surrounds it.This is a new educational space for the … Read More

The trellis of the Traversine Villiot garden

The trellis at Traversine Villiot is now entirely covered with mulberry trees! Maintained in this way, they are developing rapidly, with stems reaching up to 4 metres! Enough to provide a shady passageway that is beginning to fill with fruit … Read More

Collection of educational games

Dessine l’Espoir has developed a collection of educational games about gardening and the environment. To make them easier to handle, the association has asked the women of Eswatini to make the bags, hand-embroidered with the name of the games and … Read More

Watering the Traversine by the nursery children

Twice a week, children from the Villiot nursery help to maintain the garden. After enriching the compost with peelings from their canteen, they help to water the vegetable garden.

Nursery school children plant lettuce at Traversine Villiot

As part of their work tending the Traversine Villiot vegetable garden, the nursery school children from école de Bercy transplanted lettuce plants onto the mandala and the garden beds.

The TIPI in the Traversine Villiot garden

The climbing beans sown last April on the Traversine Villiot tipi have reached the top in just a few months!The first flowers are starting to turn into beans! This species (from Agrosemens seed) produces purple vegetables that turn green when … Read More

Games with the nursery school children at La Traversine

During their visit to the vegetable garden, the children from the Bercy nursery school split into two groups. While one group looked after the garden, the other played board games created by the association around fruit and vegetables.

Presentation of the insect hotel to the crèche children

Children from the Villiot crèche discover the insect hotel in the traversine garden. The activity leader explains the role of each compartment adapted to a particular type of insect.

Children from the Villiot day nursery compost their vegetable waste in the Traversine-Villiot garden

 Every Wednesday and Friday morning, children from the Villiot collective crèche spend an hour in the Traversine-Villiot garden. The children come with some vegetable waste from the crèche kitchen and put it in our compost, along with dead leaves collected … Read More

Arcimboldo-like self-portrait workshop by the children of CLAJE and elementary school of Bercy, Paris

The children of the Centre Paris Anim’ (CLAJE) elementary school of Bercy realized their self-portrait in the style of Arcimboldo. After colouring fruits and vegetables, the children cut and glued them to form their own face.

Bridging snack with the children of the Bercy kindergarten and the Villiot crèche in the Jardin de la Traversine-Villiot, Paris

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

The children of the Villiot collective crèche compost their vegetable waste and water the Traversine-Villiot garden, Paris

Every Wednesday and Friday morning, the children of the Villiot collective crèche spend an hour in the Traversine-Villiot garden. The children come with some vegetable waste from the nursery kitchen and put it in our compost. Even though the plants … Read More

Harvesting topinamburs from the Traversine-Villiot garden, Paris

With the children of the center Paris Anim’ (CLAJE), we collected the topinamburs (or Jerusalem artichokes) of the garden of Traversine-Villiot. They were each able to leave with a bag of several topinamburs that they had collected themselves. We prepared … Read More

Pine cones decoration workshop with the children of CLAJE

The children welcomed by the Centre Paris Anim’ (CLAJE) decorated pine cones for the end-of-the-year celebrations. They glued pompoms and stars on them, wrapped the pine cones with thread on which they threaded beads and painted the ends of the … Read More

Workshop on the installation of the insect hotel with the children of the CLAJE in the garden of Traversine-Villiot, Paris

With the children welcomed by the Centre Paris Anim’ (CLAJE), the team of Dessine l’Espoir finalised the installation of the insect hotel in the garden of Traversine-Villiot.  We installed pieces of broken bricks for the staphylinid, pine cones for the … Read More

Planting of tulip bulbs at the Traversine Villiot with the children of the nursery of Villiot, Paris

With the children of the nursery of Villiot, we planted bulbs of tulip all around the kiosk of the garden of the Traversine Villiot. The children put the bulb in each hole and then covered it with soil before watering … Read More

Workshop creation of vegetable mobiles with the children of the CLAJE

With the children welcomed by the Centre Paris Anim’ (CLAJE), the team of Dessine l’Espoir organized a workshop creation of mobiles with natural elements.  On straight tree branches, the children hung woolen threads on which they suspended several vegetal elements: … Read More

A meal with the vegetables of the shared vegetable garden at the Traversine Villiot garden with all our partners, Paris

The harvest of vegetables realized at the beginning of November in the garden allowed us to organize a meal in the garden of the residence Villiot-Râpée, in the presence of all the actors who interact regularly with the garden. The … Read More

Vegetable harvest from the Traversine-Villiot garden, Paris, for the benefit of its beneficiaries

We made a harvest before the winter of the vegetables of the garden of Traversine-Villiot : leeks, potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, spinach, celery, onions, beets, tomatoes.  In order to share our vegetables with the people in the garden, we are organizing … Read More

Making pickles with the last tomatoes of the Traversine Villiot garden thanks to the civic services hosted for a training day by Unis-Cité

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

Maintenance of the insect hotel by children from Bercy school

We organised an activity with the children from Bercy school to restore the insect hotel. To do this, we prepared small branches and various natural elements to fill the insect hotel.

Halloween modeling workshop with Double Face at the Traversine Villiot, Paris

To celebrate Halloween, Dessine l’Espoir joined Double Face to allow the children of the residence Villiot Râpée to realize frightening heads of monsters. After a day spent modeling clay under the guidance of Zoé from Double Face, the children painted … Read More

The reproduction of the cauliflower in the garden of the Traversine Villiot, Paris

In the garden of the Traversine Villiot, our cauliflower, after having formed a compact vegetable, continued its growth. To the astonishment of the children, it has grown new stems. This is what we call the process of going to seed … Read More

Landart and plant weaving activities with the children of the CLAJE and the primary schools of Bercy

This Wednesday afternoon, the team of Designing Hope organized 2 creative animations in the garden of the Traversine Villiot, one with the children welcomed by the Centre Paris Anim’ (CLAJE) and the other with the children of the primary schools … Read More

The Residence Villiot Festival, Paris

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

Installation of the game tables in the kiosk of the Traversine Villiot, Paris

Games tables forming a four-leaf clover were installed in the Traversine Villiot. These tables are used to organise educational pedagogical activities with children from the Bercy school, the Claje (Paris Anim) and the local nursery. The four tables can be … Read More

Vertical culture in a teepee, a playful and practical tool at the Jardin de la Traversine Villiot, Paris

Our association made and installed a teepee in bamboo in the garden of the Traversine Villiot. It allows us to optimize the surface by using the principle of vertical culture. Squash, cucumbers and tomatoes grow around the tepee and climb … Read More

First crops and teepee in the Villiot garden, Paris

The first spring crops are there in the Villiot garden! Mulberry trees were planted in the first two containers and seedlings of radishes and carrots were made in the containers transformed into a greenhouse. We also planted mint seedlings on … Read More

Plant decoration of frames with Claje in the Villiot garden, Paris

The children of the youth center of Villiot (Claje – Paris Anim) decorated wooden frames in the Villiot garden. First, they painted the outline of the frame in the colours of their choice. They then ventured into the garden to … Read More

Onion and oca planting with the children of the nursery in the garden of Villiot, Paris

The children from the nursery were introduced to gardening at the Villiot garden by planting onion and oca bulbs on the earth beds that form the mandala. In the holes dug with their little shovels, they put potting soil to … Read More

Installation of a trellis to be vegetated in the gardens of Villiot

The Villiot garden is almost ready to receive its spring crops. The last tubs have just been positioned, topped with curved metal structures, which will allow the mulberry trees to climb and form a semi-shaded passageway in the center of … Read More

Replanting of ground cover in the garden of Villiot

In order to facilitate the maintenance of the garden and to limit to the maximum the return of the weeds, we applied the technique of the vegetable ground cover to the garden of Villiot. Along the path surrounding the circular … Read More

Mise en place des bacs de culture au Jardin de la Traversine Villiot, Paris

Dans le prolongement du mandala, 6 bacs de culture rectangulaires réalisés en pin douglas ont été installés. Des structures métalliques incurvées sont prévues à chaque angle afin de créer une treille et de constituer un chemin végétalisé et accueillant vers … Read More

Installation of the insect hôtel of the Traversine Villiot

The team of Designing Hope finalized the insect hotel at Traversine Villiot’s garden with the youngsters of the association Jeunesse Feu-Vert. First of all, a wire mesh was stapled to the back of the structure to prevent the various components … Read More

Mandala preparation at Villiot garden, Paris.

The development of the Villiot garden continues with the design of the mandala, a set of cultivation plots in the shape of flower petals. A cardboard template is used to trace the petals so that they are all equal. The … Read More

Future set-in-nature theatre is underway at the Traversine Villiot garden

The Traversine garden will soon host a mini set-in-nature theatre ! First step: cutting out and colouring the paper templates that will bring to life all the stories that the children made up. Fairies, boares, feathers, pumpkin houses, she-warriors… that … Read More

Diversity, a message carried by the children of the Bercy school

Last week, children from the Bercy school gathered at the Traversine Villiot to proudly hold up the letters of the word “Diversity” topped with flowers, replicas of the “Porte-Bonheurs” (Lucky charms) designed by Thebe Magugu, that they decorated by themselves. 

Furnishing the Traversine Villiot’s nature theatre

Six 1,20 metre-long wooden benches were built by Designing Hope, a good opportunity to improvise a carpentry workshop with the young people and the educators of the Jeunesse Feu Vert foundation. The theatre will be fitted out with these benches … Read More

Construction of the children’s theatre at the Traversine Villiot garden

Now that the mound is in shape, it is time to set up the nature theatre. This 4.5 metre-diameter metal structure will be entirely vegetated with woven willow and honeyhsuckle. The metal structure has been designed in such a way … Read More

Weeding work is over at the Traversine Villiot garden

Throughout the summer, we worked the soil within a depth of more than 30cm to remove all the roots of couch grass, nettles and brambles, as well as the stones that got in our way when loosening the soil. The … Read More

Landscaping of the mound in the Traversine Villiot garden.

Now that the whole plot has been carefully weeded, it is time to redesign the garden. First step: work on the mound. On the street side, the garden forms a mound that we decided to preserve and harmonise to create … Read More

A new Traversine garden in the 12th arrondissement of Paris

On 5 July 2021, Designing Hope signed an agreement with Paris Habitat to take charge of the development of a garden in the Villiot-Rapée residence. This new garden is named Traversine Villiot and is a logical complement to the first … Read More

A mural in the Traversine Villiot garden

To go along with the arrival of our educational garden in Villiot, Paris Habitat commissioned the artist Pascal Schulz, accompanied by two young people from the Jeunesse Feu Vert foundation working in an educational project, to create a mural. Until … Read More