Chemigarden

The project aims to restore the currently closed gardens of the Faculty of Chemistry, for them to be enjoyed by the faculty community.

This project relates to themes 1, 2, and 4 of the Green Challenge 2021. The Faculty of Chemistry has two internal gardens, which are currently closed due to their severe state of deterioration. Safety problems (such as the falling of fragments of the walls) have forced the closure of the premises; there are exhausts from air conditioning devices at ground level that have affected the plant growth; and there are also some air exhausts from several laboratories in the building basement. The aim of this project is the restoration of these gardens for them to be incorporated in the social routine of the different groups of the faculty: designed areas to have lunch; to rest between lectures; to socialize in a safe, outdoor environment. Several actions have been projected in a multi-phase intervention plan. On one hand, corrective actions will be undertaken to ensure the safety of the gardens, to relocate the air conditioning devices, and to try to isolate the exhausts from the laboratories by building walls that in turn can allocate vertical gardens. On the other hand, we will plant representative species for the Mediterranean area to ensure biodiversity. Additionally, we’ll fertilize soils with a mixture of biochar, originated from the revalorization of the biomass originated from tree pruning and hedge trimming, and compost, originated from food waste from the restaurant of the Faculty, and produced and available through a small composter placed nearby. To achieve these goals, besides the collaboration of the Gardening Service of the UB, we will have the involvement of teaching staff and students doing their bachelor and master final projects related to environmental engineering areas.

It will involve mainly the building of the Faculty of Chemistry. However, the members of the Faculty of Physics will also benefit from this intervention, as this facility may be shared by the two faculties.

The project is ambitious, especially the construction of walls to isolate the gardens from air exhausts and the intervention in the inner façade of the Faculty building. The rest of interventions (i.e., generation of biochar with low-temperature furnaces; acquisition of plants and soils; or generation of compost) has a lower associated cost. Thus, the cost of the multiphase project is expected to be elevated, although cofunding is expected from the UB General management unit, and the Centre administration office. Then, we consider a required budget of 8000 euros.

All the interventions of this multiphase action plan will be performed by specialized workers, students and academic staff that will comply with the established safety measures and protocols regarding COVID-19 restrictions. All members of the faculty are used to COVID-19 protocols, especially the use of masks, hand washing and social distance. Regardless the evolution of the pandemics, the restoration of these outdoor gardens agrees with the university strategy of enhancing the access to well-ventilated areas to the members of the faculty.