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North Hungary’s community-driven local action for food security and climate resilience

Climate-resilient gardens: a participatory model for rural adaptation and self-sufficiency

  • 13 400 km2

    rural region

  • 1.2 million

    inhabitants, mostly in small villages 

  • 2023-ongoing

    Implementation timeline

Replicability

Adapting the community resilience programme across Europe’s small villages for rural local food security.

Best suited for

This project is best suited for replication in small rural villages, with lower adaptive capacity to face climate threats like droughts and extreme weather. It is especially relevant for municipalities with ageing populations, where traditional ecological knowledge risks being lost, and communities reliant on agriculture or natural resources but lacking policy or financial support. The model thrives where local authorities, experts and residents collaborate, making it adaptable for other rural areas.  

Stakeholders' role

The project engages a diverse range of stakeholders, including local municipalities that establish and manage biointensive gardens, residents and experienced gardeners who provide mentorship. Local authorities and experts collaborate to integrate climate adaptation into planning, while EU LIFE serves as the primary funding body. Additionally, community networks actively participate in workshops, events and knowledge-sharing, ensuring broad involvement in building resilience. 

Built-in scalable tools

The project’s built-in upscaling tool is its community resilience programme, a structured, annually renewable model combining workshops, mentorship and financial incentives to support ecological gardening. Designed for replication, it provides a practical framework that other rural communities can adopt to strengthen climate resilience, food self-sufficiency and local adaptation efforts. 

Funding pathways

The project is funded by the EU LIFE programme. This funding supports the implementation of community-based climate adaptation solutions, including biointensive gardens, workshops, mentorship programmes and institutional capacity building. The financial incentives provided to residents for transitioning to ecological practices are also part of this funding framework. 

The vegetable garden project was funded for a total of 1 746 561.00 €, of which 60% has been received from the LIFE program and the remaining €698,624 co-funded by the National government. Initial cost for the implementation of the municipality garden and the citizen’s mentoring support is estimated ranging from 40000 to 50000 €.