Guerrilla Gardening Craze Blossoms in Grey Pristina

By day they don suits and work for international organisations and civil society groups. But by night, they swap the pinstripes for ripped jeans and take to the derelict plots of Pristina to plant flowers.

Welcome to the slightly strange world of guerrilla gardening in Kosovo’s capital.

The term refers to unsanctioned cultivation on someone else’s land. It encompasses any activity that aims to beautify a piece of wasteland, from planting flowers to cleaning up litter.

Guerrilla gardening happens without permission, as Richard Reynolds explains in his blog.

Therefore, guerrilla gardening activities take place mostly at night.

The concept first emerged some thirty years ago in New York where the so-called Green Guerrilla Group transformed a vacant private lot into a garden.

After nearly three decades, the group continues to be active and counts 600 members.

The craze has now arrived in Pristina, brought by members of its large international community, but is also winning followers among Kosovars keen to spruce up their city.

Jeff, who asked for his full name not to be published, came to Kosovo in early 2010 with no prior experience of guerrilla gardening.

This, however, did not deter him from launching the idea on an unprepared public.

“When I was standing on my balcony overlooking piles of garbage, I became aware of the need for green spaces here,” he told Balkan Insight.

So he assembled a group of seven friends and since last spring, the enthusiastic team has transformed five spots in Pristina.

Pristina’s inner beauty

“Pristina is struggling to expose its inner beauty,” says Jeff.

“We are trying to lead by example and create a sense of ownership of common property.”

The first guerrilla gardening project took place opposite the former OSCE building in downtown Pristina, where the team planted flowers in concrete flower boxes near the bus stop.

Several days later the flowers had gone. But Jeff and the team were not discouraged.

“People took out the roots of the plants so they could plant them at home,” he told Balkan Insight. “We went back and planted some more. After they had gone, we went back again. Every time they lasted a bit longer,” he added.

“You have to use flowers that can resist cold weather and also must be careful not to be too ambitious; you have to be able to be in and out of the place in an hour,” he advises.

The most challenging aspect of guerrilla gardening is post-planting maintenance; flowers need watering and newly accumulated litter needs to be removed.

For this, Jeff stresses the need to involve local residents; involving them in the process will increase feelings of ownership and encourage them to look after the garden.

This sense of ownership towards public space has been one area that NGO activist Elizabeth Gowing, of The Ideas Partnership, has been working on.

“First, it is related to culture and habit forming,” she said referring to the lack of care towards public spaces. “There is a need to change what is acceptable; throwing litter on the street is not.”

But it is not just the mentality which must change, Gowing believes; the state must also pro- vide infrastructure.

“There is a lack of infrastructure and a poorly developed system of waste collection,” she said, adding that Kosovo simply produces too much litter.

“Don’t just tell people not to do something, but explain to them why. We have to counter the prevailing belief that one person cannot make a difference,” she added.

Meriton, a translator from Pristina, tried to encourage his neighbours to transform a vacant plot outside his apartment block into a green area.

“I figured, although it’s public, if you can put garbage and cars there, why not trees?” he said.

Enthusiasm among his neighbours was lacking though. “I knocked on every door of my block, but only five out of a thousand people could muster the effort to help.”

Convincing the sceptics and Meriton’s newly transformed public garden did not last long. “One day, I saw a car driving over the young trees as there was no other space in sight where he could park,” he said. “If people do not know how much effort you put into it then they simply don’t care.

Even the few green areas of Pristina are ruined by litter.”

But Meriton is still hopeful and supportive of Jeff ’s initiative. “I will try it again this spring and I am sure fewer trees will get destroyed that time,” he said.

After a summer camp in Rugova Valley, The Ideas Partnership, Era and the Balkan Peace Park Project helped children from Fushë Kosovë to transform the litter site next to the town’s community centre into a garden.

At first people were sceptical. “They would walk by and tell us there was no point in what we were doing,” Gowing said. Four months later however, the garden is looking good.

Jeff believes that perceptions of the need for green spaces and acceptance of guerrilla gardening are changes for the better.

“First I was considered a curiosity, and then people started thanking me for what I was doing,” he said.

“Change only happens one pace at a time.”

Now that winter has arrived in Pristina, the guerrilla gardeners are hibernating, waiting for spring.

But the team has already identified their next project and as soon as the first rays of sunshine return, be prepared wake up one morning to see a pile of litter next to your office transformed into a flowery scene.  

Feeling motivated to roll up your sleeves and join the group to help make Pristina a greener city?

Please contact info@prishtinainsight.com for more information.