"Prize for Green Oases in Jena 2023" awarded

The "Prizes for Green Oases in Jena 2023" were awarded today. On behalf of all the award winners, Mayor and Head of Urban Development Christian Gerlitz congratulated the winning Beckmann family for their diversely designed courtyard at Lutherstraße 78.

"The Beckmann family has worked hard to turn a normal courtyard into a diverse green oasis. Fruit trees, raised beds, herb and shrub beds as well as 'wild' areas with an insect hotel, dead wood, bird houses and drinking troughs provide insects and numerous other small animals with food, shelter and a habitat in the middle of a densely populated residential area. The area is rounded off by a terrace and play equipment that invites several families and numerous children from the surrounding area to linger and meet," says Christian Gerlitz, explaining the awarding of the main prize. The prize is €600 and a voucher from Boock Gartenkultur for €25.00.

Other prize winners

This year, the jury, consisting of representatives from the voluntary sector and the administration, decided to award two further prizes and a commendation:

Prize money of €600 goes to the Thorleuchter family. They have created a lot of greenery around their house at Camsdorfer Straße 37. The unsealed front garden is landscaped with a hedge, rose bushes, fruit trees and an extensive flower meadow, wild vines grow along the front of the house and in the inner courtyard there is a large willow next to planted tubs and a raised bed. This stands out in a street that is otherwise not very green.

Jörn Gandke and his fellow campaigners can look forward to prize money of €500 and a voucher from Boock Gartenkultur for €25.00. With a great deal of personal commitment, they have created a large flowering strip with a perennial flowering mixture of native plants and beds with useful plants on a green space between the apartment blocks at Spitzweidenweg 61-75 with the consent of the housing association, which previously had little to offer insects.

Jenaer Antriebstechnik GmbH was honored with an award and €300. It has left space for nature on its company premises at Buchaer Straße 1. A meadow orchard, an open stream, a pond and a cairn have been created and bee colonies have made their home here. There is a green roof with irrigation using collected rainwater, the grounds are relatively unsealed and the outdoor area is left in its natural state. The needs-based maintenance of the outdoor facilities with the help of the employees' association Antriebsgefährte e.V. as well as the control of the invasive jaggery on the company premises go well beyond the green specifications of the project-related development plan.

"Prize for green oases in Jena 2024"

The city of Jena and the jury would like to invite all owners and designers of ecologically and aesthetically particularly successful green facades, roofs, balconies, front gardens, courtyards and fallow land to apply for the "Prize for Green Oases in Jena 2024". Both long-term and temporary green objects can be awarded.

Applications are open to private individuals, companies, clubs, associations, planning offices and architects who own a greened property and/or have created a project and have been authorized by the owner to take part in the competition. Detailed information on how to apply and application deadlines will be announced at the beginning of next year.

"Green Oases in Jena" funding guideline

In addition to the "Green Oases in Jena" prize, there is also the "Green Oases in Jena" funding guideline. This provides grants for greening buildings, unsealing areas/open space design and insect-friendly green space design. Funding is available for greening measures on existing buildings as well as unsealing and greening measures (including tree planting) for front gardens, courtyards and open spaces. Natural persons, communities of owners, companies and associations are eligible to apply.

Laura Bernast, Holger Kirschner vom NABU, Bürgermeister und Dezernent für Stadtentwicklung Christian Gerlitz, Oda Beckmann, Constanze Pfeil, Hans-Detlev Boock von der Gärtnerei Boock, Dr. Frank Hünefeld, Teamleiter Naturschutz bei der Stadtverwaltung.

© Stadt Jena