La Cité-Limoilou – Residents of the central districts of Quebec will soon be able to benefit from green walls, created as part of a pilot project by the City of Quebec and Nature Quebec.
By Estelle Lévêque
What if we greened our cities vertically? Nature Québec, whose offices are located in the Montcalm district, is collaborating with the City of Quebec on a new project. Leading actions for biodiversity, forests, energy and climate, as well as the urban environment, the NPO is today initiating the planting of green walls.
As part of the redevelopment of central neighborhoods, and in particular friendly streets, the City of Quebec is planning green spaces, as explained by Patricia Collerette, advisor on culture, leisure and community life. “This pilot project comes from a questioning by the City aimed at encouraging the integration of green walls among citizens. Space is sometimes limited, so we think about all possible greening options. »
Explore the possibilities
Following a first stage of research and documentation on green walls, Nature Québec is today working on their concrete implementation. “We opened an application period for two weeks; we received around forty,” explains Lukas Daunora, project manager in urban design and greening at Nature Québec. “From there, we began to explore different possible paths. Currently, we are trying to understand what the demands of the different organizations and citizens participating in the project are. »
Thus, the NPO works on a case-by-case basis, with around twenty selected participants. Taking into account the characteristics of the walls envisaged, Lukas Daunora defines with the participants the native plants best suited to the support and the space available. In particular, the rusticity of the wall and the amount of light are taken into account. Once the prototypes have been defined for each, the project manager hopes to plant the plants at the beginning of June.
Ultimately, the project aims to clear the different stages of setting up a green wall for citizens. “It’s about developing the right tools. We want to explore and see what works,” summarizes Ms. Collerette.
Easy solutions and wins
With an investment of $10,000 from the City of Quebec for the entire pilot project, Nature Québec is working on simple and inexpensive actions. “We aim for the smallest intervention possible for the best result,” explains Patricia Collerette. “We want to stay with inexpensive systems, precisely so that it is accessible to everyone, subsequently. »
Moreover, Mr. Daunora says he is pleasantly surprised by the ease with which green walls can be installed.
“A project can accommodate lots of hybrid green wall systems. We are not going to limit ourselves only to planting on the ground or to a plant that climbs the wall. We can also talk about structure, rope, trellis; and all of this can intersect. I find it really interesting to see, through this pilot project, how all these greening prototypes can coexist together. »
Lukas Daunora, project manager in urban design and greening at Nature Québec
Encouraging greening at the individual level
By providing an affordable greening solution, the City of Quebec hopes to see, more and more, neighborhoods become greener in height. More specifically, she wants to encourage residents of Cité-Limoilou to green their walls.
“It’s really in these neighborhoods that space is limited to plant anything else. In Haute-Saint-Charles, for example, we are going to encourage people to plant a street tree. »
Patricia Collerette, culture, leisure and community life advisor, about the pilot project for green walls in La Cité-Limoilou.
In the eyes of Mr. Daunora, this project is beneficial on an individual and collective level. It provides an additional solution to the fight against heat islands and the preservation of biodiversity. “There is a lot of potential in the places I see. […] People have a lot of enthusiasm. When I met them, people wanted to change their living environment, to participate. »
To find out more about green walls in Quebec City, consult the following link. To find out more about the actions carried out by Nature Québec, consult the following link.
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