Garden in Rakova Jelša - open meeting place - Slovenia

At the beginning of the previous year our public institution »Mala ulica« received a free garden to rent in the vicinity of the city centre and the highway from the City Municipality of Ljubljana (Department for the conservation of the environment).

This garden comprises 2000m2 and is not fully equipped. The part of the city Ljubljana, where our garden is located, is called “Rakova Jelša” and is known as an urban but socially stigmatized spot where illegal constructions took place in the past. The rules there have always been different than elsewhere in the city, on the urbanistic as well as on the social-economic sphere. Step by step, this part of the capital is being integrated into the city, the stigmatisation is slowly disappearing and “Rakova Jelša” is no longer a synonym for an urban and social problem. Our programme is also contributing to the destigmatisation of this area.

The area offers excellent opportunities for mindful games and creativity, it is a great starting point for trips, it is surrounded by a meadow and an orchard. The garden was passed on to us on the day the epidemic started in Slovenia. Considering all the protection measures that the pandemic requires of us, we offer a regular programme in which we cocreate the space with our programme so that it fulfils the wishes and the needs of our clients (families).

Ambition & goals

  • Working by the principle of »learning by doing« and the principles of forest pedagogy.
  • Kids from different social backgrounds can participate in different workshops.
  • Inclusion of children with special needs into the programmes.
  • Integration and empowering children. 
  • Destigmatisation of this area.
  • Our ambition is to provide the programme in all seasons of the year with different workshops (gardening, cooking, building a treehouse, repairing etc.)

Target Group

Families with different social backgrounds and kids from 1 - 12 years old.

Evaluation - lessons learned

The project is very well accepted by all kinds of families and children. All the workshops are very well attended. Summer holiday camps  are fully booked in summer and winter holidays. Questionnaires were evaluated with an excellent grade.

  • Open space accessible to families from different social backgrounds.
  • Learning by doing method. 
  • Kids from different social backgrounds can participate in different workshops.
  • Integration and empowering children.
  • Stimulating children to participate in different kinds or work acitvities that as prevalent in modern urban lifestyle of Ljubljana  (builnding, gardening, knitting, cooking using vegetables from the garden etc.)
  • Our garden is a unique space in the city of Ljubljana.

More information

Activities » Mala ulica