Crowdfunding platform and municipal subsidy for urban greening

In 2015 the city of Ghent launched a crowdfunding platform (Crowdfunding.gent) that allows citizens to share their ideas and raise the necessary funds to realize them. The focus of crowdfunding.gent is on projects with a societal benefit. The platform additionally offers initiators the opportunity to apply for a municipal subsidy of the project. In particular, the city has provided a fund of €55.000 per year specifically assigned to the crowdfunding platform and initiators can choose to apply for 25, 50 or 75% of municipal funding. One of the projects that has been funded under citizens' initiative is the “Lekker dichtbij!”, which establishes mini-gardens on balconies of social housing. Another project, “the Edible Street”, set-out to transform the traditional stone facades into vertical gardens to create additional green areas while stimulating local food production.