As part of the Belgrade Urban Oasis 2024 project (EUNIC / Goethe-Institut Serbia), a neglected public green space in the Julino Brdo neighborhood has been transformed into a lively meeting place. Building on previous experience, this year, the Belgrade Urban Oasis 2025 project (Goethe-Institut Serbia) continues the landscaping and maintenance of the space, with the idea of expanding the spectrum of planned activities in this place and connecting it with the environment in a sociological and spatial sense. During 2024, a high-quality network of cooperation was established between visiting experts and teachers and students of the Department of Landscape Architecture and Horticulture of the Faculty of Forestry, the local community of residents of Julino Brdo, and users and employees of the Center for Accommodation and Day Care for Children and Youth with Developmental Disabilities. The oasis was designed according to a student project called The Ship, which took into account the needs of users and included their suggestions in the design, so that, among other things, a pleasant stay is enabled throughout the day for different needs and groups of users, with an emphasis on raising new greenery and creating artistic murals on the walls of public buildings that form the space. The student project also contributed to the creation of a place identity, which influenced users’ identification with the space, their mutual connection, and the achievement of a greater degree of inclusivity and health benefits of being outdoors. Several gatherings were held in the oasis: concerts, art workshops for children and center users, greenery planting, joint mural painting, presentation of a literary publishing house, neighbor meetings. Continuous attention is needed when it comes to planted greenery, so the users of the space now largely manage the lawn watering system and care for the plants in the planters. Working with plants in public space is an opportunity to connect the community, but also a useful activity that brings psychological well-being, proven in research and practice of horticultural therapy and healing gardens. This year, the goal of the Oasis on Julino Brdo is to activate green spaces: for all interested parties, neighbors, employees and center users, to remain connected in the maintenance and further greening up of the space. The previous experience in forming an oasis will be of great benefit in this task, as well as good examples of already existing small urban gardens of the residents of Julino Brdo.
