France/Marseille: a new Japanese garden is going to be created in Longchamp Park

The end of the school year should see the inauguration of a new Japanese garden in the heart of Longchamp Park (4th). This project, carried out by Marseille classes from CE2 to CM2 and the park teams, is a tribute to the 60 years of twinning between Marseille and the city of Kobe, Japan.

On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the twinning of Marseille and the city of Kobe, in Japan, a new Japanese garden will be created in the Longchamp Park (4th district). On its upper part, a hundred square meters will be decorated with the colors of the nature of the Land of the Rising Sun. No destruction is planned in this area, which is already undergoing rehabilitation. This new installation, costing a total of €14,000, should be inaugurated by the end of the school year depending on the evolution of sanitary conditions.

"A cross-cutting educational project, which touches on education, the environment..."

The architects of this new place will be none other than the pupils of Marseille's schools, from CE2 to CM2. "A call for projects has been launched. We already have about fifteen who have responded," says Michèle Rubirola, first deputy mayor and delegate for health and international relations.

The participating classes will have to create a model of the place. Five of them will be selected before choosing the project that will see the light of day in the park. One half-day per week, the winning class will work on the garden with the Parc Longchamp team. "The objective was to propose a cross-cutting educational project, which touches on education, the environment, cultural openness and citizenship. Here, everything has been brought together", explains the elected representative.

This new development comes 10 years after the inauguration of the Japanese garden in Borély Park (8th). With a total surface area of 1,700 m2, the latter honoured the partnership that has linked the Mediterranean to the far east of Asia for half a century.

It should be noted that Longchamp Park is the subject of a management plan launched by the City of Marseille, to give it back its "remarkable" status and offer more contemporary uses.

Source: madeinmarseille.net