Des jardins familiaux centenaires labellisés : quel avenir ? L’exemple du site Paul Philippe à Versailles

In 2014 the historic and fully independent urban allotment gardens of Petits-Bois in Versailles, in their pure and traditional form, were given a French label for ‘Remarkable Gardens’, awarded by the Ministry of Culture. Unfortunately, this official recognition in itself does not necessarily guarant...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pierre Desnos
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Ministère de la Culture et de la Communication 2018-12-01
Series:In Situ
Subjects:
Online Access:http://journals.openedition.org/insitu/18798
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author Pierre Desnos
author_facet Pierre Desnos
author_sort Pierre Desnos
collection DOAJ
description In 2014 the historic and fully independent urban allotment gardens of Petits-Bois in Versailles, in their pure and traditional form, were given a French label for ‘Remarkable Gardens’, awarded by the Ministry of Culture. Unfortunately, this official recognition in itself does not necessarily guarantee their future if the question of the gardens’ management is not properly addressed. This is all too often the case when it comes to dealing with the preservation of an institution of this type. In a first part of this article, we shall give the historian’s point of view, recounting the history of allotment gardens in Versailles and its neighbouring municipalities between 1901 and 2017. We try to evaluate the way in which these gardens functioned from the point of view of those running them, such as philanthropists, elected municipal officials or the gardeners themselves. In a second part of the article, we shall examine the point of view of an administrator today. The ‘Remarkable Garden’ label awarded to the Paul Philippe site in Petits-Bois gave the allotment administrators a whole new set of problems: the problem of opening up the garden to outside visitors, of reviewing longstanding practices and calling them into question, of understanding the differences between urban and rural allotment gardens. For today’s volunteers—the gardeners themselves—it is sometimes difficult to master the complexities of these management problems. The development and survival of allotment gardens is intimately linked with this question of their management, as the history and current situation of the Versailles association shows. Preserving allotment gardens by giving them labels or statutory protection as historic monuments is not adequate. Appropriate ways of helping the garden’s managers, operating under the terms of the French law of 1901 on non-profit associations, will also have to be found.
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spelling doaj.art-157fa8beffba45f1bac63ab0dd9cc0b12022-12-22T02:40:16ZfraMinistère de la Culture et de la CommunicationIn Situ1630-73052018-12-013710.4000/insitu.18798Des jardins familiaux centenaires labellisés : quel avenir ? L’exemple du site Paul Philippe à VersaillesPierre DesnosIn 2014 the historic and fully independent urban allotment gardens of Petits-Bois in Versailles, in their pure and traditional form, were given a French label for ‘Remarkable Gardens’, awarded by the Ministry of Culture. Unfortunately, this official recognition in itself does not necessarily guarantee their future if the question of the gardens’ management is not properly addressed. This is all too often the case when it comes to dealing with the preservation of an institution of this type. In a first part of this article, we shall give the historian’s point of view, recounting the history of allotment gardens in Versailles and its neighbouring municipalities between 1901 and 2017. We try to evaluate the way in which these gardens functioned from the point of view of those running them, such as philanthropists, elected municipal officials or the gardeners themselves. In a second part of the article, we shall examine the point of view of an administrator today. The ‘Remarkable Garden’ label awarded to the Paul Philippe site in Petits-Bois gave the allotment administrators a whole new set of problems: the problem of opening up the garden to outside visitors, of reviewing longstanding practices and calling them into question, of understanding the differences between urban and rural allotment gardens. For today’s volunteers—the gardeners themselves—it is sometimes difficult to master the complexities of these management problems. The development and survival of allotment gardens is intimately linked with this question of their management, as the history and current situation of the Versailles association shows. Preserving allotment gardens by giving them labels or statutory protection as historic monuments is not adequate. Appropriate ways of helping the garden’s managers, operating under the terms of the French law of 1901 on non-profit associations, will also have to be found.http://journals.openedition.org/insitu/18798workers’ allotment gardenshistoric family gardensVersaillesPetits-Boisprotection‘Remarkable Garden’ label
spellingShingle Pierre Desnos
Des jardins familiaux centenaires labellisés : quel avenir ? L’exemple du site Paul Philippe à Versailles
In Situ
workers’ allotment gardens
historic family gardens
Versailles
Petits-Bois
protection
‘Remarkable Garden’ label
title Des jardins familiaux centenaires labellisés : quel avenir ? L’exemple du site Paul Philippe à Versailles
title_full Des jardins familiaux centenaires labellisés : quel avenir ? L’exemple du site Paul Philippe à Versailles
title_fullStr Des jardins familiaux centenaires labellisés : quel avenir ? L’exemple du site Paul Philippe à Versailles
title_full_unstemmed Des jardins familiaux centenaires labellisés : quel avenir ? L’exemple du site Paul Philippe à Versailles
title_short Des jardins familiaux centenaires labellisés : quel avenir ? L’exemple du site Paul Philippe à Versailles
title_sort des jardins familiaux centenaires labellises quel avenir l exemple du site paul philippe a versailles
topic workers’ allotment gardens
historic family gardens
Versailles
Petits-Bois
protection
‘Remarkable Garden’ label
url http://journals.openedition.org/insitu/18798
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