Institut Gustave Roussy's Green program
" The hospital provides care, but it also pollutes and has a negative impact on people's health. We launched a Green program to green the site," explains environmental engineer Jérémy Vitré.
" For a long time, a group of doctors did wild plantations. It was green guerrilla warfare! Then, following the COVID, the teams expressed their need to breathe, to get some fresh air, and to reappropriate the outdoor spaces to beautify them too. Management finally decided to plant the site.
Just off the A6 freeway, the Gustave Roussy site, Europe's leading cancer center, is very urban, with very little green space and a massive, high-rise building.
The first step was to plant a 150 m2 orchard with around twenty trees. " We wanted to create a mini fruit forest with cherry, plum, apple and quince trees grown in the Île-de-France region ". The orchard is open to all: patients, healthcare professionals, families and local residents. A picnic area is also open near the research building. Last but not least, the main entrance to the site now features a dry Mediterranean garden . " This area is arid and extremely exposed to the wind, so we wanted resilient plants that didn't require too much maintenance or water. We have lavender, for example.
A participatory vegetable garden in the heart of the hospital
" It's right in the middle of the buildings. It's an incredible space for conviviality, maintained by a 'garden group' of around a hundred employee volunteers in their personal time. Picking is open to all, and harvests are shared, with everyone going home with their own little bundle of cherry tomatoes, for example. It's really a great success, and we've created a meeting place at the foot of the hospital.