Ġnien il-Kunsill in Xewkija is set to officially become Gozo’s first carbon neutral garden!

The Xewkija 744-square-metre area will be transformed into an eco-garden powered by renewable energy generated within the same site.

New reservoirs and advanced irrigation systems that reduce water waste are set to be installed together with new trees, shrubs and solar-powered light poles.

Project Green and the Local Council will also introduce other renewable energy systems. This includes a wind tree, which generates electricity through small wind turbines, and kinetic flooring, an innovative technology with surfaces that convert visitors’ kinetic energy into electricity as they walk, work out or run over them.

The garden’s play equipment will be replaced with kinetic jumping pods and spring riders that generate lights and sounds as children play with them.

New climbing structures, slides and tunnels that blend in with the garden’s environment, and a balancing trail made of recycling plastic are also included in the garden’s new design.

The garden will also have USB charging stations and benches for persons who visit this open space to work or study.

Project Green is also proposing circular benches around some of the garden’s existing trees. Pathways will not be covered in concrete or other impermeable surface but will instead be formed out of mesh and gravel, to increase rainwater absorption.

A similar kind of garden was already opened in Kalkara, Malta just last year.