Working the Playground: Urban Gardens and Sustainable Futures?
Lead Research Organisation:
The Open University
Department Name: Faculty of Arts and Social Sci (FASS)
Abstract
As a cultural geographer, I try to understand how people, places, power relations and cultures shape our social life. My research focuses on how people make sense of their lives and their urban environment through gardening in cities. I study the complex field of everyday interactions between people, plants and animals, and thereby further our understanding of how ideas of work and play are formed and redefined in urban gardens. I talk with urban gardeners, join in with their activities and observe what they do over a longer period of time. This in-depth engagement helps to make visible the rich embodied experience of cultivating an urban garden and sheds light on both the hard work of looking after a garden and the sensory and social play of this practice. This research makes a difference by providing a nuanced understanding of the social, environmental and economic implications of urban gardening. It furthermore puts to the fore that allotment, community and guerrilla gardens are important parts of people's everyday lives in cities and makes a case for protecting and enhancing these meaningful places.
During the fellowship, the internationally recognised architecture and art studio muf architecture/art and I plan to work together to influence urban policy making in London on themes of sustainability, community and the public realm. This collaboration with muf architecture/art, which as one of the Mayor's Design Advocates has a role in delivering projects championed by the Greater London Authority (GLA), involves disseminating the research results of my PhD thesis and translating these findings into forms that can inform policy making processes. All three case studies for my PhD research were situated in London. The extensive and in-depth study of an allotment site, a community garden and guerrilla garden sites provides a rich evidence base for the formulation of urban policy on green spaces and their socialities. The fellowship will also facilitate an exchange of knowledge between the London context of urban gardening and Berlin, through an overseas research visit to the Technische Universität Berlin.
The fellowship will contribute to current debates on urban sustainable futures and the new London Plan; it will argue that allotment, community and guerrilla gardens do not just have an environmental impact, they are not just green spaces that contribute to the city's biodiversity and cleaner air, but that they are specific sites of sociality as well.
During the fellowship, the internationally recognised architecture and art studio muf architecture/art and I plan to work together to influence urban policy making in London on themes of sustainability, community and the public realm. This collaboration with muf architecture/art, which as one of the Mayor's Design Advocates has a role in delivering projects championed by the Greater London Authority (GLA), involves disseminating the research results of my PhD thesis and translating these findings into forms that can inform policy making processes. All three case studies for my PhD research were situated in London. The extensive and in-depth study of an allotment site, a community garden and guerrilla garden sites provides a rich evidence base for the formulation of urban policy on green spaces and their socialities. The fellowship will also facilitate an exchange of knowledge between the London context of urban gardening and Berlin, through an overseas research visit to the Technische Universität Berlin.
The fellowship will contribute to current debates on urban sustainable futures and the new London Plan; it will argue that allotment, community and guerrilla gardens do not just have an environmental impact, they are not just green spaces that contribute to the city's biodiversity and cleaner air, but that they are specific sites of sociality as well.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Jan Van Duppen (Principal Investigator / Fellow) |
Publications
Corrigan-Kavanagh E
(2020)
Exploring the Future of the Book from the Next Generation Paper Project.
in Publishing History
Frohlich D
(2019)
The Cornwall a-book: An Augmented Travel Guide Using Next Generation Paper
in The Journal of Electronic Publishing
Van Duppen J
(2020)
Seeing patterns on the ground: reflections on field-based photography
in Open Arts Journal
Van Duppen J
(2019)
Picturing Diversions: The Work/Play of Walking on London Pavements
in Roadsides
Van Duppen J
(2021)
Book review: The Botanical City
in Urban Studies
Van Duppen, J.
(2021)
[Book Review] The Botanical City
in Urban Studies
Van Duppen, J.
(2020)
In Touch En Route: Mediating (Dis)Connections, Travel, Technology and Sociality
Van Duppen, J.
(2021)
Transplantation: A response in fragments to Claire Reddleman's 'Ginkgos of the British Isles'
in A review written for the Arts and Humanities Research Institute at King's College London funded project Ginkgos of the British Isles by Claire Reddleman
Van Duppen, J.
(2021)
Anachoresis: Upon Inhabiting Distances
| Description | International Research Visit: The Chair for Urban Design and Urbanization, the Technische Universität Berlin During the research visit, I presented the paper '(Un)making Boundaries: Urban Gardens as Paradoxical Spaces' at a public event at the department, which fostered an interdisciplinary discussion between geographers, architects, youth and social workers, and urban theorists on the role of urban gardens in cities. Furthermore, I conducted fieldwork at urban gardens in Berlin, which has generated data that enables me to set up new comparative project on London - Berlin green spaces. In addition, I extended my research network, and took part in a citizen urban garden mapping project. International Research Visit: The Department of Human Geography, Stockholm University Stockholm University invited me to present my research on gardening. At a well-attended, publicly advertised event, I presented the paper 'Ambiguous Play: Re-Thinking Encounters in London Allotment, Community and Guerrilla Gardens'. This talk generated extensive discussions amongst participants on the blurring distinctions between labour and leisure, and the spatialities and temporalities of garden projects, and through this research visit I fostered new research partnerships. It led to a new collaboration with the Swedish based scholar Sofia Cele, we are convening session 'The Sensing and Shaping of Time in Urban Gardens: Affect, Design, Governance, and Labour' at the upcoming ISA-RC21 conference in Antwerp, 6 to 8 July 2020. Chair and Organiser Interdisciplinary Symposium 'Play and its Potential Publics' In collaboration with Freya Field-Donovan (UCL History of Art), Dr Andrew Murray (The Open University), and Catalina Pollak Williamson (UCL Bartlett), I chaired and organised this 1 day international and interdisciplinary symposium. We set up this symposium as a diverse group of scholars, and we aimed and representing and expanding this interdisciplinarity, and we were very happy to have speakers from a range of disciplines: comparative literature, art history, theatre studies, cultural geography, and philosophy. The event was well attended with an audience from a diverse set of professions: play-work, child psychotherapy, narrative design, architecture, human geography, fine art, and policy makers. On social media there was a wide engagement with the interdisciplinary symposium, and two research blog entries were published based on the day. Furthermore, on the basis of the symposium, we have submitted a special issue proposal to the Open Arts Journal, which includes several of the symposium speakers and additional authors. This proposal is currently under consideration by the journal. This special issue evidences the academic relevance of the interdisciplinary conversation that we initiated, and it demonstrates that the symposium generated productive interactions across disciplines and established a network of international scholars concerned with this topic. Research Skills Development This fellowship provided me with the opportunity to develop my research skills in terms of creating research impact, open access publishing and research grant writing, as I enrolled in training and workshops at The Institute for Government, Oxford University, The Open University and the UCU. |
| Exploitation Route | •Write and submit a research Grant application on the precarious participation in community garden projects in London and Berlin, a comparative study of urban gardens focusing on questions of temporality and sustainability. This might inform policy making decisions in respective cities regarding urban planning, economic growth and sustainability. •Convene the conference panel 'The Sensing and Shaping of Time in Urban Gardens: Affect, Design, Governance, and Labour' at the upcoming ISA-RC21 conference in Antwerp, and develop as special issue from the conference papers. This will be embedded in the Antwerp context, with stakeholders there, and it will inform academic audiences internationally through the published papers. •Edit, write, submit and publish special issue in academic journal from the 'Play and its Potential Publics' symposium. This will not only inform academic debate, but will also be distributed to relevant play policy makers. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Creative Economy,Environment,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Government, Democracy and Justice,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Description | [This is work-in-progress, as the grant has not finished yet] • Raising awareness among local authorities of the multiple ways in which urban gardens enrich life in cities and how they contribute to diverse economies. There is a lack of understanding of the hard work involved in maintaining urban garden spaces, and how these places provide both social and economic benefits. Further the case for multiple local small managed green spaces, instead of wasting public finances on grand proposals for large and spectacular 'green' projects such as the Garden Bridge in London. • Contribute to UK-wide debate on (mental)health, by disseminating research results on the health benefits of gardening and food-growing in cities. In particular, my research highlights the enjoyment derived from gardening, its stress-releasing effects and the social relations of care constituted in gardens. Moreover, it provides examples of changing food consumption practices. • Critically interrogate popular and policy discourses on urban sustainability. This fellowship plays a role in linking up social action, academic research and city governance in order to re-envision the 'location' in society for allotment, community and guerrilla gardens. In a time of austerity, volunteers can appear to be an easy win, providing enhanced space without a commitment to the necessary hidden infrastructure, nor to the longevity of the space. • Initiatives to foster relations with non-governmental organisations such as the National Allotment Society, the Young Foundation and Groundworks to both disseminate my research results and establish links in order to further the case together for socially just, playful, green cities. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2019 |
| Sector | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Communities and Social Services/Policy,Environment,Leisure Activities, including Sports, Recreation and Tourism,Culture, Heritage, Museums and Collections |
| Impact Types | Cultural,Societal |
| Description | Informed Teaching Module on qualitative method 'go-along' |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Description | Plattform Produktive Stadt - Gestaltung und Planung des öffentlichen Grüns |
| Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | My participation in this workshop helped to sharpen the questions asked in the ongoing discussion of realising this participatory mapping project of community gardens in Berlin, and my research findings informed the ongoing conversations. |
| URL | http://bohnandviljoen.co.uk/practice/plattform-produktives-stadtgrun/ |
| Description | Early Career Scholar Travel bursary for participating in eco-communities seminar |
| Amount | £165 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Urban Studies Foundation |
| Sector | Charity/Non Profit |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 02/2020 |
| End | 05/2020 |
| Description | Octagon Small Grants Fund |
| Amount | £930 (GBP) |
| Organisation | University College London |
| Department | Institute of Advanced Studies |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 08/2019 |
| End | 12/2019 |
| Description | Pump-priming funding - Establishing the 'NATUrE - Nature-based Approaches to Urban Environments' Interdisciplinary Research Group |
| Amount | £29,100 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Open University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 11/2020 |
| End | 07/2021 |
| Description | Strategic Research Investment Funding (SRIF) |
| Amount | £930 (GBP) |
| Organisation | Open University |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 04/2019 |
| End | 12/2019 |
| Description | Collaboration with Dr Andrew Murray, Art History, Associate Lecture at the Open University |
| Organisation | Open University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | We co-organised the interdisciplinary symposium 'Play and its Potential Publics' and following on from that we are currently editing the special issue for the peer-reviewed journal Open Arts Journal. |
| Collaborator Contribution | We co-organised the interdisciplinary symposium 'Play and its Potential Publics' and following on from that we are currently editing the special issue for the peer-reviewed journal Open Arts Journal. |
| Impact | At the symposium we were very happy to have speakers from a range of disciplines: comparative literature, art history, theatre studies, cultural geography, and philosophy. A similar range of specialisms is displayed in the list of abstracts we have compiled for the special issue. In addition to contributions from the events conveners and speakers (Sigrid Merx, Andrew Murray, Robert Pfaller, Catalina Pollak Williamson, Jan van Duppen, Emma West, Nicolas Whybrow), we have contributions from researchers within the Open University (Robert Butler, PhD in Geography; Warren Carter, Staff Tutor in Art History), and Alison Stenning (Newcastle) who took interest in our event. We will frame the questions and ideas displayed across these articles with an introductory essay authored by Andrew Murray and Jan van Duppen. This essay will give an overview of current events and debates related to play in the humanities and social sciences, considering how they respond to the problem of defining play and how such definitions appertain to theorising it as an agent in and of public life. From such a perspective, this introduction can then explain the recurring theme debated and explored in the contributions that follow. |
| Start Year | 2019 |
| Description | Attendance of Guest Lecture Sybille Lammes - Play in Times of Confinement |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Participation in Q&A, fostered network in NL academia. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://aihr.uva.nl/content/events/events/2020/11/lammes.html?origin=i0gvE18ZRhOCS%2FlT8NK0sg |
| Description | Book Launch 'The Botanical City' - TU Berlin Centre for Metropolitan Studies - Participation in Q&A |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Book Launch 'The Botanical City' - Participation in Q&A. This led to me being introduced to several scholars in the field of urban nature, and it also further strengthened my ongoing international collaboration. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Chair and organiser of the interdisciplinary symposium 'Play and its Potential Publics' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In September 2019, we welcomed speakers from British and European Universities to the Institute of Advanced Studies. From nearby Queen Mary and King's College came Lucie Glasheen and Dr Luke Dickens respectively; Dr Emma West travelled from the University of Birmingham, Professor Nicolas Whybrow from the university of Warwick and Dr Emma Fraser from the University of Lancaster. From further afield, Dr Sigrid Merx joined us from the University of Utrecht, and our keynote speaker, Robert Pfaller, is a professor at Kunstuniversität Linz. We had gathered to discuss play and its potential publics. The concept of play may seem immediately familiar, but it is notoriously difficult to define: what is common to activities as diverse as backgammon, cricket, theatre, jazz, gladiatorial combat, kids playing 'dress-up', Lindy-hop, dungeons and dragons, fortnite, drawing, military wargames, or dogs chasing each other? Some games have mortal consequences, others are frivolous; some have clearly defined rules, others are entirely open; some include animals, others only humans and, perhaps some, only computers. During the symposium, we tried to use this indeterminacy of the concept of play to give some direction to the discussions. The title of the symposium referred to the 'potential' publics of play. This was discussed in terms of who such publics could be, what constitutes them and how they behave. But it also raised questions on the 'public potential' of play, whether it can be liberating or oppressing, socially stabilising or destabilising, publicly open or closed. Maybe contemporary forms of play also blur these distinctions. Social media, famously, blurs the distinction between our private and public lives, creates new opportunities for public organisation and communication, but also surveillance and control. Does the age of the internet therefore define a new age of play? If so, does play not only characterise individual activities, but entire cultures and periods? Furthermore, we think that the very indeterminacy of the concept of play was a productive vehicle for conversations across disciplines. In these exchanges, we found ourselves sometimes lost in translation, debating subtle, yet very meaningful, differences in articulating our thoughts, as well as discovering surprising instances of common ground. We set up this symposium as a diverse group of scholars, and we aimed and representing and expanding this interdisciplinarity, and we were very happy to have speakers from a range of disciplines: comparative literature, art history, theatre studies, cultural geography, and philosophy. The event was well attended with an audience from a diverse set of professions: play-work, child psychotherapy, narrative design, architecture, human geography, fine art, and policy makers. The day was structured into three panels, and a keynote. In the first panel, Sigrid Merx and Luke Dickens addressed questions around performativity and play in cities, discussing the transgressions between theatre and everyday urban life. This enocuraged us to think more about what constitutes playgrounds, how are they delineated, who has access to them and how the lines between fiction/reality can become blurred. Following on, speakers and attendants shared a lunch indoors and outdoors, the food was provided by the local Turkish Deli 'Pittled Olive'. In the second panel, Emma Fraser discussed ruins, new digital technologies and the critical potential of virtual realms of play, and Nicolas Whybrow talked about the sensory playful mapping of the city of Coventry. These papers helped us to reflect on the virtual and material spaces of play, and the affective intensities involved in play. After a coffee break, the third panel, shed a light on the ambiguities of play and its presupposed freedoms, discussing its cultural, material and legal boundaries. Emma West talked about the policing of play, and the role of the arts during WWII. Then, Lucie Glasheen examined the potential of places of play as spaces of change in 1930s east London. Finally, Robert Pfaller in his keynote discussed the vicissitudes of play in postmodernity, drawing distinctions between faith and belief systems. His philosophical dissection highlighted several of play's potential qualities: affective intensity, illusionary, and disruptive power. Yet, he also addressed the, in his view, increasing abandonment of the social obligation to play, and the risk of losing play's power to disrupt profane life. After the keynote, we continued the conversations over a glass of wine and the day was wrapped up with a dinner with the invited speakers. We are grateful for the funding provided the ESRC, IAS and the OU as it allowed us to organise a fruitful symposium. Currently, we are working on putting a special issue together for the Open Arts Journal on the basis of the symposium. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://playandpublics.home.blog/ |
| Description | Chair and session organiser of a paper session at the International Sociological Association, Research Committee 21 on Sociology of Urban and Regional Development, Annual International Conference, University Antwerp |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | I was the chair and session organiser of 'Session 62. The Sensing and Shaping of Time in Urban Gardens: Affect, Design, Governance, and Labour' in collaboration with Dr Sofia Cele, at the International Sociological Association - Research Committee 21 on Sociology of Urban and Regional Development, Annual International Conference, University Antwerp, Antwerp, originally planned for 2020, rescheduled 13-16 July 2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/conferences/rc21-conference-2021/programme/paper-sessions/ |
| Description | Design and Delivery Qualitative Methods Day School 2- Data analysis (Dr Helen Bowes-Catton, Dr Jan Van Duppen) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Qualitative Methods Day School 2- data analysis (Dr Helen Bowes-Catton, Dr Jan Van Duppen), workshop for PhD students 'How to get through all of this stuff?' - The Perils and Joys of Analysing Ethnographic Material at The Open University, 23 April 2019. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Design and delivery of 'Ethnographies of Public Spaces' Workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Design and delivery of 'Ethnographies of Public Spaces' Workshop for the Diploma Unit 17 'The Publicness of Architecture: Radical Democracy in Urban Space' by Gabu Heindl, Eleanor Dodman, critical friend: Liza Fior, post-graduate students Years 4-5, MArch, ARB/RIBA Part 2 at the Architectural Association - School of Architecture, London, 21 January 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| Description | Influence public debate on social media on questions of urban gardens, sustainability and play & work spaces |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Influence public debate on social media on questions of urban gardens, sustainability and play & work spaces, through the my personal Twitter account. I have 368 Twitter followers. This account has also increased the visibility of my publications and other research activities. It has furthermore strengthened my international academic network, as well as connecting to the general public and policy makers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017,2018,2019,2020,2021 |
| URL | http://twitter.com/jvanduppen |
| Description | Informal food production and sharing webinars - Organised by The Spaces of Quiet Sustainability Collective |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | The Spaces of Quiet Sustainability Collective prepared a series of three webinars on informal food production and sharing. The talks in English (approx. 20-25 minutes) were followed by the discussion with participants. I took active part in these discussions with international academics and policy makers. This strengthened my international network, and it also has informed my future research proposals and collaborations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://tichaudrzitelnost.geogr.muni.cz/en/informal-food-production-and-sharing-webinars/ |
| Description | Instagram Account on Urban Plant Life & The Uses of Public Space in London |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Since December 2020, I have set up an Instagram account, in which I share initial research findings, I try out ideas, and I develop a visual portfolio of plant life in cities, and the use of public space in London. This account also allows me to keep up to date with professional practice of urban design and architecture, as well as fine art. My online presence also informs my writing, as it allows me to reflect on the limitations and possibilities of a social media platform such as Instagram, which is especially important for me as an expert in visual methodologies. Most importantly, the Instagram account communicates new research findings, and sparks conversations across disciplines. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.instagram.com/januploadsphotos/ |
| Description | Invited contributor to live virtual panel as part of a public art festival, Milton Keynes, UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 'Foxes at a London Allotment' invited to present at the live virtual panel 'Encountering Urban Wildlife' chaired by Dr Carla Benzan and Dr Robert Wallis (The Open University), hosted by Milton Keynes International Festival, 26 July 2021. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://ifmiltonkeynes.org/event/encountering-urban-wildlife |
| Description | POLLEN Biennial Conference: POLLEN20 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Participation in the Q&A of the POLLEN Biennial Conference: POLLEN20 panel session on urban nature. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://politicalecologynetwork.org/pollen20-brighton-uk/ |
| Description | Participation in 'Future Urbanisms & Eco-communities: Diversifying the Future City' workshop |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | 'Future Urbanisms & Eco-communities: Diversifying the Future City' workshop organised by the Eco-communities Research Group, funded by the Urban Studies Foundation, hosted by the University of Birmingham, Birmingham, 10 & 11 February 2020. "This final seminar examines the inclusions and exclusions of eco-communities in the broader context of diversifying urban futures. Drawing on postcolonial urbanism and research into who is included in visions of future eco-cities (Datta 2012; forthcoming; Kraftl et al.,2013; Christensen et al. 2017) the current exclusivity of many eco-communities will be re-examined and the possibility of adopting different strategies to broaden inclusion explored. This seminar focuses on opening up questions of who participates in eco-communities and, in relation, who is part of the future urbanisms." This was held in Birmingham on Monday 10th and Tuesday 11th February 2020. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://eco-communities.blog/workshops/ |
| Description | Participation in 'Infrastructural Reading' Workshop hosted by City University and The Open University, London, 4 June 2019. |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Participation in 'Infrastructural Reading' Workshop hosted by City University and The Open University, London, 4 June 2019. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.city.ac.uk/events/2019/june/infrastructural-reading-fragments-flows-forms-workshop |
| Description | Participation in the 'Playing Out Webinar - Making streets safer now and for the future' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Participation in discussion at the Playing Out Webinar: "Making streets safer now and for the future" |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://playingout.net/blog/childrens-right-to-play-is-a-matter-of-spatial-justice/ |
| Description | The post-pandemic sustainable future of community gardens in London - An Online Workshop organised by Jan van Duppen (the Open University) and Liza Fior (muf architecture/art). |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Third sector organisations |
| Results and Impact | I was the chair and organiser of the interdisciplinary workshop 'The post-pandemic sustainable future of community gardens in London' in collaboration with muf architecture/art. Invited speakers: Amber Alferoff London Learning & Development Manager at Social Farms & Gardens, Liza Fior founding partner of muf architecture/art, Louise Gates coordinator at the Calthorpe Community Garden, Dr Eleanor Jupp Senior Lecturer in Social Policy at University of Kent, Dr Les Levidow Senior Research Fellow at The Open University, Marie Murray coordinator at the Dalston Eastern Curve Community Garden, Jamie Dean Programme Director Good Growth by Design at the Greater London Authority During the Covid-19 pandemic, people's relationships with plant life have altered as has their use of urban green spaces. In UK cities, people have rediscovered public parks as spaces to meet up with friends and family, take a walk, and do sports. In doing so, many have found a temporary release from the stresses built up from being stuck indoors during the multiple lock-down periods. Also, the privileged who have had access to a private garden have found themselves spending a lot of time there, perhaps initiating an overhaul of garden design, introducing edible plants, or simply pottering about in-between online meetings. Whilst others have started to tend house plants; buying new ones, sharing pictures online, and as testament to their new devotion, 'naming' their house plants (Lasco 2020). Yet, access to green space, the possibilities for interacting with plants and its associated positive effects on well-being have been unequally distributed amongst neighbourhoods. For instance, the temporary closures of parks in London disproportionally affected people living in 'deprived areas and those from BAME backgrounds' (Duncan, McIntyre, and Cutler 2020). Contrary to the frequently uttered statement 'We are all in this together', the pandemic has not impacted on nor has been experienced by everyone in the same way, instead it has exposed and exacerbated structural inequalities and intersecting oppressions (Sobande 2020). This workshop connected debates on socially just urban futures (Imrie and Lees 2014) with reflections on the immediate and long-term impact of the pandemic on social life in cities by discussing the particular 'site' of the community garden. Community gardens carry the potential to provide a publicly accessible green and social space for people that want to engage with plants and absorb themselves in a social atmosphere. Due to the pandemic, however, these spaces have often had to close fully or partially or scale back their activities drastically. Within the context of UK austerity and its severe cuts on local authorities' budgets, community gardens were already working with limited often self-generated resources and relied on voluntary work and contributions. Yet, the current crisis has made it even more difficult to keep these shared spaces cultivated and open to the public (van Duppen 2020). Additionally, social distancing and lock-down regulations have restricted the uses of public spaces and limited our exposure to their 'unpredictability and inclusivity' (Low and Smart 2020, 3). The pandemic has reshaped the geographies of encounter, instead of bumping into strangers outdoors digital technology has allowed us to invite the 'stranger' into our home, and thereby contact with strangers has become 'a matter of choice as much as chance' (Koch and Miles 2020, 2). As community gardens can also contribute to mitigating climate change, and enhance biodiversity in the city, these spaces provide fertile ground to reimagine a socially just sustainable urban future. This workshop thought across disciplinary and institutional boundaries about the challenges faced by community gardens, with a focus on London. It brought together gardeners, scholars, designers, and local policymakers to discuss how to best support these valuable social green spaces that now more than ever face precarious futures, due to urban change, lack of funding, and the specific impacts of the pandemic. The workshop intends to engageed with the Mayor of London's Good Growth Agenda and made suggestions for future policy directions. Please find below a selection of responses to the workshop: Dr Oli Mould, Lecturer in Cultural geography Royal Holloway University, workshop participant. Twitter: "Involved in a really fascinating and important discussion re community gardens, organised by Jan van Duppen (thx!) and Social Farms and Gardens pointed me toward this amazing manifesto about commoning, mutual aid and land use. Well worth a read". Richard Galpin, community garden organiser, workshop participant. Twitter: "Thanks - Really enjoyed this cross-disciplinary session on post-pandemic sustainable future of community gardens in London esp. Dr Ellie Jupp. Great reminder of how those in academia can help us articulate and rethink our approaches to work on and in the ground!" Amber Alferoff London, Learning & Development Manager at Social Farms & Gardens, workshop speaker. Workshop online chat box: "I like the way academics like Eleanor and Les give status to people's emotions and feelings about things". Dr Petr Jehlicka, Institute of Ethnology - Czech Academy of Sciences, workshop participant. Workshop online chat box: "Les, thanks for a hugely inspiring talk." "Many thanks to all presenters for excellent talks and to Jan for organising this wonderful event." |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | http://www.open.ac.uk/blogs/design/the-post-pandemic-sustainable-future-of-community-gardens-in-lond... |