Academia.eduAcademia.edu

Outline

Title
Abstract
Figures
Theoretical Perspectives and Previous Research
Method
Fieldwork and Research Materials
An Overview in the Garden, 25 June 2012
Conclusion
References
All Topics
Agriculture
General Agricultural and Biological Sciences

Urban Gardening and Civic Cultivation

Profile image of Veera NurmenniemiVeera Nurmenniemi

2013

visibility

…

description

79 pages

link

1 file

Abstract
sparkles

AI

This master's thesis explores the role of civic organizations in promoting environmentally sustainable practices, focusing on urban gardening as a case study through the work of the environmental organization Dodo in Helsinki. Utilizing Giddens's theory of structuration, the research analyzes the meanings attached to urban gardening, strategies employed to enhance these meanings, and the results and challenges faced in fostering civic engagement and political dialogue around climate action. The findings highlight the complex interplay between Dodo and city officials, revealing both the potential and limitations of grassroots movements in influencing urban policy and fostering community involvement.

Figures (11)
Changing individuals’ behavior and involving them in environmentally sound practices is a central issue in environmental and climate politics. This master’s thesis takes a closer look at how civic organizations can work beside the public sector toward thi: goal, and hence discusses the third sector’s participation in climate change mitigation. The environmental organization Dodo’s work for promoting urban gardening serves as the case of the study. The research questions are: What meanings are attached to Dodo’s urban gardening activities, what strategies are used to mediate these meanings further, what results are gained, and wha' aspects affect Dodo’s work? Dodo’s contribution to the formation of urban gardening practice can shed light on the potential influence of civic organizations in today’s political context. Giddens’s (1984) theory of structuration was used as theoretical framework for the study.
Changing individuals’ behavior and involving them in environmentally sound practices is a central issue in environmental and climate politics. This master’s thesis takes a closer look at how civic organizations can work beside the public sector toward thi: goal, and hence discusses the third sector’s participation in climate change mitigation. The environmental organization Dodo’s work for promoting urban gardening serves as the case of the study. The research questions are: What meanings are attached to Dodo’s urban gardening activities, what strategies are used to mediate these meanings further, what results are gained, and wha' aspects affect Dodo’s work? Dodo’s contribution to the formation of urban gardening practice can shed light on the potential influence of civic organizations in today’s political context. Giddens’s (1984) theory of structuration was used as theoretical framework for the study.
The cooperation between Dodo and the city exemplifies what Giddens defines as “dialectic of control’”’, referring to a situation where subordinate groups and their superiors influence each other’s action, in this case struggle between identification of the core meanings attributed to urban gardening and climate politics. As an organization Dodo is able to mediate some of its ideas to the city’s political agenda, but as majority of participants at Turntable are Dodo’s activists and volunteers, students and professionals many of whom have background in academic education, this dialogue is related to citizens’ social background. On the other hand, it is here where Dodo attempts to make a difference through its maker-movement ideology: engaging a broader scale of people in civic activity by emphasizing do-it-yourself attitude and concrete action concerning the near environment and everyday context. The meanings of DIY and concrete doing are also transformed into action in Dodo’s projects. However a can- do spirit amongst citizens does not yet guarantee access to political decision-making processes, and it remains a topic for further research: whether people will adapt this DIY attitude on a broader scale and whether this civic activity also extends from people’s own backyards to other spheres.
The cooperation between Dodo and the city exemplifies what Giddens defines as “dialectic of control’”’, referring to a situation where subordinate groups and their superiors influence each other’s action, in this case struggle between identification of the core meanings attributed to urban gardening and climate politics. As an organization Dodo is able to mediate some of its ideas to the city’s political agenda, but as majority of participants at Turntable are Dodo’s activists and volunteers, students and professionals many of whom have background in academic education, this dialogue is related to citizens’ social background. On the other hand, it is here where Dodo attempts to make a difference through its maker-movement ideology: engaging a broader scale of people in civic activity by emphasizing do-it-yourself attitude and concrete action concerning the near environment and everyday context. The meanings of DIY and concrete doing are also transformed into action in Dodo’s projects. However a can- do spirit amongst citizens does not yet guarantee access to political decision-making processes, and it remains a topic for further research: whether people will adapt this DIY attitude on a broader scale and whether this civic activity also extends from people’s own backyards to other spheres.
Yhteisty6 Dodon ja kaupungin valillé ilmentéa Giddensin ajatusta ”kontrollin dialektiikasta”, jonka mukaan seka yhteiskunnan hallitsevat ryhmat etta niiden alaiset voivat vaikuttaa toistensa toimintaan. Tass tapauksessa toimijat kamppailevat, mitka merkitykset kaupunkiviljelyssa ja ilmastopolitiikassa ovat keskeisimmiailla sijalla. Jaérjesténa Dodon on mahdollista valittaa ideoitaan kaupungin poliittiselle agendalle. Tosin tahan dialogiin osallistuvat Dodon vapaaehtoiset ja aktivistit edustavat myés tiettyé yhteiskunnallista ryhmaia, eli opiskelijoita ja korkeakoulutettuja ammattilaisia. Toisaalta Dodo pyrkii itse muuttamaan tata ’maker-movement” -ideologiansa avulla. Se pyrkii houkuttelemaan kirjavampaa joukkoa mukaan kansalaistoimintaan korostamalla tee-se-itse -asennetta ja konkreettista tekemisté ihmisten omassa ymp§rist6ssa ja arjessa. Konkreettisen tekemisen arvostus nikyi myés kaytaénn6n toiminnassa Dodon projekteissa. Me-hengen nostattaminen ei kuitenkaan viela takaa kansalaisille paasya poliittisiin paait6ksentekoprosesseihin. Jaa viela tutkittavaksi omaksuvatko ihmiset ajatuksen tee-se-itse - kansalaisuudesta laajemminkin ja ulottuuko tama kansalaistoiminta my6s ihmisten omien pihojen ulkopuolelle.
Yhteisty6 Dodon ja kaupungin valillé ilmentéa Giddensin ajatusta ”kontrollin dialektiikasta”, jonka mukaan seka yhteiskunnan hallitsevat ryhmat etta niiden alaiset voivat vaikuttaa toistensa toimintaan. Tass tapauksessa toimijat kamppailevat, mitka merkitykset kaupunkiviljelyssa ja ilmastopolitiikassa ovat keskeisimmiailla sijalla. Jaérjesténa Dodon on mahdollista valittaa ideoitaan kaupungin poliittiselle agendalle. Tosin tahan dialogiin osallistuvat Dodon vapaaehtoiset ja aktivistit edustavat myés tiettyé yhteiskunnallista ryhmaia, eli opiskelijoita ja korkeakoulutettuja ammattilaisia. Toisaalta Dodo pyrkii itse muuttamaan tata ’maker-movement” -ideologiansa avulla. Se pyrkii houkuttelemaan kirjavampaa joukkoa mukaan kansalaistoimintaan korostamalla tee-se-itse -asennetta ja konkreettista tekemisté ihmisten omassa ymp§rist6ssa ja arjessa. Konkreettisen tekemisen arvostus nikyi myés kaytaénn6n toiminnassa Dodon projekteissa. Me-hengen nostattaminen ei kuitenkaan viela takaa kansalaisille paasya poliittisiin paait6ksentekoprosesseihin. Jaa viela tutkittavaksi omaksuvatko ihmiset ajatuksen tee-se-itse - kansalaisuudesta laajemminkin ja ulottuuko tama kansalaistoiminta my6s ihmisten omien pihojen ulkopuolelle.
Guerilla gardening in Pasila. Dodo’s first informal practice of urban gardening at Pasila’s old railway yard. In the beginning, there were only a few raised beds at the spot, and mainly Dodo activists were engaged in cultivation. (Photo by Maria Nordlund/Dodo)
Guerilla gardening in Pasila. Dodo’s first informal practice of urban gardening at Pasila’s old railway yard. In the beginning, there were only a few raised beds at the spot, and mainly Dodo activists were engaged in cultivation. (Photo by Maria Nordlund/Dodo)
Dodo’s Sack Garden in Kalasatama. In 2009, the city of Helsinki asked Dodo to participate in the planning of temporary garden in Kalasatama harbor area. The activity became more organized than that of guerilla gardening, and drew in other participants as well. Subsequently, Dodo started cooperating with the city in other gardening projects. (Photo by Maria Nordlund/Dodo)
Dodo’s Sack Garden in Kalasatama. In 2009, the city of Helsinki asked Dodo to participate in the planning of temporary garden in Kalasatama harbor area. The activity became more organized than that of guerilla gardening, and drew in other participants as well. Subsequently, Dodo started cooperating with the city in other gardening projects. (Photo by Maria Nordlund/Dodo)
PICTURE 3. Turntable as seen from the West. (Photo by Kirmo Kivela)
PICTURE 3. Turntable as seen from the West. (Photo by Kirmo Kivela)
PICTURE 4. Visitors sitting on the terrace during lunch. (Photo by Paivi Raivio)
PICTURE 4. Visitors sitting on the terrace during lunch. (Photo by Paivi Raivio)
PICTURE 5. Raised beds in the Turntable “Pit” (Photo by Paivi Raivio)
PICTURE 5. Raised beds in the Turntable “Pit” (Photo by Paivi Raivio)
become inspired and start implementing the practice in their own backyard.
become inspired and start implementing the practice in their own backyard.
PICTURE 8. “The most Berlin place in Helsinki” (Photo by Kirmo Kivel&é/Dodo.org)
PICTURE 8. “The most Berlin place in Helsinki” (Photo by Kirmo Kivel&é/Dodo.org)

Related papers

New Transition: Community Gardens and Civic Engagement in the City of Zagreb
Tihana Rubic

Znanstvena založba Filozofske fakultete, 2019

View PDFchevron_right
Community gardening in Stockholm: participation, driving forces and the role of the municipality
Madeleine Bonow

Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems

The paper reports on a study of community gardening in Stockholm. We contribute to the body of knowledge about the sustainability of community gardens and this new form of citizen-led initiatives in Stockholm, with the ambition of creating a debate about the best way to sustain and develop these initiatives in Sweden. We argue that although community gardening may provide leverage for means of developing a sustainable city, it is a marginal phenomenon and contributes little to sustainable development its present form. Through interviews we have investigated how the citizens and municipality officers of Stockholm try to adapt to the renewed interest in community gardening by looking at the policy makers’, municipality officers’ and grassroots movements’ incentives to start community gardens. We specifically focus on how the community gardeners articulate their reasons for participating in collaborative initiatives in the city and how these expectations evolve when they are faced with...

View PDFchevron_right
From global problems to the local action in the Community Garden “AUDZˮ
Nora Gavare

2021

The community garden “AUDZ” which is accessible for everyone was created as a local small scale response to the problems of the 21st century – the depletion of natural resources, air pollution, increase in industrial production, a destructive amount of waste, aging of society, the lack of a sustainable society, etc. Nora Gavare, a designer, participated in the ERASMUS+ international training mobility visit “Development of urban environment” in Hong Cong where she acquired experience and new insights into over-population, rapid growth of urban areas at the expense of the natural habitat and a sharp increase in demand for food products. These trends are not yet evident in Latvia, but they are relevant in the context of the forthcoming climate crisis. At the same time, the demand for healthy locally grown food and zero waste products has increased noticeably. Residents of cities and towns are eager to buy products of known origin, quality and processing factories. However, the only way...

View PDFchevron_right
Plants as a Tool for DIY Urbanism: between Guerilla and Institutionalisation
Sandrine Baudry

Romanian Journal of American Studies, 2014

In a context of growing interest for sustainable urban development, citizen gardening actions take an increasingly important place in urbanism. Community gardening on vacant lots has now become an accepted practice responding to concerns of ecosystemic services, food production and social interaction in dense cities. This article based on field observations in New York City and Paris explores the rise of a comparatively little studied practice: citizen greening and natural resources stewardship on the public right-of-way. The on-going study underlines the capacity to transform the relationship to the usually transient territories, as well as the relationship between citizens and municipal institutions, and their respective roles in the creation and maintenance of urban public space.

View PDFchevron_right
Political gardening. Transforming cities and political agency
Chiara Certomà

Local Environment, 2015

This document is the author's post-print version, incorporating any revisions agreed during the peer-review process. Some differences between the published version and this version may remain and you are advised to consult the published version if you wish to cite from it.

View PDFchevron_right
ROSOL, Marit (2018): Politics of Urban Gardening. In: WARD, Kevin / JONAS, Andrew E.G. / MILLER, Byron / WILSON, David: The Routledge Handbook on Spaces of Urban Politics. New York: Routledge, 134–145.
Marit Rosol

The Routledge Handbook on Spaces of Urban Politics, 2018

View PDFchevron_right
Urban gardening in a time of crisis
Elisabetta Cangelosi

2015

This article studies urban gardening as a form of social resilience. It analyses its role and impact on society in a context of social and financial crisis through the lens of the debate about the commons on the basis of three case studies conducted in Brussels in 2013. The study connects the specificities of the current social and economic context with the new wave of urban gardening from a people-centred perspective. Both the motivations and the outcomes of this form of activism are analysed and led to the conclusion that being involved in urban gardening represents not only a way to cope with economic and social threats but also a tool to rebuild and reshape social bonds. The paper aims to contribute to the current debate about the commons, intended as a form of resilience and a tool of social change rather than a simple alternative economic model. It aims to do so through the analysis of urban gardening practices, which are more commonly studied from the perspective of urban agr...

View PDFchevron_right
Towards socio-ecological cities: Green public spaces by Guerrilla Gardening
Burcu Ateş

Book of Abstracts 12th Symposium of the International Urban Planning and Environment Association, 2016

The rise of industrial capitalism in the 19th century brought pressures of mechanisation, privatisation and urbanisation, which triggered the fall of public life. Therefore, under such pressures, the notion of public and, accordingly, perception over the concept of publicness and public spaces have changed. As successive processes started with the sprawl of industrial capitalism 1to fall of public life/space, an analogue set of processes had also realised for nature, which was again triggered by capitalist dominancy. As capitalist system achieved its success by producing spaces for its ideology and using space as a sort of apparatus to spread its power, besides, it manipulates nature through transforming it in a way that it merely remains as a green background or a beautiful vista. Along with these processes over space and nature, both of them have been commodified through being reduced into a physical entity, where merely technocrats are capable of producing it. However, against technocratic and fragmented approaches on the production of space and nature, alternative theories and practices spring up which adopt relational and unitary approaches towards the production of public spaces. Inspired from those alternative theories and practices, the concept of ‘spatial impromptu’ is suggested within the scope of this research. This concept is basically a manifestation towards initiating possibility of social, political, cultural and ecological production of public spaces within the flow of everyday life, where inhabitants are thought to be proactive throughout the whole process. Along with this aim, the study analyses practice of guerrilla gardening as a spatial impromptu of green urbanism where green public spaces are re-produced through appropriation, re-definition and reclamation by inhabitants. As a focus on green urbanism, the practice of guerrilla gardening is tackled through referring Murray Bookchin’s concept of social ecology which can inspire green placemaking within cities. Therefore, by conducting in-depth analysis on guerrilla gardening, a relational approach is developed to seek multiple relations between gardeners, inhabitants, city, authorities and nature. This relational analysis provides developing final implications of the study, where guerrilla gardening is addressed for the appearance of new green public spaces within cities and regeneration of issues on “right to the city” and “town - country dichotomy”.

View PDFchevron_right
Thinking about the future of cities: practices and impacts of collective gardens
Frédéric Bally

Environmental Design Research Association, Proceedings of the 50th conference, 2019

View PDFchevron_right
Urban Gardening in Florence and Prato: How a Science Shop Project Proposed by Citizens Has Grown into a Multi-Disciplinary Research Subject
Giovanna Pacini

Journal of Sustainable Development

Urban gardening mainly means growing edible vegetables in a town. This practice has been traditionally used for economic reasons (subsistence agriculture), but now it has also acquired educational, nutraceutical, therapeutic and social relevance. The educational aspect of urban gardening has been the subject of a proposal for the newly born Science Shop in Florence (Italy). In the spirit of action-research, in our project we first decided to involve all (or many) potentially interested people. This has brought into light the galaxy of different aspects related to urban gardening and allowed the establishing of promising research lines. We discovered that this is a multi-disciplinary subject that touches themes dealing with agriculture, botany, psychology, chemistry, city planning and politics. We examine here the various aspects of urban gardening in the towns of Florence and Prato, two very different urban environments despite their proximity.

View PDFchevron_right

References (56)

  1. Bibliography
  2. Arnstein, Sherry R. 1969: A Ladder of Citizen Participation. Journal of the American Institute of Planners 35 (4), 216-224.
  3. Alavaikko, Mika 2006: Valtakunnallisen sosiaalipolitiikan loppu -keskitetystä ohjauksesta alueellisiin kehittämishankkeisiin. In Kati Rantala & Pekka Sulkunen, (eds.): Projektiyhteiskunnan kääntöpuolia. Gaudeamus, Helsinki, 39-55.
  4. Auyero, Javier & Joseph Lauren 2007: Introduction: Politics under the Ethnographic Microscope. In Lauren Joseph, Matthew Mahler & Javier Auyero (eds.): New Perspectives in Political Ethnography. Springer Science, New York, 1-13.
  5. Clifford, James 1986: Introduction: Partial Truths. In James Clifford & George E. Marcus (eds.): Writing Culture -The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography. University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles, 1-26.
  6. Dobson, Andrew 2007: Green Political Thought. Routledge, NY.
  7. Eliasoph, Nina 2011: Making Volunteers. Civic Life after Welfare's End. Princeton University Press, New-Jersey.
  8. Fontana, Andrea & Frey, James H. 2005: The Interview. From Neutral Stance to Political Involvement, in Norman K. Denzin, Yvonna S. Lincoln (eds.): The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Research. Sage Publications, London, 695-728.
  9. Giddens, Anthony 1984: Constitution of Society. Outline for the Theory of Structuration. Polity Press, Cambridge.
  10. Giddens, Anthony 1991: Structuration theory: past, present and future, in Christopher G.A. Bryant and David Jary (eds.): Giddens' Theory of Structuration. A critical appreciation. Routledge, London, 201-221.
  11. Halweil, Brian and Nierenberg, Danielle 2007: Farming the Cities. Published in State of the World 2007 -Our Urban Future. The Worldwatch Institute, Washington, 48-64.
  12. Hammersley, Martyn & Atkinson, Paul 2007: Ethnography: Principles in Practice. Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, London.
  13. Hernberg, Hella (edt.) 2012: Helsinki Beyond Dreams. Actions towards a Creative and Sustainable Hometown. Urban Dream Management, Helsinki.
  14. Hernberg, Hella 2012a: Notes From an Urban Farmer. In Helsinki Beyond Dreams. Actions towards a Creative and Sustainable Hometown. Urban Dream Management, Helsinki, 132-139.
  15. Hernberg, Hella 2012b: Unfinished city. In Helsinki Beyond Dreams. Actions towards a Creative and Sustainable Hometown. Urban Dream Management, Helsinki, 28-35.
  16. Jauhiainen, Jussi S. 2002: Kaupunkiliikkeet ja kamppailu osallisuudesta kaupunkitilaan. In Pia Bäcklund, Jouni Häkli & Harry Schulman (eds.): Osalliset ja Osaajat. Kansalaiset Kaupungin Suunnittelussa. Gaudeamus, Helsinki, 125-157.
  17. Kerkkänen, Anu 2010: Ilmastonmuutoksen hallinnan politiikka. Kansainvälisen ilmastokysymyksen haltuunotto Suomessa. University of Tampere, Tampere.
  18. Kinnunen, Nina 2012: Kaupungin kasvatit. Verso (1), Fiskars, 28-33.
  19. Kivelä, Kirmo 2011: Pasilan keidas. Kaupunkiviljelmiä veturinkääntöpöydällä. Ilmastosanomat, Autumn 2011, Ilmastoinfo, 4.
  20. Kivimäki, Antti 2012a: Betoni vihertyy. Design 2012 -Näin muotoilu muuttaa maailmaa, 14-20.
  21. Kivimäki, Antti 2012b: Green Guerillas. Helsinki University Bulletin (HUB) (3), 28.
  22. Kivimäki, Antti 2012c: Herbs, Honey and Chefs on the Roof. Helsinki University Bulletin (HUB) (3), 29.
  23. Konttinen, Esa 1999: Ympäristökansalaisuuden kyläsepät. SoPhi, Jyväskylä.
  24. Konttinen, Esa & Peltokoski, Jukka 2004: Ympäristöprotestin neljäs aalto: eläinoikeusliike ja uuden polven ympäristöradikalismi 1990-luvulla. Minerva, Jyväskylä.
  25. Kortteinen, Matti 1982: Lähiö: tutkimus elämäntapojen muutoksesta. Otava, Helsinki. Krasny, Marianne E., Saldivar-Tanaka, Laura 2004: Culturing community development, neighborhood open space, and civic agriculture: The case of Latino community gardens in New York City. Agriculture and Human Values 21, 399-412.
  26. Kuittinen, Outi, Lehtonen, Jaakko & Sipari, Pinja 2011: Voimaannuttavat vihannekset -kaupunkiviljely 2010-luvun ympäristövaikuttamisena. In Pekka Harju-Autti, Aleksi Neuvonen, Louna Hakkarainen (eds.): Ympäristötietoisuus -suomalaiset 2010-lukua tekemässä. Ympäristöministeriö, rakennustieto Oy., 103-111.
  27. Kurtz, Hilda E. & Smith, Christopher M. 2003: Community Gardens and Politics of Scale in New York City. The Geographical Review 93 (2), 193-212.
  28. Luhtakallio, Eeva & Eliasoph, Nina 2013: Ethnography of Politics and Political Communication: Studies in Sociology and Political science, in Kate Kenski and Kathleen Hall Jamieson (eds.): The Oxford Handbook of Political Communication. Oxford University Press, NY.
  29. Lyytimäki, Jari 2007: Auttaako ilmastokeskustelu. Tieteessä tapahtuu 25 (2), 8-14.
  30. Mesimäki, Marja 2006: Ympäristövastuullisen kaupunkilaisen elämäntapavalinnat. In Ilmo Massa & Sanna Ahonen (eds.): Arkielämän ympäristöpolitiikka. Gaudeamus, Helsinki, 87-103.
  31. Piironen, Minna 2011: Kattojen hyödyntäminen kaupunkiviljelyssä. Esimerkkikohteena ravintola Savoy. Master's thesis for the Department of Design, in Spatial Design, Aalto University, Helsinki.
  32. Pudup, Mary Beth 2007: It takes a garden: Cultivating citizen-subjects in organized garden projects. Geoforum 39, 1228-1240.
  33. Pulliainen Elina 2012: Omalta pihalta yhteiseen kaupunkitilaan. Tapaus kaupunkiviljely. Master's thesis for the Department of Regional Studies, University of Tampere.
  34. Rantala, Kati & Sulkunen, Pekka 2006: Projektiyhteiskunnan kääntöpuolia. Gaudeamus, Helsinki.
  35. Rosol, Marit 2010: Public Participation in Post-Fordist Urban Green Space Governance: The Case of Community Gardens in Berlin. In International Journal of Urban and Regional Research Volume 34 (3), 548-563.
  36. Sitra 2011: Ilmastonmuutos ja kansalaisosallistuminen. 45. Sitra and the city of Tampere, Helsinki.
  37. Stranius, Leo 2011: Yksilöt ja järjestöt ilmastonmuutostalkoissa. In Anne Virtanen & Liisa Rohweder (eds.): Ilmastonmuutos käytännössä. Gaudeamus, Helsinki, 368-374.
  38. Sulkunen, Pekka 2006: Projektiyhteiskunta ja uusi yhteiskuntasopimus. In Kati Rantala & Pekka Sulkunen (eds): Projektiyhteiskunnan kääntöpuolia. Gaudeamus, Helsinki, 17-38.
  39. Tantarimäki, Sami 2003: Urbaani maatalous maankäytön ja yhteiskunnallisen tilanteen muutoksessa. Tapaustutkimuksena Turun ja Seinäjoen taajamat. The University of Turku, Turku.
  40. Van Maanen, John 1988: Tales of The Field. On Writing Ethnography. University of Chicago Press, Chicago and London.
  41. Internet Dodo 2011: Veturitalleille suunnitteilla kaupunkiviljelypuisto [website].
  42. Dodo 2013: Dodo ry. [website]. http://dodo.org/dodo-ry. 5 May 2013 Dodo 2013: Toiminta [website]. http://www.dodo.org/ryhmat. 4 May 2013 City of Helsinki 2011: Helsinki's Environmental Award goes to Dodo [website].
  43. http://www.hel.fi/hki/Halke/en/News%20and%20Press%20releases/Uutiset. 11 Dec 2012 City of Helsinki 2012: Teurastamon piha annettiin Dodolle [website].
  44. http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/Helsingintukkutori/Artikkeli?urile=hki:path:/Heltu/fi/Uu tiset/Teurastamon%2520piha%2520annettiin%2520Dodollle&current=true. 24 April 2013 City of Helsinki 2013: Helsingin kaupungin ympäristöpalkinto 2013/Voittajat [website]. http://www.hel2.fi/ymk/ymparistopalkinto/voittajat.htm. 10 Jan 2013 City of Helsinki 2013: The City of Helsinki Wholesale Market -now and into the future [website]. http://www.hel.fi/hki/Heltu/en/Etusivu. 4 May 2013
  45. Helka 2012: Helka palkitsi Dodo ry:n Kääntöpöydän syyskokouksessaan [website].
  46. Helsinki Food Strategy 2010: Helsingin kaupungin ruokakulttuurin kehittämisvalinnat [website].
  47. HS (Helsingin Sanomat) 2013: Keski-Pasilan rakentaminen alkaa 2015 [website]. http://www.hs.fi/kaupunki/Keski- Pasilan+rakentaminen+alkaa+2015++t%C3%A4lt%C3%A4+uusi+keskus+n%C3%A 4ytt%C3%A4%C3%A4/a1378172237857. 6 October 2013
  48. Kaupunkiviljely 2011: Veturitalleille suunnitteilla kaupunkiviljelypuisto[website].
  49. http://kaupunkiviljely.fi/veturitalleille-suunnitteilla-kaupunkiviljelypuisto. 6 October 2013 Kemikaalicocktail 2012: Salainen Puutarha kaapelin katolla [website].
  50. 9 January 2013 Kääntöpöytä 2012: Helka ry palkitsee Vuoden 2012 tekona Dodo ry:n kaupunkiviljelyryhmän Keski-Pasilaan toteuttaman Kääntöpöydän [website].
  51. Pro Agria 2013: Kaupunkiviljely [website].
  52. Restaurant Day 2013: A food carnival when anyone can open a restaurant for a day. [website] http://www.restaurantday.org/en. 11 July 2013 Teurastamo 2013: The Abattoir [website]. http://teurastamo.com/en/teurastamo.html.
  53. The Big Ask 2013: Overview of campaigns around Europe [website].
  54. Turntable 2012: Turntable is Dodo´s urban farming centre, cafe, greenhouse and an open, public space situated in Pasila´s historical railway yard. [website]. http://kaantopoyta.fi/info. 9 January 2013
  55. Uutta Helsinkiä 2013: Keski-Pasilan tornialueelle toimitiloja ja asuntoja [website].
  56. Uutta Helsinkiä 2013: Kehittyvä Pasila -Liikenteen solmukohdasta moderniksi kaupunginosaksi [website]. http://www.uuttahelsinkia.fi/pasila/perustiedot/historia. 4 May 2013

Related papers

Political gardening. Transforming cities and political agency. (2015) published in Local Environment. The International Journal of Justice and Sustainability
Chiara Tornaghi

In the last decade, a large variety of grassroots actors – urban harvesters, guerrilla garden- ers, community growers and landsharers – have been promoting a diversified set of projects that, while interstitial and very often considered “residual”, are nonetheless significantly challenging the mainstream place-making of cities in the Global North, and sometimes changing the face of the neighbourhoods in which they are located. These initiatives unfold in a variety of forms: the spontaneous appropriation and rehabilitation of marginal and neglected spaces at the city periphery, new bilateral agreements for sharing private land, community stewardship of urban greens and parks in well-maintained city centres are just a few of the arrangements through which gardening in both public and private spaces is taking place in various urban settings. While most of the existing literature on community gardens and urban agriculture share a tendency towards either an advocacy view or a rather dismissive approach on the grounds of the co-optation of food growing, self-help and voluntarism to the neoliberal agenda, this collection aims to investigate and reflect on the complex and sometimes contradictory nature of these initiatives, by questioning and interrogating them as forms of political agency that contest, transform and re-signify “the urban”. While as editors of this special issue, we are interested in understanding the potential of urban gardening practices as agents of counter-neoliberal urban transformation, we do not take the progressive political stance as a starting point, but as a working question. We are interested in exploring what ideas about the city and belonging these practices embody and bring forward, how they make use of biological material as a means of political expression, what innovative relations of care, decision-making and politics of place they build, and what weaknesses, contradictions or emancipatory potentials they carry with them. Our aim is to populate the link between political gardening and the politics of space with a range of reflections that, seen in their complexity, constitute the basis for furthering urban politics from the ground up.

View PDFchevron_right
Cultivating Civic Ecology
Ana Isabel Afonso

Anthropology in Action, 2016

Urban gardens are a form of self-provisioning, leisure and activist practice that is cropping up in cities around the world (Mougeot 2010). We present the history and contemporary terrain of Lisbon’s urban gardens and discuss the cultural values that gardeners attach to the practice of growing food in interstitial urban spaces. We present initial findings from our research with an urban gardeners’ association as it attempts to transform informal or clandestine garden spaces into an ‘urban agricultural park’. This coalition of gardeners from diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds is reclaiming land and using a participatory design process to create a shared space. They hope to grow vegetables and to re-grow ‘community’ by forging shared experiences in the neighbourhood. We describe how we used Photovoice as a process for exploring residents’ motivations in planting informal and community gardens on public land. What visions of sustainability and the contemporary city emerge fro...

View PDFchevron_right
Cultivating Civic Ecology: A Photovoice Study with Urban Gardeners in Lisbon, Portugal
Ana Isabel Afonso

Anthropology in Action, 2016

Urban gardens are a form of self-provisioning, leisure and activist practice that is cropping up in cities around the world (Mougeot 2010). We present the history and contemporary terrain of Lisbon’s urban gardens and discuss the cultural values that gardeners attach to the practice of growing food in interstitial urban spaces. We present initial findings from our research with an urban gardeners’ association as it attempts to transform informal or clandestine garden spaces into an ‘urban agricultural park’. This coalition of gardeners from diverse socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds is reclaiming land and using a participatory design process to create a shared space. They hope to grow vegetables and to re-grow ‘community’ by forging shared experiences in the neighbourhood. We describe how we used Photovoice as a process for exploring residents’ motivations in planting informal and community gardens on public land. What visions of sustainability and the contemporary city emerge fro...

View PDFchevron_right
Critical urban gardening as a post-environmentalist practice
Chiara Certomà

Local Environment, 2011

This paper investigates the emergence of the urban gardening movement as a form of post-environmentalist political practice. Despite the general acknowledgment of the relevance of environmental issues in the contemporary world, according to Post-Environmentalism, environmental thinking is becoming increasingly “de-politicised”. The aim of the paper is to suggest that “re-politicisation” of environmental politics is possible, taking into account the political practices emerging in urban space. The attachment to place materiality can, by means of common practices, make evident forgotten or ignored environmental relations; and it can make them a “public issue”. These kinds of practices relay upon the association of humans and non-humans, as crucial actors in the political constitution of urban space. For instance, critical urban gardening practice may oppose the mainstream of environmental politics; it implies the use of biological material as a form of political expression, and activates material-semiotic networks existing in the urban environment.

View PDFchevron_right
Urban Gardening: Between Green Resistance and Ideological Instrument
Sandrine Baudry, Emeline Eudes

SAGE Handbook of Resistance, 2016

View PDFchevron_right

Related topics

  • Sociology
  • Geography
  • Urban Agriculture
    • 580 California St., Suite 400
    San Francisco, CA, 94104
    © 2025 Academia. All rights reserved