K6ET 2140 - Urban Agriculture Projects as a Vector of Food Accessibility

Urban farms, community or rooftop gardens and the likes have been flourishing, for urban agriculture (UA) has been promoted as a panacea for the shortcomings of the industrial food system. The workshop will introduce students to UA, framing the practice in a theoretical and historical context, and presenting the diversity of its forms and functions in European cities. A field-visit to an urban farm will serve as an illustration of the material exposed. We’ll proceed to elucidate and discuss concepts such as urban “food deserts” and “food justice”. Through both literature and practical case analysis, we’ll link the two themes, critically examining the tools, challenges and possibilities of urban agriculture’s contribution to food justice in European cities. We’ll explore issues ranging from land access to the vulnerability of UA projects, difficulties in the evaluation of social outcomes, the complex links between UA and gentrification, and questions related to governance and scale. Students will then have the opportunity to apply conceptual and operational tools, through hands-on activities. Students will conceive and present, within groups and in a given context, their own urban agriculture project with a particular attention to the project’s capacity to improve food accessibility. Finally, a role play will put students in the shoes of various stakeholders - local authorities, activists, NGOs, private actors, inhabitants - to collectively reflect on the workshop and identify levers to facilitate an ecological, socially just urban transformation, specifically through UA.

The workshop is divided in 3 4 hour-long sessions. Each one will include a provision of theoretical material and the presentation of tools, discussions and hands-on. Some of them will include hands-on exercises as well as group presentations. The workshop will rely on student's active participation.

This course is validate 2 ECTS

Evaluation will be based on group work (in-class preparation and presentation of UA projects – 70%) and on individual engagement and contributions – through oral participation or a written note (for the ones who prefer that option) – to class discussions, the evaluation of their fellows, the urban farm visit, the final collective reflection/role play (30%).

Students are expected to come to class prepared (e.g. having done the required reading, arriving on time). But most of the work will occur during class: time will be allotted to preparing the presentation of a UA project in groups of 3-4, even if students may take some time between sessions to finalize the presentation. Student’s overall engagement with the class material will otherwise be assessed through the quality of their oral participation (or of a note written at home, if they prefer that option).