Collective urban gardens: growing, learning and fostering social engagement

Abstract

ABSTRACT Scholars have recently worked to broaden the definition of urban engagement in order to better understand the multiple manifestations of this concept. Some, interested in grasping the potential transformative or demonstrative effects of everyday actions in urban settings, have examined active practices, such as gardening. Others have focused on the scale of action and have demonstrated how limited activities can have significant effects on individuals and communities. Building on the case studies of collective gardens in the significantly different urban settings of Québec City (Canada) and Madrid (Spain), we explore how the practices of urban gardening offer forms of learning that often go beyond gardening itself and expand into collective decision making and social engagement. The gardens we look at are grassroots based, have been in operation for approximately ten years and receive a form of support from city programmes. Our results show that these gardens are the sites of social processes where gardeners develop a strong identity in relation to the alternative lifestyles that they build, as well as a sense of belonging that goes beyond the boundaries of their garden and that connects them to nature. By developing their ethos of care, gardeners learn that neighbourhood-oriented actions have political implications that can help change the city.