Urban Foraging and Commoning

Abstract

This design project investigates how commoning can support the practice of urban foraging, resulting in a framework that describes the social characteristics of commoning and the abilities and opportunities for urban foraging. The framework led to a design showcase, called Get To Gather, which is an interactive board in public space to let citizens experience the practice of urban foraging, as an entrance to the foraging community.

Commoning is a verb of “commons” that describes the social process to manage the commons. The goal of the commons movement is to reclaim commonwealth, and transform the focus on privatization into collective use of resources while preventing them from being commercialized. Commoning is a social process that relies on active collaboration and cooperation.

The practice of urban foraging describes going from place to place searching for things to eat or use, in an urban context. Foraged food is also described as “zero-footprint food” since it is entirely outside the profit-making food production system we know today, which provides people to live self-sufficient and supports a resilient food production system in the city. Foraging goes beyond the consumption of wild edible plants because it is a social activity, in which people pass on knowledge, culture, and traditions from generation to generation. This project focuses on foraging as a leisure activity in the Netherlands.

Foraging is getting more popular, which resulted in the concern of external authorities about the safety of people and the environment. Also, beginner foragers experience fear of eating poisonous or dirty plants in the city. In combination with the social motivations of urban foraging, this resulted in an inspiring and robust network, a community that wants to make sure that everyone forages safely and with care for the environment. Therefore, the community expresses a need to involve beginner foragers into their network.
Urban foraging is an act that transforms unused urban nature into a place with social interactions. In the city, there are fragmented municipal plots that do not fulfill a specific function. In this report, these areas are man’s lands. The final design is an entrance to the foraging community at these locations, to create awareness about the community, and involve beginner foragers to teach them how to treat the environment correctly and perform the practice safely. The design is ‘do it yourself,’ so people can make the design by themselves without waiting for external authorities. Get To Gather transforms unused urban green spaces into places for social access.

The design shows how commoning can support the practice of urban foraging, by making the foraging community, and nature in the city equitable accessible for people outside the community. It frames urban foraging as a practice with social benefits, by showing the community, in which foragers have strong social ties with fellow foragers.