Urban agriculture as activism: the cases of São Paulo, Paris and Lausanne

The emergence of community gardens is associated with the process of (re)production and transformation of urban space. They have generated debates on the uses of public space, the origin and quality of food and the citizen’s right to the city. Because they constitute common spaces, which foster the strengthening of social bonds, the citizen’s access to public spaces and the regeneration of urban biodiversity, community gardens are central to the understanding of urban agriculture as activism. This will be the theme of my presentation, which will focus on the cases of Lausanne, Paris and São Paulo, drawing on the analysis of citizen engagement and municipal institutional responses. Based on qualitative research, combining participant and non-participant observation, my approach intends to broaden the concept of urban agriculture in order to encompass its activist dimension.

Dr. Gustavo (Guga) Nagib is a geographer, founding member of the Study Group on Urban Agriculture at the Institute of Advanced Studies at the University of São Paulo and postdoc (Swiss Government Excellence Scholarship) at UNIL-IGD. His research focuses on urban agriculture as activism, citizen (re)occupation of public spaces and the right to the city. He worked on the Paris and São Paulo cases during his PhD thesis and is currently studying the Lausanne context as part of his postdoc.

Please email Julio Paulos (julio.paulos@unil.ch) if you cannot attend in person and would like a Zoom link.