R-Urban English

[April 2019]

On April 11th, the Agrocité celebrated its first year of operation. One year of exchanges, workshops on ecology, learning about agro-ecology and permaculture… Thanks to all those who came this Saturday 8th of April to celebrate this anniversary with us. For the occasion, Gilles Clément gave a conference on « jardins en mouvement». In his further speach, Mayor Patrice Leclerc took the opportunity to renew his support for the project and the commitment of the city of Gennevilliers to ecology.

All along the day, numerous speakers and associations came to lead workshops. We made seed bombs with the Syndicat des Eaux of Gennevilliers’ peninsula and the associations Urbanescence and Sanctuaire des Hérissons came to talk to us about garden aids and the benefits of hedgehogs for our vegetable garden. The League for the Protection of Birds (LPO) set up an exhibition on the facade of the building. We were also able to discuss on repairing practices with the association Récit Pro Cité. We also had a good meal concocted by volunteers and we ended the day with the sounds of the Bellette Brass Band. Thank you all and we look forward to seeing you all year round for our workshops !

[April 2019]

This Wednesday 3rd of April, we had the pleasure to welcome at the Agrocité of Gennevilliers a dozen architecture students from Columbia University (New York). After a presentation of the R-Urban resilience strategy, they have visited the building and the ecological devices that go with it, then we exchanged around composting and the role of chicken farming in ecological strategies.

RECYCLAB will be having an open door event on Friday and Saturday the 4-5 July at Colombes, boulevard d’Achères.
This Eco- Solidarity Platform introduces new strategies for the revitalisation of urban waste through ecological and socially responsible production. It is a space of co-production and work sharing between ‘makers’ of any kind (designers, architects, tinkerers, students, technologists) and a network of local actors. The space is equipped with power tools, a fablab, kitchen, offices and a large terrace under the canopy of a row of trees.

AGROCITE  will also host open door events on the 5-6 July, 4-12 Rue Jules Michelet.
Come to see the garden, participate in guided walks, ateliers, discussions and score yourself a bargain in the grand trash and treasure market where nothing is lost, all is transformed! In this marketplace the currency is ‘trash’ and one person’s trash is another’s treasure! Bring along an object, whether it be a special recipe, crafts, clothes, furniture or something you’ve baked, and exchange it for another.

Last week, Agrocité was host to a cooking atelier ran by Chef Jean Jacques. He taught us how to cook with a whole chicken, leaving none to waste! He also taught us how to use over-ripe and old lettuce in tasty new ways and the arts of food decoration! Many thanks to the chef!

Agrocité has started a café associative with coffee available every Monday to Saturday, and meals available every thursday!

COFFEE

Fairtrade coffee is available from 12h – 18h Monday-Saturday at 80 cents a cup. We are currently using Feral Trade Coffee, sourced from Mexico and  brought to Agrocité through social networks, outside of commercial systems by Kate Rich, an artist and ethical trader aiming to make transparent the transactions and costs involved in the trade process. Check out the label on the back of the packet to learn about the different hands your coffee has gone through!

(http://www.feraltrade.org/cgi-bin/courier/courier.pl)

Other beverages are also on offer for 80 cents, such as our refreshing Agrocité-made elderflower syrup which perfect to relax in the garden with on a hot summer day! Locally made cakes and treats depend on availability.

MEALS

Each Thursday from 12h-14.30h, a unique, healthy meal will be made using vegetables of the garden. One plate costs 5 euros and numbers are limited so it is important to get there early. While you eat you can read about how the meal is benefitting your body and learn some helpful food facts to improve your health and nutrition, or if reading is not what your after at a lunchtime, you can sit under the pagola in the garden and embrace the serenity of nature. We also have an option of take away for those with limited time, especially if you bring your own tupperware!

The premier lunch was a hit with great reviews from customers. We made Chard and Chickpea curry, served with rice, a cucumber, mint and yoghurt raita and the option of a fresh and flavourful salad. In the images below you can see diners enjoying their meal, the nutritional information tablet provided, and two lunches packaged to go.

From June 4 to 7, the beekeeping season officially began at Agrocité, with initiation workshops into the arts and lives of bees!  Workshops were run by Alain, a local beekeeper who has developed a small apiary, allowing interested inhabitants to learn and practice with him.

Workers, the queen, drone, swarming, queen cells, nectar, pollen, honey, propolis are all a part of what keeps bees busy and what nourishes our planet… It is in a spirit of respect for the bee and their needs that is crucial to beekeeping, as Alain has instilled in us. We thank him and invite interested parties to make themselves known because the magic of beekeeping has only just begun!

Agrocité has become new home to a collection of beautiful chickens and busy bees!

Eight chickens have recently inhabited the coop located towards the back of Agrocité. As you can see from the pictures below, these chickens are no ordinary chickens! They come in different shapes and sizes, colours and textures-  some feathered and some fluffy, some with hair like mohawks while others with hair on feet!

The three hens pictured below arrived on the 12th of May and have already began laying beautiful eggs (which are for sale at agrocité’s non-consumerist shop selling delicious local produce)!

The other five chickens (pictured below)  arrived a week later and are younger in age, meaning they havent began laying and are still a bit shy in their new home. These chickens were given to us by a local chicken appreciation society who will soon hold an educational workshop to teach us about our new feathery friends, including how to take care of them, their different personalities (what they like and dont like), the different breeds of chickens as well as answer any questions you might have!

Keep an eye and ear out for the chicken workshop- date is soon to be announced!

The other, less cuddly but nonetheless important, residents of Agrocité are the bees! Given to us by Alan the local beekeeper, this swarm of bees have been busy settling into their new surroundings, tasting the springtime flowers and making delicious honey! More hives are to arrive in the coming weeks.

We have built an area so you can come and watch the bees do what they do from a safe enclosure, while you are free to enter the chicken coop and say hi to our new feathered friends!

See you soon!

On Saturday April 12th, local residents Abdel and Benôit held a tajine making workshop at Agrocité!

The day begun at 10am with headchefs teaching us the chopping, ordering and flavouring of tajine construction. At around 11.30am we prepared a barbeque of sorts, from reclaimed materials, and set them cooking until 2pm while we all sat around and watched, chatted and played in the garden.

Six tajines were made and shared between over 20 people. It was a beautiful spring saturday full of sunshine and happy bellies.

Ingredients and method:

In a large bowl mix together chicken wings (around 5 wings per tajine), a long drizzle of olive oil, chopped onion, garlic, fresh coriander, ground coriander, cumin, paprika and salt. Mix it with your hands until the chicken is well covered in spices.

Arrange the chicken in tajine base in a circular pattern, fanning outwards.

Chop into long shards potato, carrot, green and red capsicum. Arrange on the chicken fanning in a similar fashion (see pictures). Follow with the tomato.

Sprinkle a couple of handfuls of raisins, a handful of olives, fresh coriander, some of the spice mix and four prunes on top.

Put the lid on the tajine and cook until juicy and tender, check to be sure the chicken is cooked.

Enjoy!

On the 4-5^th of April, R-Urban was host to the Life + Platform meeting on Urban Resilience. This meeting brought together practitioners from around Europe working to address urban environmental challenges within their local cities. As recipients of the European Union’s Life + funding, the organisation’s share a common stake in the innovation of resilient approaches to sustainable cities, particuarly their adaptability to climate change and socio-political change. The meeting was divided into themeatic workshops around infrastructure and planning, waste management and resource management, with presentations from each project representative on their specific areas. In the field of infrastructure and planning, we heard from Caroline Bragg from GroundWork on climate proofing social housing landscapes in the UK; Florencio Conde on sustainable environmental balances in the recovery of the natural peri-urban area of ‘Las Arcillas’ in Tereul, Spain; Isabelle Chatoux from Yvelines on green planning for the SeineCityPark, Chanteloup Loop, Paris; and Outi Salminen on creating an urban oases in Finland: Shaping a sustainable future through environmentally functional landscape features.

The second workshop focused on addressing waste management and recycling at different scales and how this contributes to an increased territorial resistance. Presentations were given by Clare Standish and Sarah Melor from UP and Forward, an initiative based in the Greater Manchester focused urban participation in the reuse and recycling of household waste and development of communications; Philippe Naudet from the European Week for Waste Reduction, based in Brussels and operating on a European scale in the promotion of waste prevention.

The last workshop focused on natural resource management and renewable energy production in the urban frame. This theme was explored with presentations by Nathalie Briche from MAC EAU, a localised initiative working to reduce the household consumption of drinking water through the implementation and evaluation of integrated measures in Geronde, France; Beatrix Dold from EKO LIFE discussing their approach to promoting sustainable lifestyles to encourage energy autonomy in Vorarlberg, Austria; and Laurence Caille from CLIMATE (Changing Living Modes: Acting in our Territory for the Environment) presenting their work on fostering behavioural change around energy and waste awareness in Essonne, France.

The two day seminar provided a much needed platform to share the successes and challenges facing each project, as well as providing the space to talk and learn about different practices and operational tools surrounding participatory approaches and local governance in the creation of resilient projects. On the second day, visitors were invited to learn about R-Urban through short presentations by local and institutional stakeholders and gain a perspective into the life around R-Urban.