R-Urban English

[April 2019]

The building site is progressing well, the roof framework was laid yesterday… The building is taking shape. As for the co-construction workshops, which take place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, we have built a wooden stair made of reused wood for the access to the technical base.We have also started to build gabion baskets for a retaining wall. During the next sessions, we will be working on the straw insulation and the phyto-purification system. Looking forward to seeing you there !

[January 2019]

A big thank you to everyone for coming to celebrate the installation of the first beam of the Agrocité of Bagneux! Thank you to Bagneux Environnement for having made this moment live around their breadoven workshop, to the Mayor of Bagneux and to the Metropolis of Greater Paris for their presence and their support to this beautiful project of urban resilience.

On Saturday 26th of October, there was a visit to the Recyclab, an R-Urban unit built in 2012 at the same time as the Agrocité de Colombes and which, since 2017, has been living again on the site of the temporary occupation “Vive les Groues” in Nanterre, managed by the association Yes We Camp.
Built in 2012 along the Boulevard d’Archères in Colombes, the Recyclab is a unit dedicated to recycling and reusing waste on a local scale, as well as developing eco-construction and sharing know-how. In 2017, the building is forced to leave the commune of Colombes and is therefore bequeathed to Yes We Camp.
Built from wooden containers and modules, it could be dismantled and reassembled in October 2017 on the Groues site in Nanterre. Since 2017, Yes We Camp has been developing a temporary occupation for 8 years with the aim of setting up local partnerships and supporting the transformation of this neighborhood.
Thank you to Yes We Camp for welcoming us!

Construction of the pergola, retrospective! 100% re-used wood, elbow grease, some bean seeds that will provide shade under the pergola! We started with a lot of motivation and now already two sessions of pallet workshops have occurred! While waiting for the luxuriant vegetation and the planting of the vine, a sewing workshop to make patchwork canvases will allow us to shade the pergola a little this summer!

Our first 100% recycled tricycle! Come to try it on 21 February at the Repair Cafe!

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.

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.

This Saturday, there was great commotion in and around the greenhouse.
At first we had to deal with the monumental harvest of fruits and vegetables from the Marcea and Asnières markets, made ​​a few hours earlier by Fabrice, Adrian and Leo. At 13h, the time when the market closes, there is a lot of interesting waste for the garden: overripe fruit, unsold vegetable crates and cartons. The gardeners are bound to sort all this up: first the fruit still edible was set aside, so that everyone was able to take one. Some have recovered and dried seeds in anticipation of future planting. Finally, all that was damaged was divided between compost and vermicompost: worms in the worm farm were treated to a feast!

 
Then everyone got their hands in the dough to store the greenhouse. In fact, due to the approach of winter, it was about arranging this common store, so that everyone can make its seed and shelter when the weather is cold. Everyone has actively participated in the great Fall Cleaning: sorting, storage, washing furniture and weeding the soil. Thus, the greenhouse was completely emptied and refurbished: we built a large table and a micro-sowing seed bank. The development continues on Oct. 13, including storage shelves and a small warm seating area for this winter. Any idea is welcome!