A great moment of suspense Wednesday, August 1 during the ultimate test: the removal of the soil that held until then the vault of the bread and pizza oven! The month of participatory construction has proved itself: the dome of the oven is absolutely solid!
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!
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!
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 4-5th 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.
In Agrocité, our plots are surrounded by hedges and alleys home to many small plants that we do not always know. These can be edible, medicinal and beautiful plants… They also tell us the characteristics of our land … yet most commonly, we refer to them as “weeds!”
Sylvie, host Nature Center, will teach us a little more about the flora that surrounds us!
Celebrate spring by planting a mound of aromatic goodness at Agrocité!
The entrance to the garden has been prepared to accommodate a selection of aromatic and medicinal plants. The mound is a perfect spot for these kinds of plants as they need more heat and drought than other plants, and the slope will allow us to create different environments to suit our companions of a thousand smells!
Come and join us in planting ans sowing thyme, rosemary, lavender, sage, parsley, coriander, sorrel, comfrey …
Entry free and open to all!
R-URBAN ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE 05 / DANIELA DOSSI
“What does ‘knitting’ mean ?”
This was the first question the course leader Lyne asked to the group during the first lesson of atelier tricot. On Sunday October 6th about 10 participants took part in the Atelier Tricot for beginners at Agrocite. Different yarns (wool and cotton) and needles n.4 were available as materials to be explored. During the first lesson Lyne explained the basic steps for knitting and showed the point mousse as starting technique.
Here the first outcomes:
Pictures: course leader Lyne explains the basics for knitting.
Participants learn how to knit while enjoying a nice herbal tea from the garden!
A baby scarf made by one of the participants.
The second lesson will take place on Sunday November 3rd at 15:00, if you would like to join please communicate your name to Lyne at Agrocite’ or via mail at : dossi.pld@tiscali.it
The lessons are by free donation ( the collected money will be used to buy new material for the course).
The aim of this first serie of lessons for beginners is to realize a scarf and to create together a manual for knitting with details about materials, instructions, points and techniques.
