From Aquaponics to Urban Food Sharing

Published by SHARECITY on the 23rd August 2018.

From Aquaponics to Urban Food Sharing

Hello to all friends of SHARECITY! I am pleased to introduce myself as the newest addition to the SHARECITY team; I am Vivien, an urban ecology researcher from Germany and I joined as SHARECITY’s new Research Assistant. Settling over from Berlin to Dublin, I am amazed at SHARECITY’s plentiful outputs so far (amongst others SHARECITY’s briefing note 3 and the SHARECITY100 database) and their impact on recent urban food sharing research!

Previously working in water-farming science, I have undertaken a journey from the front to the back end of the urban food supply chain, so it seems. At my last project, I conducted research on sustainable urban agriculture at the ROOF WATER FARM project at the Technical University of Berlin. ROOF WATER-FARM (2013-2017) explored ways of combining wastewater treatment with urban farming. As part of ROOF WATER-FARM’s interdisciplinary team, I investigated if household wastewater and rainwater can be used for aquaponics and hydroponics on Berlin’s rooftops.

Apart from urban agriculture, I have a strong interest in the effective and efficient dissemination of research results. Last year, I produced and instructed the ROOF WATER-FARM Online Course (MOOC), which was directed at technology developers, urban farmers, researchers, students, and the broad public. It is my firm belief, that fruitful science communication is directed towards academic as well as non-academic members of society to facilitate urban transition towards more sustainable cities.

Starting at SHARECITY, I am delighted to meet the numerous food sharing initiatives contributing to the project’s success! Coming from a city that is heavily influenced by gentrification, I am particularly keen on learning more about the role of food sharing activities in sustainable urban development. Dublin – as many other cities in Europe – is currently facing a housing and homelessness crisis. Acknowledging the positive influence of food sharing initiatives in fighting urban poverty and food insecurity seems more important than ever.

Apart from working in the “online world”, I am a passionate community gardener, previously at Berlin’s rooftop community garden Klunkerkranich. During my first week at SHARECITY, I had the amazing opportunity to visit the Muck and Magic Community Garden in Ballymun, Dublin, together with Stephen. We were pleased to meet many fellow compassionate gardeners and delighted to harvest a bunch of delicious vegetables. Many thanks to the Muck and Magic team – especially for the giant Zucchini!

I am excited to join SHARECITY in the project’s thrilling second phase – the next stage will be all about investigating the impact and governance of urban food sharing. One of the key aspects of my role is keeping up the good work on Sharecity’s website and social media, so that everyone is up to date with current outputs and the project’s progress. Please get in touch if you wish to share your views, opinions, and knowledge and follow our latest outputs on twitter and facebook! I can be contacted at franckv@tcd.ie and on Linkedin.

I look forward to hearing from you online!

Vivien