Seed Sprout Change

Design for

Intravention, nature, Self-sufficiency

Year

2019-2020

A group project for Design for Environment, a core lab from the Design for Change programme. Our intravention aimed to do three things:

foster a reconnection with nature during Covid-19 isolation through encouraging engagement with indoor gardening;
share knowledge and experience with others and build a sense of community;
and question our current food systems by exploring opportunities for self-sufficiency.

Through the planting of seeds and regrowing of vegetables, the project included the design and distribution of Gardening Kits, the curation of an online community to share knowledge with others, and the utilisation of neglected spaces that had the potential for gardening.

INSIGHT

Did your project evolve in unexpected ways?

Each member of the group including the participants, learnt that growing seeds or regrowing vegetables was a skill and required a lot of patience. Time is needed to observe other species and learn how to care for them and how they care for us.

What was the most difficult part of this project?

Due to physical distancing and some of the group members having to leave Edinburgh, group members needed to be creative with their participation. Chang who was living in a flat in Manchester with no access to a garden or soil, regrew spring onions. While another member went out alone to distribute the gardening kits to participants.

What was your biggest takeaway learning from this project?

To question our supply chains and how as a society we can learn (or re-learn) how to thrive without it negatively impacting the Earth.