As the exploration of Gdańsk continues, Justyna Jakubiec (Utrecht University) discovers and recognizes more ideas and voices raised through gardening activities in the city.
Justyna spotted a common voice in the city – one that strongly points to the importance of community gardening in Gdańsk and other cities of Trójmiasto (Tricity, an urban area that consists of three neighboring coastal cities: Gdańsk, Sopot and Gdynia). This voice concerns establishing community gardens by artistic, cultural, and social institutions as part of their premises, with the aim of social activation, appealing to a broader audience, and developing ecological knowledge.
Centrum Dolna Brama, a recently established space for social activity and innovation that is also the workplace of the Department of Local Cooperation and Social Innovation, has expanded its spatial, social, and ecological dimension by adding a set of raised beds (photo 1, 2). Suddenly, its audience has started to shift and expand.
Goyki 3 Art Inkubator, a cultural institution run by the local government in Sopot that focuses especially on establishing interdisciplinary connections and researching contemporary culture in close link to local history, refers to the heritage of the historical building that is its home base through running its community garden—fully open given its location in the surrounding park (photo 3, 4).
Gardening activities can even be spotted in theatres—last year, the recently renovated Teatr Wybrzeże started experimenting with the possibility of greening its patio and, hopefully, establishing a community garden (photo 5). Even though prototyping and exploring for the time being, the theatre has already noticed some positive changes in the way it thinks about its role as an institution.
What feels crucial here is the notion of doing things otherwise. For some institutions, the garden has introduced other modes of gathering and community building that have started to change these institutions’ shape and even role. We can see a particular form of remapping the city and its center taking place. Perhaps the center is where the community assembles, also (and in particular for the Open Garden) in and through the garden?