While many departments, research institutes and universities offer a fertile ground for intellectual collaboration and mutual support structures, like-minded scholars also happen to work outside these formal frames, often hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometers away. In this blog post, we reflect upon how a group of ten scholars writing joint articles based on individual research became what we currently call the emerging Polička Collective: a spatially dispersed and interdisciplinary alliance of scholars interested in diverse and community economies in Eastern and Central Europe (CEE) and the Former Soviet Union.
In this blog entry, we reflect upon what made our encounters possible and provide insights, perhaps only short glimpses, into the processes of creating a convivial atmosphere, on the one hand, and the planning as well as execution of collaborative writing efforts in between relatively short physical meetings and long periods of spatial dispersal, on the other hand. Rather than offering a blueprint for how to grow organically into a spatially dispersed scholars’ collective, we trace this genealogy with one main goal: we hope this self-reflective account can provide helpful insights for other collaborative projects and collectives, especially since both creating a convivial atmosphere and writing collaboratively remains often tacit and embodied knowledge among participants in collective projects.
Despite the tendency that internationalized collaborative projects are increasingly regarded as stimulating, there remains little guidance on how to grow together. We will make explicit some important rules of conduct, methods and activities that helped us in working together, narrated in a somewhat chronological order for the sake of simplicity.
Polička Collective is an interdisciplinary group of scholars engaging with diverse and community economies in the Global East. From top left to bottom right: Markus Sattler, Peter North, Sunna Kovanen, Anja Decker, Ottavia Cima, Thomas Smith, Lilian Pungas, Lucie Sovová, Nadia Johanisova, Petr Jehlička.
Brussels, 29 April 2024. The SERIGO project kicked off to promote social innovation as a means to enhance social inclusion within rural communities. The project is coordinated by the University of Eastern Finland and brings together 17 partner organisations from 11 different EU countries.
SERIGO will conduct community-based participatory research, through case studies and pilots testing, foster collaborations, and provide policy recommendations on how socialinnovation can enhance resilience, social inclusion, and well-being in European rural areas. The project is a 4-year initiative funded under the Horizon Europe programme of the European Union (EU).
13 case studies and 5 co-creation pilots
SERIGO applies an intersectional perspective to analyse vulnerability and implements critical systems thinking in combination with community-based participatory research. This approach aims to explore both the capacity and limitations of socially innovative solutions in enhancing social inclusion and equitability. Empirical data will be gathered in 13 case studies over Europe.
The project will also co-create five experimental pilot actions aimed at testing socially innovative solutions and providing support to vulnerable groups in Austria, Estonia, Finland, Slovakia, and Slovenia.
A training programme tailored for refugee and migrant women in Carinthia region (Austria) and the creation of a community energy initiative while fostering capacity building in Ostrovany (Slovakia), are some examples from the pilot actions.
Additionally, SERIGO will co-create and validate the research results and policy findings through a Community of Practice (CoP) which will also serve to facilitate knowledge transfer and peer-learning.
SERIGO is conducting community-based participatory research, fostering collaboration, and providing policy recommendations on how socialinnovation can enhance resilience, social inclusion, and well-being of vulnerable groups in European rural areas. The project is exploring socially innovative solutions initiated by or involving actors from the social economy. With a focused approach to addressing the challenges faced by rural communities, SERIGO is committed to harnessing the capabilities of social economy actors to drive inclusive development initiatives.
Anna Roodhof picking fruit in the Paradijsvogelbosje (Almere)
By Anna Roodhof – Food forestry is an advanced type of agroforestry where practitioners design a forest ecosystem that incorporates edible and otherwise serviceable perennial plant species. In the Netherlands, food forests have become an increasingly popular land-use form, inspired by Martin Crawford’s forest garden. The first occurrence of the term ‘food forest’ dates back to 2009, when Wouter van Eck and Pieter Jansen started a forest garden sized 3 hectares, which they aptly renamed ‘food forest’. Since then, and especially from 2017 onwards, this innovative approach to agroforestry has flourished across the country. As a PhD candidate at the Rural Sociology Group at Wageningen University and Research, I study this emerging phenomenon.
Last week, the first article of this project, called ‘Understanding the emerging phenomenon of food forestry in the Netherlands: An assemblage theory approach’, was published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development. This article presents an exploratory study of food forestry through the lens of assemblage theory, which I describe as “the coming together of many components which interact, producing emergent properties” (Roodhof, 2024, p. 3).
While the concept was originated by Deleuze and Guattari (1987), I resort to DeLanda (2016) for his emphasis on the immanence of emergent properties: the emergent properties of assemblages cease once an assemblage disbands. Sarmiento (2020) theorized that the interactions between the elements of an assemblage can be characterized as relations of dominance and difference: such relations play a role in solidifying or dissolving assemblages.
As such, my research identified numerous elements of the food forestry assemblage, such as the mentioned experts, food forests, practitioners, networks and coalitions, laws and regulations, subsidies, events, workshops, and other activities in and around food forests. The interactions between these elements lead to various emergent properties, such as increased hope for the future and feelings of belonging. Particularly noteworthy is the shared experience of ‘pionieren’ (pioneering): “practicing FF entails the excitement of being part of a new, grassroots movement that gives a sense of purpose, while also having a sense of insecurity” (Roodhof, 2024, p. 9-10).
Moreover, I uncover intricate relations of dominance and difference within the food forestry landscape, influencing recruitment, shared values, definitions, organization, and infrastructure. For instance, while shared values unite practitioners in their quest for sustainable food systems, differing perspectives on food forestry’s purpose and scope lead to debates over its definition and institutional recognition.
This study demonstrates the complex relations between the many elements that compose the food forestry assemblage in the Netherlands and highlights the rapid development this assemblage is currently undergoing: this paper presents a snapshot in time. Its sets the stage for further research about social and economic possibilities for food forestry. As the food forestry landscape is highly diverse, the common denominator of food forests being their multifunctionality, further research should take note of the importance of the socio-geographic context.
Deleuze, G., & Guattari, F. (1987). A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia (B. Massumi, Trans.). University of Minnesota Press. (Original work published 1980).
Roodhof, A. (2024). Understanding the emerging phenomenon of food forestry in the Netherlands: An assemblage theory approach. Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems and Community Development, 13(2), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.5304/jafscd.2024.132.018
Sarmiento, E. (2020). Field methods for assemblage analysis: Tracing relations between difference and dominance. In J. K. Gibson-Graham & K. Dombroski (Eds.), The handbook of diverse economies (pp. 486–492). Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788119962.00067
Introduction A person’s food environment has a huge impact on what food is accessible to them. This influences not only the kind of food choices residents make but also how they navigate the city. In 2021, the municipality of Wageningen published its Food Agenda. The report noted that residents with a migration background had limited involvement in food-related initiatives. It also mentioned the general lack of knowledge about how residents navigate themselves in the urban food environment. My master thesis responds to this knowledge gap. My thesis was conducted using Food Asset Mapping and Photovoice methods to explore the food routines of Wageningen residents with a migration background and their perception of the local food environment. In this blog post, I will show a glimpse of the findings, answering the main research question: How do households with various migration backgrounds navigate themselves in the multi-ethnic food environment of Wageningen?
Exploring the food provisioning practices “I can buy anything. If I want something, I can buy it. Except for a few products.”
Most participants have a similar experience to the one shared in the quote above, as they are generally satisfied with the range of products that can be found in Wageningen. Based on the interviews and received photos from the participants, my research indicates that many households share similar grocery shopping routines. Supermarkets, the open-air market and tokos were the most visited, despite the varying food-related preferences and cultural backgrounds among the interviewed residents (see Figure 1). Locations like restaurants, online stores, farms and farm stores also play a prominent role. Other food provisioning practices like gardening, food exchange between family members and friends, and eating together are also widespread among the participants. Food stores are most appreciated when they meet several food-related wishes of the households such as the availability of desired products, cultural and religious accommodation, accessibility, product quality and affordability.
Figure 1. Food Asset Map of Wageningen. Based on input received from Wageningen residents. By Dasha Gretchikhine.
Challenges in the Wageningen food environment “We are Muslims, so we must have Halal meat.”
The variety and number of places to buy food, like grocery stores, online shops, farm stands, and restaurants, are rapidly increasing and becoming even more diverse in Wageningen. While the city’s food environment is generally marked by the participants as one rich in food options, they also mark that some cultural and otherwise valued food habits are still hard to replicate. Some examples include tough-to-find cuisine-significant products, Halal eating-out options, and affordable and good quality products like fresh meat, fish, fruit and vegetables.
Household agency and adaptation strategies “Yes, I don’t look at Organic (certified produce), because my sustainability – I try not to waste food, that’s what I do.”
All interviewed households shared ways in which they overcome the limitations of the local food environment, along with their ideas of what eating healthily and sustainably means. While adapting to the environment, many households implement and prioritize their own needs and values, as mentioned in the quote above. They are driven by personal preferences like wanting to cook recipes from their homeland, adhering to religious rules, and saving money. This motivates them to look for other options both within and outside their local area, like ordering food online, shopping in different cities or even countries, making their own versions of certain products at home, and buying in bulk. These and other resourceful solutions are some of the ways through which the households overcome the city’s imitations.
Besides searching for alternatives, households show a great deal of adaptation to the local food environment by adjusting their food routines and eating habits to meet the available food options. Moreover, interactions with other residents with Dutch and international backgrounds are highlighted by the participants as a phenomenon that greatly shapes their food habits, indicating the development of transnational foodways in Wageningen.
Figure 2: Garden of an acquaintance of a participant. Photograph taken by a participant.Figure 3: Butcher aisle in a toko. Photograph taken by a participant.Figure 4: A lunch shared amongst friends at a participant’s house. Photograph taken by a participant.Figure 5: Discounted vegetables sold at the market. Photograph taken by a participant.
Conclusion “[…] So of course, we are going to miss a lot of things, but we feel satisfied because we still enjoy new food that we found here. Also, the mix of cultures help us to meet new type of food […].”
My MSc thesis shows that although households with a migration background are at times confined by the characteristics of the food environment, they overcome the potential limitations by adapting to new foodways, going to great lengths to recreate important food practices and finding other alternatives, through which they create further freedoms for themselves and their nearest.
Food has been shown to be a medium that helps increase and sustain participants’ social networks within the city. This is why the Wageningen food environment plays a key role in the household’s sense of belonging to the city space and other residents. The feeling of welcomeness in the food environment is shaped by the individual experience of the food availability in the city and its appropriateness but also by the associated social practices. The need to adjust the behaviour around food and eating creates a sense of unwelcomeness for some households while encouraging others to take on new food habits and discover other cuisines, as mentioned in the quote above. Addressing issues of the city’s food environment is fundamental in the process of sustaining and creating a truly welcoming and inclusive living space for all in Wageningen.
If this blogpost made you curious to my full master thesis, you can find it here.
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