Growlots Philadelphia Integrative Development for Philadelphia’s Urban Agriculture Movement
Megan Braley and Victoria Perez The University of the Arts Masters of Industrial Design Graduate Thesis
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Thesis Statement This thesis proposes that the design process of observation, research, and interviewing, can be used to prototype and implement a system that enables communication and transparency for members of the urban agriculture movement.
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Addressing A Wicked Problem
-Issues on Evaluating Food Crisis Warning Systems, Bruce Currey-The Flinders University of South Australia < http://www.unu.edu/unupress/food/8F062e/8F062E06.GIF>
- Philadelphia Healthy Food Network, Joanna Holsten RN, MS < http://www.philadelphiahealthyfoodnetwork.org/>
Agri-Food System
Philadelphiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Urban Agriculture Movement
Farmers, Processors, Packagers, Distributors, Vendors, Consumers
Nonprofits, Growers, Local Government
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Wicked Problems Any problem, â&#x20AC;&#x153;for which each attempt to create a solution changes the understanding of the problem.â&#x20AC;? Wicked problems, or complex problems, often affect systems because they are made up of many intertwined components.
Concept Developed by Horst Rittel - 1973, Building Shared Understanding of Wicked Problems. 2006. CogNexus, 9 Apr 2010. <http://cognexus.org/id42.htm>
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Thesis Process Working with Stakeholders Re-Analyzing the Problem
Researching History
Examining Models
Observing a Problem
Applying Key Concepts
Developing the Proposal Verifying with Stakeholders
Strategizing a Plan
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Philadelphia’s Food History
1673 “A Country Green Towne”
1880 - 1920
1950
1960
Workshops of the World
Deindustrialization
Food Access Points Minimized
1. The Treaty of Penn with the Indians, Benjamin West, Oil on Canvas, 1771-72 < http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Treaty_of_Penn_with_Indians_by_Benjamin_West.jpg> 2. A View in the Kensington Mill District, Public Ledger Photo, c. 1870 - 1920 < http://www.workshopoftheworld.com/kensington/kensington_files/page3_1.jpg> 3. Southwest Philadelphia, 20th Street, < http://farm1.static.flickr.com/157/428757794_690ca5048e.jpg>
1970 Local Food Movement Rises
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Constant Growth With Limited Resources 10
GROWERS ALLIANCE
09
Fairmount Park MAYORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S OFFICE
OF
08 SUSTAINABILITY 08
88
PENNSTATE 76
Education Government
Business Collaboration
1950
50
H
1960
60
H
Grower Food Shed
1940
43
H
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27
Saul Agricultural High School
Community Gardens Develop
73
H
53
N G A Coop Extension Program
87
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GREEN
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weavers waycoop Mariposa Food Co-op
07
PUFN
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WYCK HOME FARM
N G A
1 8 5 5
PHILADEPHIA
74
SHARE
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1980
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99 FOX CHASE FARM
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P HI L A BUNDAN C E White Dog Cafe
ROW GREEFNS A RGM S
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01
Most Gardens
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common market
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THE MILL CREEK REEK FARM SPI N FARM ING
R
Farm to City
weavers waycoop FARM
2010
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Competition Over Limited Resources Food Security!
Food Culture! Vacant land use!
Food Access! Sell More Food!
Grow More Food!
No grants this month.
Money is tight. Consolidate everyone.
People slow me down. How do I sell food?
Beautify the City!
Can I grow food here?
Must write new policies.
Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m tired of this process.
Healthier City! Nutrition Education!
I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t finish anything!
Eat More Food!
Who do I talk to? I always need money.
Healthy Eating! Healthier City!
Initial Excitement
How can I do my work?
Realities of Sustaining Your Efforts
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Interviewing: Participatory Design Participatory design is a process that involves all stakeholders to create the most relevant solution. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It assumes that workers (the user/client) themselves are in the best position to determine how to improve their work and their work life.â&#x20AC;?
Participatory Design: Principles and Practices by Douglas Schuler and Aki Namioka
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Interviewing The Stakeholders
NonProfits “There are turf wars between nonprofits because missions overlap.”
Growers “It would be nice to know what people are doing, to share resources, get physical help, and share ideas.”
Government “The food system is very complicated, it’s a multidisciplinary problem so it needs a multidisciplinary solution.”
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Synthesizing Data: Key Problems 1. The system is not seen as a whole. 2. Present efforts are not coordinated between organizations.
3. Progress is slow because the future
â&#x20AC;&#x2030;â&#x20AC;&#x2030;plans of the stakeholder groups do not align.
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Studying Other Cities Vancouver: Model of Collaboration
Seattle: Model of Communication
• “2,010 gardens by 2010” slogan
• Clear categories
• Government, Nonprofits, and Growers actively developing “growing guidelines” together
• Information builds through exploring the website
• 44% of residents grow a portion of their own food
• Distinct identity for the movement
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Key Findings From Literature Reviews Shaping Strategy, To redefine the terms of competition ... through a positive galvanizing message that promises to benefits to all who adopt the new terms. Communicative Action, Communicating free of manipulation so that the conversation is open and transparent Organizational Effectiveness, The extent to which an organization has met its stated goals and objectives ... how well it performed in the process. Coordinated Action, The action of agents involved are not egocentric but based on the reaching an understanding. 1. Shaping Strategy in a World of Constant Disruption. Harvard Business Review. Hagel, John III, et. al. Oct. 2008 2. A Challenge to Traditional Economic Assumptions: Applying the Social Theory of Communicative Action to Governance in the Third Sectorâ&#x20AC;?. Millar, M. E. and Abraham, A . 2006. 3. The Kronkosky Charitable Foundation. Nonprofit Organizational Effectiveness, Research Brief. 2007 4.A Challenge to Traditional Economic Assumptions: Applying the Social Theory of Communicative Action to Governance in the Third Sectorâ&#x20AC;?. Millar, M. E. and Abraham, A . 2006.
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Power of Coordinated Effort â&#x20AC;˘ The ability to put WHAT is being accomplished before WHO is contributing the work. â&#x20AC;˘ Acknowledging all tools and resources presently available to a group so that future steps are not redundant.
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Mapping Relationships â&#x20AC;˘ Mapping according to organizational alliances â&#x20AC;˘ Mapping funding relationships from national, state, and city providers.
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Strategic Plan of Action Removing Names
Equalizing the Resources Greening Education and Resources
Farm to City
THE ILL HEMILL CREEK REEK FARM ARM
weavers waycoop FARM
White Dog Cafe
Mariposa Food Co-op
ROW GREEFNS A RGM S
Current Organizational Hierarchy
Growing With Youths
Farmer’s Market Support
Food Distribution Support
Nutrition Education Campaigning
Farm Start-Up Support
Equal Market Opportunity
Farmer Skill Development
Growing With Youths Sustainable
Start-Up Support Skill Development
Farming Model
Nutrition Education Campaigning
Equilibrium
Networking
creating a need-based system Greening Education and Resources
ROW GREEFNS A RGM S
Growing With Youths
Farmer’s Market Support
Food Distribution Support
Nutrition Education Campaigning
Farm Start-Up Support
Equal Market Opportunity
Farmer Sustainable Skill Farming Development Model
Setting Reputations Aside
Market Support
Sustainable Models Greening Education and Resources
Food Distribution Support
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Cataloging Philadelphiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Resources
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Investigative Activities INTEGRATIVE DEVELOPMENT
NEWS Making Sense of Things We started our graduate thesis three weeks ago, and have been focused on defining the connections between non-for-profits, businesses and municipal departments involved in urban agriculture initiatives. Our process for defining these relationships has been to interview many of you. We have asked you what you think needs to happen to transform the urban agricultural movement into a cohesive, effective system. Many opinions have been voiced. Some of you believe that with more public interest, the local government would be forced to change the zoning codes and land ownership laws necessary to expand the available farmland in the city. Others believe that there is a lack of defined leadership, which is needed to organize all of the individual efforts. While the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Office of Sustainability are now in charge of enforcing the food equity goals of GreenWorks Plan, many feel that it has been difficult for the government to take on these responsibilities because non-for-profits and community-based businesses have been addressing them for so long. Some of you believe that it would help the movement if there were a betterestablished meeting place for collaboration and the exchange of ideas to take place. Others have voiced a need for a general inventory of the available resources including: land, people, tools, events, etc, while there also seems to be a bit of confusion about the ability to garden/farm on park lands and if money can or should be made from public property. We are processing all of your perspectives in an attempt to reconcile your needs. We hope to align them with our goal of using design to â&#x20AC;&#x153;make sense of thingsâ&#x20AC;? in order to help the urban agriculture movement develop into a cohesive, effective system, that will enable the production of more affordable, healthy food for all of Philadelphia.
We have enjoyed working with all of you and would like to thank you for all of the information and feedback you have given us to this point, and we hope that you will continue to voice your opinions. Please be on the look out for our next newsletter coming February 26th and for up-to-the-minute activity visit our blog: www.lovephillylocalfood.wordpress.com
Newsletter & Blog
Collaborative Forum
Urban Agri-Finder Book
Broadcasting Information to Large Groups
Face to Face Meetings with Stakeholders
A How-To Instructional Guide on Various Urban Agricultural Actions
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Designing Growlots Philadelphia
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Choosing A Basic Template
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Editing CSS Code
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Measuring Visual Developments
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Growlots Philadelphia
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Choosing a Category
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Choosing a Category
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Choosing a Category
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Choosing a Resource
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Connecting to External Websites
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Connecting to External Websites
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Becoming a Member
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Adding New Resources
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Adding New Resources
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Connecting With Peers
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Growlots Philadelphia Tool for Growers Connects gardeners and farmers to resources that are available to help them work more efficiently. • Maps • Guides • Classes • Supplies
Tool for Nonprofits and Government Connects nonprofits and government to themselves and each other by showing what resources they are offering city growers. • Reduces Redundancy • Emphasizes Missing Resources
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The Roles of Administrators • Act as contacts for each stakeholder group. • Approve New Members based on the New Membership Form. Nic Esposito Philadelphia Urban Farm Network
Sarah Wu The Office of Sustainability
Paul Glover Philadelphia Orchard Project
• Monitor the addition of resources.
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Tracking Website Visitors
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Monitoring Registered Users
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Garden Party, Website Launch
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Directions for Future Research • Keep in contact with stakeholder groups to receive feedback on the website’s usability. • Propose that the Food Policy Council be responsible for acting as administrators for the website. • Continue to refine the content management system to further communication in Philadelphia’s urban agriculture movement.