Metabolism of Cities & Soils

Hosted by USI

Please note that due to the structure of this workshop and space requirements for each participant, advance registration is required. This workshop is free; however, priority will be given to registrants for participation.

Earth, Sky, and Water. Look and see the intricate structures that Nature designs and constructs in harmony with all living things to provide the ecosystem services needed to sustain Life. Take a look in real time and observe the complexities and interconnectedness of soils. Observe experiments on soil from different types of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems to understand how we impact and affect the dynamic biogeochemical functions and parameters created by nature.  Build your own soil ecosystem! Join the mesocosm club, to design experiments and develop learning tools using mesocosms. Bring to life and explore the ecosystem services that are key to sustainability and offer opportunities for metabolism repair. These mesocosms can be built to understand ways to deal with diverse challenges such as the urban waste stream, human health, nutrient quality of food, and food sovereignty. We can only achieve true sustainability when we work in harmony with Nature, tipping the balance of beneficial and non-beneficial creatures towards greater symbiotic relationships that support the health and wellbeing of all life on Earth.

Please note: This is intended to be a hands-on workshop, but due to logistical challenges, we had to readjust the format and will no longer be creating mesocosms individually. Instead, we will build a number of soils mesocosms for you to work with for the duration of the workshop and teach you how to build your own.

Participation Requirements:

• Mandatory sign up for the workshop using this form

• You no longer have to bring a container - we will distribute pre-made soil mesocosms for you to explore

Living Soils Manifesto (Part 1) - Nov. 22

Living Soils Manifesto (Part 2) - Nov. 23

PART 1 DESCRIPTION - LIVING SOILS RISING

On Friday November 22, our goal is to begin developing a multi-vocal, intersectional political poem / manifesto for the soils that will be collectively authored and generated. We won't finish writing Living Soils Rising during these two workshops, but rather will lay the foundational seeds for it. 

We will be working in small working groups, divided by 4 themes:

• Disabled ecologies & disability wisdom

• BIPOC Ancestral knowledges, traumas, wisdom

• Settler traumas & responsibilities

• Queer & Trans wisdom

Please note: We will be starting the Living Soils Rising Friday workshop at the mid-way point of the Symposium lunch hour (12:45 PM). Given the sensitivity of the process, we ask for all participants in these workshops to arrive a few minutes early so that we can collectively begin the process together. Friday's workshop is a smaller group, with a limit of 25 participants. 

We would love to stay in touch with all contributors as the project grows, and to bring the Living Soils Rising workshops to as many communities as we can. Please be in touch!

Led by: Journei Bimwala, Margaret Boozer, Valentine Espinoza, Gisela Sanders, Shino Tanikawa, Marina "Heron" Tsaplina

PART 2 DESCRIPTION: LIVING SOILS RISING

On Saturday November 23, we will share back the key thoughts, feelings, ideas that took place on Friday, and then we will break-out into shorter working groups (20 minutes) to reflect on what was voiced on Friday. The Saturday group will add new thoughts, dreamings, questions and articulations to the work that took place on Friday, and then we will do 1-minute share-backs to the whole group to close the session. 

Saturday's workshop will be a larger group gathering for up to 75 people. The small working groups will again be divided by 4 themes:

• Disabled ecologies & disability wisdom

• BIPOC Ancestral knowledges, traumas, wisdom

• Settler traumas & responsibilities

• Queer & Trans wisdom

We would love to stay in touch with all contributors as the project grows, and to bring the Living Soils Rising workshops to as many communities as we can. Please be in touch! 

Hosted by: Rich Earth Institute; Julia Cavicchi & Tatiana Schreiber

Workshop participants will team up to play RECLAIM. In this interactive board game, participants will learn about strategies for resource recovery from sanitation while adapting and collaborating with other players. RECLAIM was produced by SLU (the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) via their Sanitation Planning for Alternative Nutrient-recovery Systems (SPANS) project through a co-design process with different stakeholders in both Sweden and Uganda. 

Hosted by: Rich Earth Institute; Julia Cavicchi & Tatiana Schreiber

In this workshop, we will collaborate with participants to explore opportunities to complete the food nutrient cycle in an urban context. Together, we will consider the different pieces of the nutrient network puzzle that must come together to complete the food nutrient cycle. Elements discussed will include farmer partnerships, treatment technology options, permitting pathways, urine collection sources, social/cultural perspectives, and community organizing strategies.