Co-creating sustainable food futures with botanical gardens and communities: reflections from the BigPicnic project

Georgios Alexopoulos,Theano Moussouri

doi:10.14324/111.444.ai.2021.06

Abstract

This article addresses the potential of participatory approaches and processes of co-creation in the context of botanical gardens. It examines how such approaches can not only help cultural heritage sector organisations to engage with different members of their public, but also how they can work with their communities to tackle globally significant societal and environmental goals. Drawing on research conducted for the EU-funded BigPicnic project, this article examines the methodological processes employed by a large consortium of botanical gardens and presents some examples of exhibitions and science cafés that attempted to both highlight issues of food security and sustainability and foster forms of knowledge that go beyond the dichotomy between experts and non-experts. A critical overview of the outcomes of this project serves to outline the potential of co-creation for promoting sustainable food futures.

Highlights

The calls for the cultural heritage sector to join other agencies and organisations in taking on the mantle of action towards sustainability and a wider recognition of the importance of engaging with the wider public through various projects and activities that promote the social role and relevance of heritage are intensifying
It has been argued that wider environmental and societal issues such as food security and the role of food heritage in the wellbeing of future food systems are more effectively tackled when heritage professionals collaborate with their audiences
Participatory approaches and the notion of co-creation are well suited to assist in such efforts

Summary

Introduction

The calls for the cultural heritage sector to join other agencies and organisations in taking on the mantle of action towards sustainability and a wider recognition of the importance of engaging with the wider public through various projects and activities that promote the social role and relevance of heritage are intensifying. Since the 1990s co-creation and various types of community participation and collaboration have been employed to facilitate the closer connection between heritage professionals and the various heritage audiences Within this context, botanical gardens – both as organisations linking natural and cultural heritage and as important actors in efforts to promote food security and sustainability – are well placed to engage actively with their surrounding communities in order to tackle global issues affecting, among other things, food futures. The methodological processes and approaches underpinning this project will be examined, along with specific examples of exhibitions and science cafés co-created through the work of the botanical garden partners and their communities This analysis will serve to highlight how community participation can foster forms of knowledge that go beyond the dichotomy between experts and non-experts, and how public views can be truly incorporated in research that addresses topical global challenges. Sometimes solutions to burning contemporary problems were based on traditional forms of knowledge rather than purely scientific knowledge. Inviting speakers and contributors who represent opposite sides of hotly debated or controversial issues surrounding food sustainability can offer a broader view of the problems and concerns facing the scientific community and the wider public, who need to make individual decisions on the basis of available and reliable information

Discussion

The 15 botanical garden partners were