From Voluntary Grass Root to Green Entrepreneur
Svein Elias Gautefall is one of several individuals who has received Green Funding for projects related to food waste and urban gardening. Experiences from an open and creative cooperation with the district board paved the way for the green entrepreneurial work which includes urban farming projects as well as asylum centers.
Description of the initiative — the background
In partnership with other enthusiasts, one of the first projects that Svein Elias Gautefall (SEG) received funding for was Feast against Famine (Matgilde mot hungersnød). The purpose of this initiative was confronting head-on two of the biggest and most insolubly intertwined challenges in the world today: poverty and environmental destruction. In the weeks before Feast against Famine kicked in, completely usable food was collected from selected shops, food that otherwise would have been thrown away. This food was then distributed to and prepared by a network of volunteer cooks who put their own kitchens and restaurants at the project’s disposal. The dishes were then brought to the arrangement locale. Guests were encouraged to donate money for the meal, which was free. The money that was raised went to relief efforts in areas hit by famine.
The initiative takers knew much about commercial food waste through many years of experience of raiding food dumpsters and recycling food that was being thrown away. Their idea was to create an arrangement where the problem of local food waste might be put into a global perspective.
The first Food against Famine took place in Sagene in 2011 in connection to the district’s yearly Environmental Fair. This idea spread to other cities, among them, Bergen, Trondheim, Tromsø and Stavanger. From 2012–2013 we administered 8 groups in Oslo, SEG tells us, and coordinated them with a national Feast against Famine. We garnered a great deal of attention connected to unnecessary food waste through broad media coverage and by serving ”expired” food to thousands of people in the public arena. In 2012 we were nominated for a KPH Award, a prize that until 2013 went to social and cultural entrepreneurs in Nordic countries.
Our success and all the attention led to several other actors wanting to duplicate the Feasts, but they expected the initiative takers to do it for free. In the long run, this became difficult. At a networking gathering arranged by the Ideas Bank Foundation in February 2014, we tackled the issue of how to sustain economic viability while working with green initiatives and how to make it into a livelihood. How do we balance between volunteer efforts and those who ”dare to accept a salary?” To inspire the Sagene network we invited Aslaug Tveit, a dynamic green entrepreneur working for sustainable projects. She started Léva Urban Design and is the daily leader of the Urban Waterfront (Urban Sjøfront) in Stavanger.
Before the meeting the participants, including SEG, were asked to present their business ideas, as well as those problems and dilemmas they have encountered. A certain amount of time was set aside during the program for mutual coaching based on the lecture given by Aslaug Tveit. The participants were asked to draw up their “business network,” describe their skills and think about “who might be a recipient for these skills.” Taking inspiration from the world of biology it was something of an ”ah-ha moment” to consider “social cross pollination.” The network has a tendency towards homogeneity. The secret behind the success of Storhaug where, among other things, Aslaug Tveit works, was the creation of an active network that focuses on bringing in a wide diversity of interests and skills.
In the period after this network symposium, SEG worked as a freelance district gardener in Sagene, and has worked for several years in a gardening project for asylum centers with support form the Norwegian Directorate of Immigration (Utlendingsdirektoratet). He has shared these experiences at, among other places, a NLA (Norwegian Landscape Architects) leadership conference.
SEG believes that slowly but surely food waste has gained much more traction. He therefore wanted to put his energy into other district projects. He came up with an idea for establishing a demonstration garden in Bjølsen Park, inspired by his work as a freelance gardener at, among other places, Haarklous Place (see narrative: The Magic Turtle on Haarklous Place). He discussed this with Mads B. Nakkerud, a park and local environmental consultant, and applied for Green Funding for a project called The Pollinator Garden and began working on it in Spring 2016.
His idea was to gather together a number of pollinator friendly plants in one place with descriptive labels, so that it could have both an informative and teaching function. SEG is interested in the teaching dimension. The garden is close to the Bjølsen School. He shows us an article in the publication: Educating 2 (Utdanning2) from January 27, an article with the title ”Play or School Yard?” (”Leik eller skolehage?’)
The garden has become a colorful addition to Bjølsen Park. It generated a lot interest while I was working on it, SEG says. Many people taking strolls or walking their dogs stopped and asked what I was doing. The garden is surrounded by a natural fence created from various berry bushes, gooseberry plants, Sargent crabapple trees etc.. I have also planted two white willow trees which are very important for quality eggs for the bee queen. She needs pollen in order to lay her eggs. The plants are first and foremost for the bees, but I was also thinking about edibles for people.
CityBee (ByBi) attached itself to the project and asked if they could put one of their insect hotels in the garden. (See narrative: Sagene’s Buzzing Gardens). SEG has now planted a number of new bulbs and with support from Green Funding in 2017 he hopes to take the garden to a new level. Sitting areas will be created and the informative aspect will be expanded with, among other things, new labels using both Norwegian and Latin names. He also plans on putting in several more edible plants, for both humans and the bees. By doing this, he hopes that the public can both have a learning experience and enjoy life in the park.
Experiences that others can learn from
What I’ve learned and what makes me feel good, SEG tells us, is that this is not just pure gardening work. It’s also social because the cultivation project takes place in the public arena. After having worked for several seasons in the Sagene District, SEG feels more secure with what he is doing and more confident in himself. He characterizes his cooperation with the district as very good; you can work on your own and don’t have to ”tip toe around” all the time. They are fine to work with and give you space to be creative, he stresses. He has learned a lot about how the community administration apparatus actually hangs together. He’s not so uncertain any more. When I start a new project all my experience really helps, he says. If you lack experience in this field you become more uncertain. My experiences were very helpful in connection to the asylum centers too. He has gone from doing mostly volunteer work and not having much to live on, to working with projects that he both enjoys and also provide an income to supplement his small farm in Ås.
Future visions — next year through to the year 2030
In addition to working further with the Pollinator Garden in Bjølsen Park, SEG plans to expand his cultivation project connected to the asylum centers. He plans to present himself to districts that have agreed to take in refugees and explore the possibility that urban garden plots for newcomers might afford an opportunity to connect to Norwegian society and perhaps offer new immigrants a chance of getting in on a niche market.
SEG’s vision for 2030 is that there will be much selling of local food in Oslo. It’s become it’s own marketplace with many booths that are open every day, offering a large selection from niche producers. A bit like what they’ve done in Göteborg, Malmö and several other cities in Sweden. (SEG shows us a new book published by the Urban Farm (STADSBRUK) project which, among other things tells about niche production and business ideas connected to urban farming). Small markets have also been established in Geitmyra’s School Garden, where specialties bloom. The Turks, for example, are experts in climbing bean stocks; seeds are exchanged. There is a shop with local foods by the Geitmyra School Garden greenhouse. Local small breweries have also sprung up and serve as places to gather. The city of Oslo has made many areas available for public cultivation. There are urban pigs that till the soil, like in Gothenburg. These efforts to encourage urban farming on a larger scale will also function as a peace and integration project, among other reasons, because immigrants bring great cultivation skills and new crops to Norway from their home countries, SEG concludes.
Questions
How can your community/district facilitate creative partnerships with local green entrepreneurs?
What initiatives in your local environment might create the possibility of niche production?
Check your district/community: how are they working for the development of parks and green spaces as public gathering places and arenas for learning?
Contact
Svein Elias Gautefall, eco-farmer, district gardener and green entrepreneur
Email: sveingaute@hotmail.com
