Productive Urban Landscapes

Research and practice around the CPUL design concept

The project focuses on different urban contexts: peripheral areas, complex urban context in “Greater Cairo” and new city. (source: TU Berlin Habitat Unit www 2023)

Towards green(er) Egyptian cities

‘Towns and cities in Egypt are growing at an alarming rate, with increasing population and urbanization rates that have a significant impact on the natural environment. Egypt is aware of these challenges and developed several policies and strategies towards a greener future. In line with the Paris agreement (2016) and the Sustainable Development Goals (2030),…

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The key elements of the Opportunity Mapping Process which is rooted in a specific local context and task and will result in a strategy for implementing productive urban landscapes. (source: Bohn&Viljoen 2012)

Spatial and participatory food (systems) mapping at AESOP4FOOD

Last week, Katrin gave a lecture to an international audience at the online sustainable food planning course AESOP4FOOD. AESOP4FOOD (Action for Education, Spatial Organization and Planning for Sustainable Food) is an Erasmus+ project aiming to develop future leadership in sustainable food planning and thereby to contribute to food security, food justice and healthier environments. The lecture…

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RSD11 calls for papers that challenge, extend, critique, and diversify established working methods in systemic design. (source: RSD www 2022)

Call for Papers: Possibilities and Practices of Systemic Design

We are proud to announce that RSD11, the 11th Relating Systems Thinking and Design  symposium by the Systemic Design Association, will happen at the University of Brighton in October 2022. The international hybrid event will be hosted by a team of colleagues from our School of Architecture, Technology and Engineering, led by Dr Ben Sweeting…

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Haworth Tompkins Green Away Day on 12th November 2021 held at Cecil Sharp House, London (source: Diana Dina 2021)

CPULs at Haworth Tompkins Green Away Day

Last week, Andre Viljoen was invited to present the CPUL concept at Haworth Tompkins Architects’ Green Away Day. This event provided the practice with their first post-lockdown occasion to meet in person and continue discussions about how to address the challenges of the climate crisis. Haworth Tompkins are one of the original UK practices to…

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The development of the Gemeinschaftsgarten-Programm is led by Undine Giseke and Lisa Reis (bgmr landschaftsarchitekten) and Carolin Mees (mees architecture). (source: bgmr 2021)

Interim presentation of Berlin’s Community Garden Program

Last Thursday, Berlin’s Senate Department for the Environment, Transport and Climate Protection [Senatsverwaltung für Umwelt, Verkehr und Klimaschutz] invited to the interim presentation of its Gemeinschaftsgarten-Programm [Community Garden Program]. The Community Garden Program is the next step in consolidating a future for Berlin’s more than 200 community gardens and closely linked to the Plattform Produktives…

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Bohn&Viljoen's public lectured about their urban design concept Continuous Productive Urban Landscape. (source: IAAC/B&V 2021)

Bohn&Viljoen present their work at IAAC Barcelona

The week before last, Katrin was invited to give a talk at the Institute for advanced architecture in Catalonia (IAAC) Lecture Series which, due to the Covid pandemic, happened online. In the first part of the event, Katrin reflected on the development of urban agriculture as a subject within urban design and architecture using the…

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In her project Sea-Meat Seeweed, artist Hanan Alkouh produced meat from seaweed. The project was shown at Food Revolution 5.0 where Bohn&Viljoen exhibited The Edible Terrace. (source: Tom Mannion www 2016)

Should we stop producing meat?

Last Thursday, Katrin Bohn joined Prof. Lisa Jack from the University of Portsmouth in an expert panel discussion chaired by Dr. Neale Davies, Liverpool John Moores University, as part of the one-day (online) event The Future of Food hosted by Clean Growth UK. The panel of experts examined with the audience whether we should stop…

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The event will be held online on Thursday 25th February. (source: Clean Growth UK 2021)

INVITE: Join Katrin to discuss the future of food

On Thursday, 25th February, from 10 am to 12.30 am, Katrin Bohn will be discussing the future of food with entrepreneurs and academics. Please do join in! Industry leaders will come together to share their insights on the future of food (production) in this online event hosted by Clean Growth UK, a network led by…

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A small-scale circularity exists with this 'shop of trust' in the area of future Landwirtschaftspark Heidelberg. (source: Katrin Bohn 2016)

The Circular City: Rethinking architecture and engineering

Katrin Bohn presented her work and thoughts on the Circular City concept on invitation by the University of Brighton. The presentation and conversation with co-presenter Dr. Yan Wang happened on Wednesday 4th November as part of the open conversation series Unlikely Partners curated and organised by the university. Initially intended for a local audience, the…

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Cover slide of the presentation A short overview of food mapping (source: Bohn and Edwards 2020)

Presentation of the first paper to study urban food mapping?

During the recent international conference Anthropology and Geography: Dialogues Past, Present and Future, Katrin Bohn and Ferne Edwards presented their paper A short overview of food mapping: Developing a cross-disciplinary approach to an expert audience. Its main question will be taken foward during a workshop meeting tomorrow, Wednesday 30th September, with contributors interested in follow-up…

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A map of Atlanta recording places of food retail (yellow and orange dots) and social demographics (red-lined areas) (source: Jerry Shannon www 2020)

INVITE: Join us for our panel “Mapping the Edible City” in 2 weeks!

Our conference panel Mapping the Edible City: Making visible communities and food spaces in the city will take place on Wednesday 16th September and Thursday 17th September 2020. Co-convened by Ferne Edwards (RMIT) and Katrin Bohn (UoB) with Andre Viljoen (UoB) and Kevin Morgan (Cardiff University), the panel is part of the Anthropology and Geography:…

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Edible Map for Newcastle, one of several maps suggesting and describing “edible walks” in cities around the world by Mikey Tomkins, panel contributor (source: Mikey Tomkins 2015)

The RAI “Anthropology and Geography” conference moves online!

It is with great pleasure that we can announce again our panel Mapping the Edible City at the international conference Anthropology and Geography: Dialogues Past, Present and Future now to be held as an online conference 14-18 September 2020. The conference is jointly organised by the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI), the Royal Geographical Society (RGS),…

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Discussing Akito Murayama’s research on spatial planning and design for Tokyo’s Agri-Residential Mixed Neighborhoods (source: Andre Viljoen 2020)

International Association of Landscape Ecology (IALE) symposium

As part of the North American IALE Association’s annual conference, Andre Viljoen joined Prof Makoto Yokohari from the University of Tokyo and colleagues from Canada, USA and Japan to convene a special symposium on Borderless Landscapes: Envisioning resilient urban/rural mixed landscapes with agri-activities/lands. The conference was scheduled to run from the 11th to 14th May…

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Extract of the flyer advertising the seed exchange at Allmende-Kontor (source: Allmende-Kontor 2020)

INVITE: Resistance with distance! Seed exchange and joint film this Friday

Urban gardeners in Germany embrace new opportunities to allow the gardening seasion to start during the current corona pandemic. Please feel free to join them this Friday 17th April 2020 for two events: At 7pm, the “joint film watching” of O´pflanzt is – 6 Jahre Gemeinschaftsgarten happens on Zoom using these entry details: Meeting-ID: 734…

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Professor Uma Kothari, chair of the conference, introduces the theme of this year’s event. (source: RGS www 2020)

Joint abstract accepted for the Annual International RGS Conference

It is our pleasure to announce that our joint abstract, submitted to the Annual International Conference organised by the Royal Geographical Society (RGS) with IBG under the theme Borders, borderlands and bordering has been accepted. Our joint paper by Ferne Edwards (RMIT), Katrin Bohn (UoB) and André Viljoen (UoB) is part of the panel Food…

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The panel discussion is part of the exhibition Eco-Visionaries which is on show at the Royal Academy of Arts from 23th November 2019 until 23th February 2020. (source: Bohn&Viljoen 2020)

Eco-Visionairies panel discussion at the Royal Academy of Arts, London

On Monday, Katrin Bohn presented her and Andre Viljoen’s work at London’s Royal Academy of Arts Designing from a depleted world event, as part of the RA’s Eco-Visionaries: Confronting a planet in a state of emergency exhibition. Lucia Pietroiusti, Curator of General Ecology at the Serpentine Galleries, chaired a three-way presentation and dialogue with artist-architect…

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Mapping food and its producers in an urban district in the City of Cologne, Germany, as part of the DQE urban generation project Urbane Agrikultur in Köln-Ehrenfeld. (source: Dirk Melzer 2011)

Paper accepted for Anthropology and Geography conference

Katrin Bohn will be presenting at the Anthropology and Geography: Dialogues Past, Present, and Future conference in London later this year. Her abstract was accepted for the panel Mapping the Edible City: Making visible communities and food spaces in the city which she is also co-convening with Dr Ferne Edwards (RMIT), Prof Andre Viljoen (University…

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The Breast Milk of the Volcano by Unknown Fields, panellists with Smout Allen and Katrin Bohn (source: Unkown Fields www 2016-8)

INVITE: “Designing from a depleted world” at the Royal Academy of Arts in London

On Monday 27th January 2020, 6.30 — 8pm, the second public panel discussion accompanying the RA’s Eco-Visionaries exhibition will take place at the Benjamin West Lecture Theatre, Burlington Gardens at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. The panellists, including Katrin Bohn, reflect on the impact of human action on Earth’s depleting resources and discuss…

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Map of Berlin showing urban agriculture projects with an educational focus from the exhibition CarrotCity and Die Produktive Stadt. (source: FG Stadt & Ernährung (Prof. Bohn) TU Berlin, 2011)

Conference panel “Mapping the Edible City” attracts highest number of submissions

We are pleased to announce that our conference panel to this year’s Anthropology and Geography: Dialogues Past, Present, and Future conference did attract the highest number of submissions of any of the proposed panels! This shows not only that “the urban food question” has secured an important place as a subject of research and critical…

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Co-installing the Mathare Shamba in the Mathare neigbourhood in Nairobi became part of a practice-based Masters’ thesis at the course. (source: Katherine Cashman, Community Gardening in Mathare, Nairobi (Masters’ thesis) 2018)

Guest lecture to international Master’s course at the TU Berlin

Yesterday, Katrin Bohn gave a talk about food-productive urban landscapes and the CPUL City concept to Masters’ students at the Technical University (TU) of Berlin’s independent Masters’ in Urban Management. Apart from introducing key concepts of the international urban food design and planning debate, Katrin presented international architectural and urban design case studies. Lively discussions…

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