Dandelion in the wind KULNA

Dandelion In The Wind

Pledge For Growth!

The KULNA Community Garden was first conceived at the Design Thinking Workshop during the ZU Innovation Week 2016, where students voiced a strong interest in sustainability and food education. It was then launched under the CFRSC research cluster, with the goal of developing a small-scale local food system to instigate a “food revolution�. The food revolution was framed as a collective movement to bring awareness to the urgency of making food systemic changes

Zero Wast

The Design garden Composting, Seedling and Harvesting

KULNA compost making and soil production through the use of kitchen waste, garden litter, clipping, pruning provides an opportunity to implement zero waste practices and waste management systems, which are conducive to active learning and innovative business practices by producing living soil. A larger site equates to an increased space for compost production as well as focus from traditional composting methods to more rapid and modernized methods of managing food waste. This can be done by conducting more research and developing decentralized systems for food waste management based on available and most suitable technology for diverse types of food waste.

Achieve zero-waste, reducing the energy/labor required to maintain it. It’s an edible garden with vegetables, herbs, edible flowers, small fruit and nuts bearing trees, which are organized with companion plants. All plants are attracting beneficial wildlife and birds, improving soils with nitrogen fixers which produce mulch by chop and drop, providing windbreaks, canopy and shades, enhancing biodiversity. Heirloom seeds and drought hardy cultivars that are organic, biodie free and have high nutrition values were used. Wicking beds, ground beds, raised beds, and vertical growing were incorporated also drip irrigation and capturing/storing rainwater runoff where possible in infiltration channels running alongside the road. Biomass accumulation, living soils, compost, nutrient recycling, mulching, green manure and no-till techniques were applied. All garden waste becomes compost which is used as a soil amendment and fertilizer.

Kulna

Kulna Garden

The Transformation

KULNA stories are about

co-designing ‘community building’ by people who are willing to connect SELF and SOCIETY with the help of nature. At ZU, we did just that. We started with ‘Design Thinking’ and expanded to ‘System Practices’ while creating a prototype of a sustainable food system through the organic process of co-designing the holistic movement from awareness to technical solutions for better food system change.

The cluster operated the project with research-led and people-centered approaches based on ME=WE framework encouraging a wide participation from all actors, creating a vertical inclusive learning space and designing activities to promote inclusivity, zero-waste, and well-being in the ZU community.

The question was ‘HOW CAN WE CO-DESIGN A FOOD REVOLUTION?’ The goal was to contribute to positive impact by exploring holistic pedagogy frameworks for inclusive development of individuals, teams, and surroundings. The focus was on learning about the transformative process facilitated by ‘actions and reflections’ around activities generated by the research cluster, focus group and collaborators.

The Garden Harvest “Our first Kulna Farm harvest was a celebration for the cluster. We harvested all the available produce and held a mini organic Farmers market to celebrate.�

ZU community participation, garden expansion, aided in encompassing a wider community participation. Working with ECLE was a delightful synergic collaboration for youngsters and students. I Grow Seeds campaign, from course integration to community outreach with campaign exhibitions were held at both ZU campuses and Jaddaf Aloud/Jameel Art Center. Students developed potential seed starter kits, storybooklets, and garden furniture. KULNA garden facilitated space and resources to support CNHS biology, and microbiology courses

The Food Revolution ‘Co-designing Food Revolution for Social Change’ (CFRSC) R17089, a transdisciplinary action research has explored how to bring positive impact, behavior changes on individual and collective wellbeing in a food system at Zayed University (ZU) in the UAE since 2016. The first step was to build KULNA Community Garden (‘All of Us’ in Arabic) to showcase the potential of building a physical sanctuary to grow food and engage people to be interested in food issues.

The second was to run KULNA as a social laboratory to identify the challenges and solutions that are intricately connected in awareness and behaviors around inclusivity, zero-waste, and well-being with food communities. Finally, HOW CAN WE CO-DESIGN FOOD REVOLUTION? The goal was to contribute to positive impact by co-designing a food system and activities around it. Hence the research aims to explore pedagogics of systemic design, holistic pedagogy frameworks for inclusive development of individuals, teams, and surroundings.

The focus was on learning about the transformative process facilitated by actions and reflections around activities generated by the research cluster, focus group and collaborators. By detailing Kulna’s experiences in co-design, this paper offers a roadmap for other transdisciplinary teams in higher education settings.

Food Security in the UAE Sustainability and Social change

Long-term food security has been a key strategic goal for the government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which ranks 21 on the Global Food Security Index (The Economist Group, 2019) . The country is vulnerable to food shortages , price volatility, and supply restrictions, producing very little of what is consumed by its population and wasting 2.7 kilograms per person daily. Its arid landscapes, water scarcity, and extreme temperatures represent an urgent need to create a resilient ecosystem that sustains local agricultural production in the long run. To alleviate this pressing issue, the government has devised a National Food Security Strategy

“... develop a comprehensive national system based on enabling sustainable food production, enhancing local production, activating legislation and policies that contribute to improving nutrition and reducing waste.�

The Emirati government wants to realize this strategy by enabling and promoting innovative projects for sustainable development, securing the physical well-being of its people through a robust food system.

Listening to Food Sytems A complex interconnected sustainable food system revolving around topics of inclusivity, well-being and zero waste. There is a link between inclusivity reinforcing positively to a better emotional well-being which also influences expenditure of resources that contributes to waste. Tapping into those leverage points, educating individuals through a changemaker program to raise awareness is the key to create a ripple effect throughout the community. Building these communities around the food forest will not only enhance a social and psychological well-being, and also create a cohesive reliable foundation for educational purposes. It helps the individual to build selfsufficiency and equip themselves with life skills which aids them to be a productive individual in a society.

Community gardens provide a micro harvest rather than heavy dependence on macro mass production of exported food which negatively contributes to the environment

“Our society must move from ego-system to ecosystem economics. This requires that we shift from ego-system silos to ecosystem awareness that considers others and includes the whole” said Otto Scharmer.

Through the cultural significance of food and its ability to foster relationships within communities, the codesign practices employed in KULNA were able to promote inclusivity, zero-waste, and well-being, towards the ultimate goal of sustainability. The participants reported going through a transformative process in terms of their relationship with health and the environment, indicating impact through action and reflection. Students worked with the gardeners at ZU, KULNA researchers, and community volunteers through various activities at KULNA, such as the “I Grow Seeds” Campaign, through which they were able to improve their communication skills, merge themselves in the nature that surrounded them, and reflect on the ways in which they could bring social change in the UAE.