Urban agriculture and civic ecology
2-30 July 2016
Study in Portugal Network
To be team-taught by Jorge Cancela (Faculty of Landscape Architecture, UL) and Krista Harper
(Anthropology and Public Policy, UMass Amherst)
COURSE DESCRIPTION:
This course will introduce students to the world of urban agriculture viewed through two lenses:
cultural anthropology and landscape architecture/design. The Lisbon metropolitan area, with its
rapid urbanization and temperate climate, is the perfect place to study the growth of this global
phenomenon. . Through readings, field trips, and hands-on research, we will learn about the history
of growing food in the city and how the urban food system has changed in the past century. The
course will examine urban agriculture as an emerging “civic ecology”: an amalgam of social
movements working to change the food system and formal institutions’ efforts toward achieving
urban environmental sustainability. Our course will take Lisbon as a living laboratory for
understanding the growth of urban gardening. Field trips will take students to urban gardening
initiatives and Lisbon’s hidden azinhagas (country lanes), olive orchards, and gardens--remnants of the
city’s historical food system. Students will gain in-depth cross-cultural experience through
community service learning and a design/build studio project in a local urban garden. No
Portuguese-language skills required--however, the class will provide excellent opportunities for
students to practice conversational Portuguese in the community service placement if they wish.
Topics to be covered: History of Lisbon’s urban fabric, urban political ecology and food systems,
citizens’ mobilizations for environmental and food justice, immigrant and rural migrant foodways,
sustainability and infrastructure, urban agriculture and permaculture applied to city contexts, green
space rehabilitation, participatory urban design and design ethnography, the role of urban green
space in social cohesion, placemaking, and place attachment.
Community Service Learning and “Design/Build” Studio: The course integrates an intensive,
hands-on service-learning experience and community-based design project in an urban community
garden in Lisbon. Students will have a community service learning placement in AVAAL, a Lisbon
organization dedicated to promoting civic ecology and urban agriculture through school gardens and
a community garden. The culminating experience is a team “design/build” project. We will use
participatory action research methods to learn about gardeners’ knowledge, foodways and heritage,
and needs. Informed with this knowledge, we will design and carry out a studio project working
alongside local gardeners--for example, building a new garden structure, permaculture spiral, or
public art installation.
Readings and Supplies Fee:
A course pack of articles will be made available online (no cost to student). A materials fee of $150
will cover studio supplies.
Course Objectives:
1. Students will learn and apply the methods and theories used by social scientists and
landscape architects in the study of urban food systems and agriculture.
2. Students will learn about urban food systems of the past and present, and political,
economic, and cultural contexts for food justice and urban sustainability work.
3. Students will build cross-cultural understanding through community service learning in a
community garden in Lisbon.
4. Students will gain concrete, hands-on participatory design skills through a team
“design/build” studio project.
Assignments:
1. Reading quizzes (20%): In-class short quizzes on readings
2. Attendance and participation (20%): Consistent and constructive participation in class
activities and field trips.
3. Individual journal or portfolio (30%): Individual journal or portfolio based on community
service learning in urban garden, may include photos, videos, journal entries, reflection
essays, and other documentation.
4. Team studio project (30%): Performance will be evaluated in terms of both individual
contributions and the final team product.
GRADING SCALE:
The exams, paper, overall participation grade, and poster presentations will be graded on a 100-point
scale, with the following letter grades:
A = above 93% B+ = 87-89% C+ = 77-79 D+ = 67-69
A- = 90-92%
B = 83-86
C = 73-76 D = 64-66
B- = 80-82
C- = 70-72 F = below 63
COURSE POLICIES
1. Please arrive on time. When we’re all in the classroom on time, we all stay on the same page
and the flow of class discussion is vastly improved. With field trips, we will not be able
to hold up the group for late students. For these reasons, we will lower your
participation grade if you are habitually late.
2. Please treat others respectfully. In this class, we hope to have spirited debates and discussions,
and we will be making design decisions as a studio team. It is okay for you to disagree
with each other and with us, as long as it is done respectfully. This attitude of
respect extends to postings on the course blog as well. In our field trips and community
service, students will interact with a diverse array of Lisbon residents from different
socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds, age groups, and disability status--treat everyone
you meet with good manners and respect.
3. Attendance, Participation, and Readings: Attendance in this course is required and recorded
through participation in in-class activities. In-class activities are part of the
homework/participation grade and may not be made up at a later date except under
exceptional circumstances. Otherwise, you're either here, or you're not. If you must miss
class, please check with a classmate to get the handouts and assignments you’ve missed,
and turn these in by the next class meeting.
4. Honesty: Cheating, fabrication of information or citations, plagiarism, and facilitating
academically dishonest work by another student are prohibited.
5. Communication: For general class announcements, there will be a course website and a
class email list. Email us ASAP if you do not get the welcome message after the first day
of class. We also have a course blog where students can post interesting web links,
photos of food, and discussion topics. We will try to return weekday emails within 24
hours.
6. Technology in the Classroom: Technology can be a valuable aid to the classroom learning
environment--for note-taking or quick references. Some guidelines for using a laptop
appropriately in class:
 Be sure your sound is off at the beginning of class.
 Stay on task. Activities such as surfing or gaming may be a distraction to classmates.
 Follow all "laptop prohibited" times.
 Students are discouraged from using laptops and smart phones in ways that distract
from the learning community (e.g. Facebook, texting, work for other classes, etc.). If
your smart phone or laptop use is distracting others, you will be asked to leave the
classroom for the evening. PLEASE be courteous so that we don't have to do this!
And let's all turn off our phones at the start of class.
COURSE SCHEDULE:
NOTE: Reading schedule is tentative; final list of readings will be distributed prior to the start of
class.
Week 1 (July 4-8):
 Class session 1: Introductions to the course and to each other
 Class session 2: Urban food systems, past and present; Lisbon’s agricultural history:
Field trip to Tesouros da Ameixoiera and/or Museu do Traje
o Readings:
Truninger, M. (2013). Connecting Food Memories with the Rural: The Case of
Portuguese and British Consumers. In Shaping Rural Areas in Europe (pp.
147-163). Springer Netherlands.
Valagao, M. (1997) Evolution in Eating Habits in the Alto Douro of Northern
Portugal. Food Preferences and Taste: Continuity and Change, New York:
Berghahn.
 Class session 3: Design/Build Studio planning
o Readings:
Hester, R. T. (2006). Design for ecological democracy. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
(selections)
 Introducing community-service learning partner: Associação pela Valorização Ambiental da
Alta de Lisboa (AVAAL) and its Parque Agricola de Alta de Lisboa (PAAL) (3 hours)
o Readings:
Harper, K, and A.I. Afonso. (2016) Cultivating Civic Ecology: A Photovoice
Study with Urban Gardeners in Lisbon, Portugal. Anthropology in Action.
o AVAAL website
Week 2 (July 11-15):
 Class session 4: Civic ecology and the urban green commons
o Readings:
Krasny, M. E., & Tidball, K. G. (2012). Civic ecology: a pathway for Earth
Stewardship in cities. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10(5),
267–273.
Barthel, S., Parker, J., & Ernstson, H. (2013). Food and green space in cities: a
resilience lens on gardens and urban environmental movements. Urban
studies, 0042098012472744.
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Class session 5: Food justice
o Readings:
Levkoe, C. Z. (2006). Learning Democracy Through Food Justice Movements.
Agriculture and Human Values, 23(1), 89–98.
Sheriff, Graeme, 2009. “Towards Healthy Local Food: Issues in Achieving Just
Sustainability,” Local Environment, Vol. 14(1): 73-92
Class session 6: Immigrant and rural migrant foodways in community gardens; Cachupada
(Cape Verdean cooking lesson in the PAAL)
o Readings:
Cabannes, Yves & Isabel Raposo (2013) Peri-urban agriculture, social inclusion
of migrant population and Right to the City, City: analysis of urban trends,
culture, theory, policy, action, 17:2, 235-250.
Esteves, A., & Caldeira, M. J. (2001). Reinventing cultures: The contribution of
the Cape Verdean community to the cultural dynamics of Lisbon. Liverpool
Studies in European Regional Cultures, 9, 95-118.
Community service learning at AVAAL/PAAL: 5 hours
Week 3 (July 18-22):
 Class session 7: Participatory design
o Readings:
Hester, R. T. (2006). Design for ecological democracy. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
(selections)
 Class sessions 8-9: Design/Build Studio (2 class sessions)
 Community service learning at AVAAL/PAAL: 5 hours
Week 4 (July 25-29):
 Class sessions 10-12: Design/Build Studio (3 class sessions)
 Community service learning at AVAAL/PAAL: 5 hours
 Culminating event and celebration at PAAL on evening of July 29.