Campus Farmers project became reality
© 2018 EPFL
Since March 6th, benches and vegetable trays have bloomed on the Place Nord ! And it's a success, since from the first rays of sunshine, students and employees already take advantage of it to gather, discuss or have a picnic.
With this project of street furniture (benches) associated with vegetable gardens, accessible to all, the aim of Campus Farmers is to enable EPFL students and collaborators to re-appropriate themselves the urban space and create a meeting place around vegetable gardens which are integrated into the structure of the street furniture. The aim is to create social bonds while raising people awareness of local, biological and seasonal consumption. The principle of the project is that all EPFL staff and students should follow up the project.
The project took place in two phases. A first workshop held in August 2017 brought together a group of students to develop the concept in the form of scale models. Then a second workshop dedicated to the construction of benches was held in February 2018.
The benches are made of native larch and are removable to allow certain events to be held. Fruits and vegetables have been sown and can be picked in a few weeks. Everyone on campus will be able to participate in the maintenance of the vegetable gardens and use the products freely. Care instructions in laminated sheets are placed on the bins, visible to everyone. Although it is a participative project, the members of the project will nevertheless ensure that the green bins are properly maintained.
Initiated by Campus Farmers, a division of the Unipoly association (UNIL-EPFL students' association for sustainable development), the project was designed and implemented in collaboration with the ALICE laboratory at EPFL (space design workshop) and the DII (Domaine Immobilier et Infrastructures). It was also supported financially by Sustainable Campus EPFL and U Change, a programme of Swiss universities that supports student initiatives towards sustainable development.
A big thank you to all the students and collaborators who invested themselves in this project and participated in its construction and installation!