REcentre teams up with Maastricht University

As of February 2011 REcentre is one of the three local partners in the course ‘Nature and the City; The Politics of Community Gardening and Urban Farming’ that runs until June 2011 at the Maastricht University.

The course is part of the MARBLE programme (Maastricht University Research Based Learning) and is coordinated by dr. Bas van Heur. Students from both European Studies as Arts & Culture have applied for this course. The other partners are Dutch organisations Centrum voor Natuur en Milieu Educatie, Slow Food Limburg and Gebiedsontwikkeling Maastricht/Meerssen/Valkenburg.

The partners have decided to commission a research project that investigates concrete strategies that aim to overcome the unsustainable dynamics of contemporary food systems and develop sustainable alternatives. Key in this research project is that this shift involves the construction of new networks that reconnect producers, consumers and intermediaries in creative and innovative ways.

The students were expected to develop their research around this topic but the precise focus is open. REcentre asked the students to investigate ‘best practices’ of local food systems in other cities and regions that can potentially be adopted in the Maastricht region. Also, the students were asked to look into ways of getting the consumer more actively involved.

This theme will be discussed further upon during our Sustainable Summer School.

Read the report of the results.